Drugs made his client slam into gate of Brisbane synagogue, lawyer claims

It was the drugs that made Matthew De Campo ram the entrance gate of a synagogue in Brisbane, Australia, last Feb. 20. No antisemitism here, his lawyer claims.

Prosecutors initially filed aggravated charges of what they described as serious vilification or a hate crime, but they decided that religious animosity was not a motivating factor, according to a news report in Australia’s J-Wire over the weekend.

They attributed his actions to heavy substance abuse and mental instability after De Campo’s defense barrister Gregory McGuire presented psychiatric evidence that De Campo was subject to methamphetamine-induced psychosis along with cannabis use.

De Campo, 32, pleaded guilty to willful damage, methamphetamine possession and possession of a drug pipe and was sentenced to six months in jail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, the news report stated. Magistrate Megan Power ordered his release due to time served and his active participation in residential drug rehabilitation.

Why didn’t he try a dingo-ate-my-baby defense while he was at it? Readers might recall that Meryl Streep’s character in A Cry in the Dark claimed when she was accused of killing one of her children. 

I do not dispute that De Campo had a drug problem, nor that he was mentally unstable. A suspect must be unstable to commit a crime. However, why did he choose a synagogue?

That was the case in other instances. In Seattle, an assailant who killed and wounded employees at a Jewish Federation office avoided conviction in his first trial when he employed an insanity defense, which resulted in a hung jury. He was convicted during his second trial.

It stands to reason that De Campo might go after the synagogue, the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation, if he blamed Jews for Israel’s actions in Gaza or was antisemitic for other reasons. The drugs and/or his mental status could have given him nerve to ram the gate.

Evidence of antisemitism was disclosed in court filings disclosing that De Campo referenced the Bondi Beach killings that occurred two months earlier when police questioned him. He also showed an obsession with religious themes. De Campo also lists on Facebook the Hebrew name Matisyahu in brackets after his name, according to the news report.

These are stark clues about his thinking. Details of the incident even suggest he knew what he was doing.

Security film at the site showed De Campo stopping his car outside the facility shortly after 7 p.m. on a Friday, soon after Shabbat services ended. Then he drove in reverse into the locked gates, tearing one door off its hinges. A worshipper nearby rushed away from the falling structure.

It is not like he drove directly into the gates. He stopped first, meaning he had time to think through his next move.

Police caught him a short time later.

Even the six-month sentence for the lesser charges seemed lenient. De Campo could have killed someone. After all, the aforementioned worshipper had to scramble to avoid the impact of the crash.

It adds to a pattern in which those who display signs of hostility to Israel and even Jews get off easy. Maybe the prosecutors and the magistrate should have taken a closer look.

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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.