Video still of the assault on May 29, 2024, outside CANSEC.
On June 8, CBC News reported that a Swiss man, an employee of the munitions company Rheinmetall, who assaulted a 21-year-old Palestinian Canadian outside the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa in May 2024 will be sentenced on July 13.
The news article notes: “David Henschel, 58, appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on Friday [June 5], having returned from his home in Switzerland for sentencing submissions after pleading guilty in July 2025 to assaulting the anti-war protester.”
Previously, on July 17, 2025, CBC News had reported: “A Swiss man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman at an anti-war, pro-Palestinian demonstration in Ottawa during the 2024 CANSEC conference… Henschel paid a $5,000 cash deposit following his arrest. He is expected to be sentenced following submissions on Nov. 24.”
And just days after the assault, on June 5, 2024, CBC News had reported: “In a five-second video captured by people participating in the demonstration, a man appears to strike a woman wearing a hijab, knocking her to the ground. The man is then seen pushing another woman wearing a keffiyeh — a checkered scarf typically worn in Arab cultures that has also come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians.”
We continue to follow this.
