Ex-Second Cup franchisee charged with uttering threats after antisemitic incident at Montreal protest

WARNING: The story below contains antisemitic remarks.

A woman filmed making antisemitic remarks and performing a Nazi salute at a protest in Montreal in November has been charged with uttering threats.

According to court documents, Mai Abdulhadi, 40, was charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

The alleged incident happened outside Concordia University on Nov. 21, 2024 and led to the termination of Abdulhadi's franchise agreement with Second Cup and the closure of the two café locations she operated at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital.

The protest Abdulhadi allegedly attended was organized in the context of CEGEP and university students in Montreal striking and calling for Quebec post-secondary institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel and urging the federal government to take a stance against the ongoing war in Gaza.

After reviewing videos of the protest, Peter Mammas, the president and CEO of Foodtastic (which owns the Second Cup coffee chain), confirmed that the woman raising her arm in a Nazi salute and making antisemitic remarks was Abdulhadi, the franchisee involved.

"The final solution is coming your way, the final solution. You know what the final solution is?" the woman can be heard saying in the video. 

The phrase is widely recognized for its association with Nazi Germany's plan to exterminate Jewish people.

CBC viewed the videos, which had been circulated on social media.

The allegations against Abdulhadi have yet to be proven in court.