Herbert Hildebrandt claims self defence on stand in assault trial

Testifying in his own defence, Herbert Hildebrandt says he felt threatened by two elderly men when he pushed Jack Dykxhoorn, 84, to the ground in Malahide Township, on Dec. 10, 2020.

Hildebrandt says he got a call from his uncle Peter Hildebrandt at 9:34 a.m., and four minutes later was at the property across from the Church of God in Aylmer, Ont.

He told the court he pulled into the driveway at the ‘Thompson Farm’ on the west side of Imperial Road and pulled his truck up next to that of Jack Dykxhoorn.

“I rolled my window down and said ‘Good Morning,’”says Herbert.

He then says he inquired whether Dykxhoorn was the man who put a ‘Be Kind Wear a Mask’ sign on the road allowance outside the Church of God.

He claims Dykxhoorn told him to ‘F—k Off.’”

Herbert told the court that the entire Church of God community was “on edge” due to recent trespassing and vandalism at the church surrounding the time of the alleged assault.

Herbert says he got out of his truck to go get the sign from across the road, when he claimed “in [the] next few seconds, I saw them [Dykxhoorn and Walter Morgan] coming toward them rapidly.”

“They used a series of expletives, like ‘F—k You’, ‘Get the hell out of here you crazy anti-maskers’ and I felt threatened. It was totally unexpected as I did not expect confrontation.”

Herbert claimed the two men in their 80s didn’t stop approaching him.

“Jack bumped me twice and after the second time I said ‘If you bump me again, I will push you off me,’” says Herbert.

“They weren’t wearing masks and as a result of his non-stop string of words out of his mouth, and him being eight to 10 inches from me, he was spitting at me.”

Herbert then said it was a “basic human reflex” to extend his hands and push Dykxhoorn, who then fell back, hit his truck and suffered cracked ribs.

However Herbert claims he didn’t push him hard enough for the 84-year-old man to stumble as far as he did.

“He took about two to three steps back and then began to just keep going back. I expected him to take a step or two back, but he kept going and going and going,” says Herbert.

“He kept moving back until he hit the back of his truck, and then slid down the side of the truck, and rolled over on the ground. The first two steps I expected, I had felt he embellished and exaggerated for a purpose. I knew what I had done could not result in that behaviour.”

Herbert says he went up to Dykxhoorn and asked if he was OK and then left he property to return to the church after David Peters [a friend of Dykxhoorn’s] told him to leave.

Hildebrandt is charged with assault after allegedly pushing Dykxhoorn to the ground. 

The trial is resuming 10 months after Dykxhoorn took the stand.

On Tuesday, three witnesses took the stand for the Crown and two others took the stand for the defence.

Both lawyers made closing statements defending their respective clients Wednesday afternoon.

Defence lawyer Lakin Afolabi called the four men - Dykxhoorn, Morgan, Jack Brower and David Peters - “geriatric trolls” by knowing they were antagonistic for putting up a sign in front of the church. He later re-iterated Hildebrandt acted in self-defence.

The Crown, represented by prosecutor Stephanie Venne, rejected any suggestion of a threat to safety at the Church of God, and that Mr. Hildebrandt started the confrontation by reacting to the sign being put in front of the property and coming to the farm house.

Justice Mark Poland closed by addressing Hildebrandt.

“I appreciate this is an important issue for you,” says Poland. “You and the community are deserving of a careful look at evidence.”

Justice Poland will return on Aug. 22, 2022 to deliver an in-person verdict.