‘Ottawa’ Man Who Thrust Hips Into War Memorial Fined for ‘Insult to Veterans’
A Toronto man who climbed the National War Memorial so he could rhythmically thrust his hips into the sacred statue honouring Canada’s war dead has been handed $1,300 in fines, but avoided a conviction under a relatively new law targeting those who commit mischief to war monuments.
Maciej Andrej Szczypka pleaded guilty to simple mischief in July for the late night drunken stunt that saw the 22-year-old mount the statue on Aug. 2, 2015. Some of the bystanders who watched Szczypka climb the memorial recorded with video cameras before police arrived to arrest him.
Szczypka was originally charged with mischief to a war memorial, but prosecutors agreed to let the now-contrite permanent resident plead guilty to simple mischief, since a conviction under the more serious charge of mischief to a war memorial could result in Szczypka being removed from Canada.