Jail urged for anti-feminist blogger who praised Polytechnique shooter

The prosecution is asking for a 12-month prison term for Jean-Claude Rochefort, who's been convicted of spreading hate.

Jean-Claude Rochefort, found guilty in August of spreading hate toward feminists while praising the shooter in the École Polytechnique massacre, said Friday he would have to be “an imbecile” to continue to post the same sort of blog items that led to his conviction.

“I have covered the subject. I have no intention” of posting similar items, Rochefort told Superior Court Justice Pierre Labrie during his sentencing hearing at the Montreal courthouse.

“If I published any more, I would look like a clown, because I’ve said everything there is on the question. So, I would sound like an old record that repeats. I would have no more credibility.”

Prosecutor Roxane Laporte asked that Rochefort be sentenced to serve a 12-month prison term followed by a period of probation.

Defence lawyer Rodolphe Bourgeois recommended a 9-month sentence to be served in the community, also followed by a period of probation.

In August, Rochefort was found guilty of inciting hatred in the months leading up to the 30th anniversary of the Polytechnique tragedy in which 14 women were killed in a shooting rampage on Dec. 6, 1989.

Rochefort, 73, wrote a series of blog posts beginning in September 2019 for an online group of incels, or involuntary celibate men.

Some posts referred to the Polytechnique shooter as a saint; others featured doctored photos of him holding a firearm. Professors of feminist studies at Montreal universities began to notice they were mentioned in the posts. Montreal police were informed, and they began monitoring the posts.

The day before the anniversary, Rochefort posted an item that began: “To all a happy December 6. The International Marc Lépine Day, December 6, is almost here again. By now all men should have their homes decorated. The lights should be up. The cards sent out, the carbines polished. A day of feasting, drinking, and celebrating.”

Rochefort was then arrested at his Montreal home.

Rochefort testified that his writings amounted to satire intended to criticize what he referred to as “extreme feminists” who commented on the massacre whenever an anniversary approached.

On Friday, Rochefort said he has found “new interests” and no longer has the desire to write.

“I would be an imbecile if I wrote about it again,” he said, adding he has not been online for the past three years, respecting a condition imposed on him at his bail hearing.

“So, I no longer need to write. I accept my age, my retirement.”

Laporte picked up on the lack of regret in Rochefort’s statements. She asked whether Rochefort has “any sympathy for his victims.”

“What victims?” Rochefort said. He later said his posts were an attempt to ridicule “extreme feminists” who he felt had thick skin.

Laporte noted one post used a photo of the École Polytechnique memorial listing the names of the 14 victims. The attorney asked Rochefort whether he considered how the victims’ families might feel seeing the names of their loved ones used in that way.

“If someone real said, ‘Mr. Rochefort, you’re writing did me harm,’ I would apologize,” he said.

Stéphanie Daigneault, a probation officer who interviewed Rochefort for hours to prepare for the sentencing, told Labrie he has done little in terms of reflection since he was found guilty.

“There is not a lot of advancement in terms of his reflection,” Daigneault said, recommending Rochefort be required to consult a psychologist and not be allowed to access the internet while he serves his sentence.

When Daigneault was cross-examined by Bourgeois, she said Rochefort “now sees the criminal element” in what he wrote.

Melissa Blais, a professor at Université du Québec à Montréal whom Rochefort referred to in one of his posts, testified Friday she was uncomfortable being in the same room as him.

“I am worried about finding myself in front of someone who is convinced by the incitations of Mr. Rochefort to commit the same type of attack,” Blais said, adding she is fearful each year as the anniversary of the massacre approaches.

“In 2020, I was teaching a course in anti-feminism at UQAM and I had that fear again at the start of a course,” she said. “I scrutinized the students as they entered (the classroom) for a long time to try to sense their intentions and see if they showed signs of being nervous. I also scrutinized over the backpacks of the students to try to see if they were hiding weapons.”

pcherry@postmedia.com

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