An Ontario man who was a member of a neo-Nazi group and has pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges told a Toronto judge on Friday that he was a “complete monster at times,” but has turned over a new leaf since his arrest in 2023.
Matthew Althorpe said at his sentencing hearing that he regrets his past actions and extremist beliefs. His lawyer Robb MacDonald asked Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly to consider a sentence of 12 to 14 years — less than the 20 years sought by Crown prosecutors.
Althorpe has admitted to creating and publishing white supremacist propaganda while being an active member of the terror group Atomwaffen Division from approximately 2018 until it disbanded around 2020 or 2021.
A statement of facts entered into evidence as part of Althorpe’s guilty plea last fall also said he was one of the leaders of Terrorgram, a network of channels on the social media app Telegram that promoted hatred and violent ideologies.
Althorpe, who is from the Niagara Region, co-wrote manifestos and produced videos and other content that called for violence against Jewish, Muslim and Black people, among other identifiable groups.
MacDonald argued that Althorpe has shown remorse for his actions by pleading guilty to terrorism charges, and that he should receive a lesser sentence than other convicted terrorists because he did not take concrete steps to carry out attacks.
“It’s still dangerous, it’s still criminal, but there is a distinct difference,” MacDonald said.
In a brief rebuttal, Crown prosecutor Amber Pashuk argued Althorpe’s actions have resulted in real-world harm.
The agreed statement of facts said content Althorpe posted on Terrorgram inspired multiple terrorist attacks, including one against members of the LGBTQ+ community in Slovakia in 2022 during which two people were killed, and the stabbing of five people at a mosque in Turkey in 2024.
MacDonald characterized his client as a young man who went “way off course and made terrible criminal mistakes” as a result of experiencing childhood sexual abuse and mental health disorders that went untreated.
The defence lawyer said Althorpe found community with white supremacists as a teenager and engaged with extremist ideology to cope with his personal struggles.
“Mr. Althorpe was in many ways a ticking time bomb. He was plagued with so many issues that it was just a matter of time before his recipe of troubling issues led him onto a very dark path,” MacDonald said.
Althorpe, who was arrested by the RCMP in December 2023, was originally charged with eight terrorism offences and he pleaded guilty to three of them.
He is set to be sentenced on March 27.
