Hulgaard pleads guilty to charge of wilfully promoting hatred

By Jeremy Appel on February 28, 2020.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com
@MHNJeremyAppel

Loki Hulgaard has pled guilty to wilfully promoting hatred and a Firearms Act violation. 

Hulgaard, who was arrested in August 2018 after attempting to circulate currency with anti-Semitic slogans printed on it, was slated for trial Feb. 26-28, but pled guilty on what was supposed to be the first day of the trial.

Upon searching his residence on Aug. 1, 2018, police found a .22 caliber rifle, shotgun, two SKS guns with their serial numbers removed, three over-capacity magazines and ammunition.

As a result, Hugaard – nee Brendan Stanley Dell – was charged with knowingly possessing a firearm with its serial number removed, four counts of careless use or storage of a firearm and eight counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm. 

However, he pled guilty to contravening the conditions of his firearm licence, which is not a criminal offence.

This relates to his firearm licence being under his original name, which he changed in 2013. Under section 15 of the Firearms Licences Regulations, an individual must report any changes of name to the firearms officer within 30 days as a condition of their licence.  

The accused represented himself in an appeal of his federally-imposed suspension of his firearm licence, which was upheld by Judge Eric Brooks on Dec. 18, 2018. 

In that hearing, Hulgaard revealed he was stockpiling weapons in preparation for a post-apocalyptic race war, describing gun control as a way to “prevent the white population from defending themselves from terrorists.” 

Hulgaard was inititally charged with inciting hatred, but that was changed to wilfully promoting hatred in January 2019, an offence which carries the same maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. 

The Criminal Code defines wilfully promoting hatred as “communicating statements” outside of private conversation that promote hatred against an identifiable group, while inciting hatred is defined as making public statements promoting hatred against an identifiable group “where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace.” 

Hulgaard’s sentencing is scheduled for March 26.   

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