Five Jewish organizations said in a statement that the sentence “sends a powerful message: those who spread hate, inflict violence, and terrorize communities will be held fully accountable under the law.”
Toronto Star
March 27, 2026
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
By
Expressing concern that Matthew Althorpe continues to “harbour white supremacist ideology,” a Toronto judge sentenced the neo-Nazi terrorist on Friday to 20 years in prison.
Althorpe, 30, pleaded guilty last year to facilitating terrorist activity, instructing a person to carry out terrorist activity, and wilfully promoting hatred against identifiable groups, as he admitted to making recruitment videos for the since-disbanded Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi group listed as a terrorist entity by a number of countries, including Canada.
He also created three racist manifestos that remain online today and were cited by at least five people who committed acts of terrorism, including the attacker who killed two people in a shooting outside a Slovakian gay bar in 2022, and a teenager who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey in 2024.
After credit for time served in pre-sentence custody, Althorpe has 16 years left on his sentence.
Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly said she was mindful that higher courts have said that a “clear and unmistakable message” must be sent to those who commit terrorist activity on Canadian soil.
“I intend to send such a message with the sentence I impose,” Kelly said.
“The offences and the role that Mr. Althorpe played in them are significant and serious. This was not an isolated act of violence and not a series of ill-conceived social media posts. The period over which these offences were committed is significant; his role shows a decade-long commitment to white supremacist, militant accelerationist ideology.”
Althorpe urged readers of his manifestos to incite fear in the public and sabotage critical infrastructure, and called for attacks against LGBTQ2S+ people, Jews, and people of colour. The recruitment videos he helped produce and circulate depicted armed men in white skull masks burning religious texts and American, Israeli, and Pride flags as a narrator calls for a violent race war to overthrow the government while using a slur for Jews.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
And his activities weren’t just limited to the online world. Althorpe also led his own neo-Nazi cell, recruiting a small group of people in the Greater Hamilton area to train them as a militia, taking them on hikes and engaging in mixed martial arts.
As part of their investigation, police searched Althorpe’s residence, seizing clothing, books and other materials demonstrating Nazi and fascist ideological beliefs, as well as firearms and dozens of electronic devices. Photos of the Atomwaffen flag hanging on Althorpe’s bedroom wall in his mother’s basement were found on one of his devices.
Kelly said the impact of his actions “has been devastating,” as multiple groups representing Jews, Muslims, Black people, and the LGBTQ+ community delivered impact statements to the court about the harm caused by Althorpe.
The judge granted federal Crown attorney Amber Pashuk’s request for 20 years in prison, after Pashuk described Althorpe as “the man behind the curtain” of global terror attacks. Had Althorpe not pleaded guilty and was convicted after a trial, Kelly said he would have been facing life imprisonment.
Defence lawyer Robb MacDonald argued for 12 to 14 years, saying his client’s actions were “repugnant,” “despicable,” and “absolutely wicked,” but that he was easily lured into the online world of white nationalist and extremist ideology as a way to cope with his mental health struggles and difficult childhood.
“Instead of working to elevate myself, I harmed the lives of strangers all around the world,” Althorpe told the judge at a sentencing hearing in January. “I became a complete monster.”
Kelly noted that Althorpe has done a lot of work to improve himself while incarcerated, and that a psychiatrist has found he would be a good candidate for therapy. But she also found that his family members who were interviewed for a pre-sentence report minimize his actions and “have failed to recognize” the seriousness of his crimes.
“While Mr. Althorpe’s community suggest that boredom during COVID or getting in with the wrong crowd might have inspired his involvement in terrorist activities, there really is no explanation for it,” Kelly said, looking directly at Althorpe, seated next to his lawyer.
Five Jewish organizations said in a statement Friday that Kelly’s decision “sends a powerful message: those who spread hate, inflict violence, and terrorize communities will be held fully accountable under the law.”
The Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, B’nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said governments must address “the sources of hate and radicalization” and boost support for community security.
“The threat posed by Mr. Althorpe was not only to the Jewish community,” the groups said. “His hatred and violent extremism targeted all those who did not align with his grotesque ideology.”
Althorpe has been in jail since he was arrested in December 2023, just 11 days before the birth of his daughter, who in the past has been brought to court by Althorpe’s fiancée along with other members of his family. His relatives wept on Friday as he was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs.