Nine-time political candidate Leslie Bory, who was arrested two years ago for allegedly inciting hatred and making threats, got a chance on Monday to talk to those who will be deciding his fate.
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And he talked.
When defense lawyer Ian McCuaig asked his questions, Bory rambled, without pause often for more than five minutes at a time, speaking directly to the jury.
The trial, which began last week, has involved the court watching hours of Bory’s on-line rants, both on YouTube and Bitchute – the platform he moved to after his YouTube videos kept getting censored and removed.
“I just wanted to be able to express myself,” Bory explained. “I’m not a xenophobic person.”
He meandered on, touching on Jews versus Zionists, global politics, vaccines, masking, swastikas, Germany, the World Economic Forum, Russia and the coronavirus and told the jury he had been conducting a “war of words” so he “ratcheted up the rhetoric” to get attention.
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On the Bitchute site, Bory said, he was able to talk freely and not worry about being censored.
But, in February 2023, his rhetoric became increasingly inflamed and he posted large signs on his Mohawk Street property saying “2 Years in Prison for not agreeing with Jews is Jewish Bolshevik Supremacy” and other signs denouncing Trudeau and COVID vaccines.
The jury was shown one of Bory’s online lectures where he asked listeners to join him at his residence “with their firearms.”
When Bory was arrested, rifles and handguns were found at his home, along with a large cache of thousands of rounds of ammunition, however Bory’s lawyer argued the guns were safely stored and equipped with trigger locks.
Last week in trial deliberations, McCuaig successfully had the weapon charges dismissed in a directed verdict, along with the charge of inciting hatred in a public place.
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The trial continues on charges of threatening police officers, threatening politicians and threatening the Jewish community.
In cross-examination by assistant Crown attorney Armin Sethi, Bory admitted to the video evidence that had been played and agreed he had deemed the Holocaust the “holo-hoax” and called COVID vaccines the “Jew jabs”.
“You indicated Jewish people are rapists and murders,” probed Sethi.
“I didn’t say all Jewish people,” Bory countered. “Not all Jews are the same. Just because you have Jewish DNA doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”
Questioned about his comments about Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre in his videos, Bory said they were “just to get attention” and he had “no intention of harming them.”
Bory has run locally and nearby in seven provincial elections or by-elections and two federal elections. He has called himself the leader of The Maple Party and the future Prime Minister of Canada.
The trial continues this week.
@EXPSGamble
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