Tilda Roll usually carries a can of coyote repellent with her when she walks around her neighbourhood in Vaughan, Ont. But ever since she was the target of an antisemitic incident while leaving her synagogue after Shabbat services on Jan. 6, 2024, the lawyer says she has been more afraid of running into the antisemitic attacker again, since he lives in her neighbourhood.

At the time, police quickly located the suspect, and charged him with a couple of assaults—spitting on Roll and her husband, hurling Nazi threats at them and making the Heil Hitler salute—and breach of probation. After a three-day trial this March, the man was convicted, but was not held in custody.

Earlier this week, on May 13, an Ontario judge sentenced Kenneth Gobin, 35, to a year in prison, with two more years of probation tacked on due to his lengthy criminal record.

With the man now off the streets, Roll says she can finally begin to process what happened, including how anxious and angry the incident made her. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, Tilda Roll explains how she hopes her court fight will encourage Jewish Canadians to fight back against rampant antisemitism.

Related links

• Read the judge's sentencing report sending Kenneth Gobin to prison for 12 months for two counts of assault and one of breach of probation.
• Why Jews are still the target of the most religious-based hate crimes in Toronto in 2024, in The CJN.
• A Quebec man who posted swastikas in his town was found guilty and fined $7,000, in The CJN.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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