He said it was not a crime to give someone the finger. Judge Galiatsatos said in an apparent reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian. It may not be civil, it may not be polite, it may not be gentlemanly. It does not trigger criminal liability. Details of the case, and its outcome, were reported this week by The Canadian Press.
On May 18, 2021, a schoolteacher with two young daughters, was arrested after returning home from a long walk. He and Mr. Naccache had a fight outside Mr. Naccache's home earlier that day.
Mr. Naccache testified that he had been doing renovation work on his front staircase when Mr. Epstein walked by his house, said something and gave him the finger with both hands. Mr. Naccache, who said he had been wearing earplugs at the time, claimed that Mr. Epstein had made a throat-slashing gesture and a punching motion with his hand, as if he was challenging him to a fight.
Mr. Naccache called the police and said he feared that Mr. Epstein was going to try to kill him.
Mr. Epstein recalled the interaction differently. He said that Mr. Naccache had been holding a power drill in a menacing way and yelling threats at him. Epstein denied making a throat-slitting gesture, but he said he had yelled an expletive and acknowledged that he had given his neighbor the finger as he walked away.
Is it possible that Mr. Epstein was a potential murderer? Why did he go for quiet walks with his kids? Why did he socialize with the other young parents on the street? If that is the standard, we should all fear that our neighbors are killers in waiting.