Tomasz Winnicki

Tomasz Winnicki (born November 17, 1975) is a white supremacist and anti-Semite based in London, Ontario. He was the subject of complaints before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for his activities and is also facing criminal charges on weapons offences. In July 2006 he was sentenced to nine months in prison for violating a Federal Court injunction barring him from posting hateful material on the Internet. [cite web|url=http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/07/13/1681815-sun.html|publisher=The London Free Press |title=City's 'biggest hater' gets 9 months in jail|first=Randy|last=Richmond|date=July 13, 2006] Winnicki is a prolific poster on Alex Linder's Vanguard News Network (VNN) web forum. Winnicki had previously posted using the username Thexder_3D however he later opted to post using his real name after having been publicly identified. Winnicki is noted for the often angry tone of his posts which are almost always laced with profanity and racial slurs.

As a result of his online writings, Ottawa human rights lawyer Richard Warman filed a federal human rights complaint against Winnicki. Winnicki has now been the subject of hearings before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in August and October 2005 with closing arguments heard on Dec. 12, 2005. Winnicki faced the possibility of a permanent cease and desist order, a penalty of up to $10,000 and damages of up to $60,000 for naming the complainant personally in the discriminatory material and attempting to retaliate against him for having filed the complaint.

The Federal Court of Canada issued an injunction against Winnicki on October 4 2005 enjoining him from posting hate propaganda until the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issues a decision in the case against him. The judge said:

"Having looked at these messages in their entirety and in context, I have no doubt that they are likely to expose persons of the Jewish faith to hatred or contempt, as these concepts have been defined in Nealy, supra, and approved in Taylor, supra. And the same can be said of the messages which target persons of the black race. They are undoubtedly as vile as one can imagine and are not only discriminatory but threatening to the victims they target." Justice de Montigny, [http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/2005/2005fc1493/2005fc1493.html Amended Reasons for Order] , Canadian Human Rights Commission v Tomasz Winnicki, November 28, 2005]

He went on to say:

"In conclusion, I have no hesitation in holding that the words complained of are so manifestly contrary to the letter and the spirit of s. 13 of the CHRA that any finding to the contrary would be considered highly suspect."

Winnicki was the subject of contempt of court proceedings in Ottawa before the Federal Court as he was alleged to have broken the injunction by continuing to post hate to the Internet. [Richmond, Randy, "Local supremacist faces contempt charges", "London Free Press", April 20, 2006] [Staff, " [http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/PDF/jt060427.pdf Tribunal orders Winnicki to stop spreading net hate] ", "Jewish Tribune", April 27, 2006, pg 7] In July, Winnicki was sentenced to nine months imprisonment by the Federal Court of Canada for disregarding the court order and continuing to spread "the unrelenting message of hatred" over the internet. [cite web|url=http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/07/13/1681815-sun.html|publisher=The London Free Press |title=City's 'biggest hater' gets 9 months in jail|first=Randy|last=Richmond|date=July 13, 2006] Winnicki faces a second contempt for continuing to violate the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's permanent cease and desist order of April, 2006.

After spending less than three months in jail, Winnicki was released in the fall of 2006 pending his appeal of the nine months sentence that was handed down on July 2006 for contempt of court. The appeal will be heard on January 16, 2007. [ cite web|url=http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/PDF/jt061005.pdf|publisher=The Jewish Tribune |title=Winnicki freed |date=October 5, 2006|format=PDF]

Winnicki has been criticized by some of his fellow white supremacists for employing a Chinese-Canadian lawyer, Chi-Kun Shi, to defend him before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

In April, the Tribunal released its ruling and fined Winnicki $6000 for violating the Canadian Human Rights Act and ordered him to pay an additional $5,500 in damages to the complainant, Richard Warman. The Tribunal found that Winnnicki's internet postings were "vicious and dehumanizing" and ordered him to stop posting hateful messages on the internet. [cite web|url=http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2006/04/14/1534002-sun.html|publisher=The London Free Press |title=Supremacist fined $11,500|first=Randy|last=Richmond|date=April 14, 2006]

In addition to his online activities, Winnicki has attended a number of protests within London, Ontario where he resides with his mother, as well as some others outside of London. In September 2004 Winnicki and three others were stopped by the police as they were driving to rally in support of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel in Toronto. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, having weapons at a public meeting and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose after Toronto police found throwing knives, a bow and arrows, and body armour in the vehicle he was driving to the rally. He pleaded guilty to weapons charges on November 23 2006, receiving a conditional discharge with 6 months of probation.

Winnicki and his family emigrated from Poland to Italy and then, after a year and a half, to Canada in 1987.

References

External links

* [http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/2005/2005fc1493/2005fc1493.html Federal Court - reasons for injunction dated Nov. 7, 2005]
* [http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/2006/2006fc873/2006fc873.html Federal Court - contempt of court judgment dated July 12, 2006]
* [http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2005/10/06/1250474-sun.html Court rules Winnicki can't post hate on Net]
* [http://dokmz.akdh.ch/blog/2005/05/london-free-press-news-section-biggest.html London Free Press: News Section - 'Biggest hater' spotlighted]
* [http://www.lfpress.ca/perl-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=societe&p=93528.html&a=1 HATE IN THE FOREST CITY: Who are they? TOMASZ WINNICKI]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/insite/AS_IT_HAPPENS_TORONTO/2005/11/16.html CBC Radio "As It Happens" segment on Winnicki] under title "Net Hate" broadcast November 16 2005.
* [http://www.fct-cf.gc.ca/bulletins/whatsnew/T-1309-05.pdf Federal Court sentences Winnicki to 9 months imprisonment for contempt - July 12, 2006]
* [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/07/13/1683450-cp.html CNEWS Canada: White supremacist jailed 9 months]