HAMILTON MOB VIOLENCE
About 30 people walked through neighbourhood carrying a banner calling selves ‘Ungovernables’
Masked anti-fascist group trashes an upscale street in Hamilton, vandalizing several stores,
HAMILTON— Hundreds of residents embraced a traumatized Hamilton neighbourhood Sunday in the aftermath of a masked mob vandalizing stores and setting off firecrackers that sounded like gunshots.
A lineup of customers at a doughnut store stretched around the corner at Locke and Charlton Sts., where the newly opened cafe’s windows were among those boarded-up after being shattered by rocks thrown by about 30 members of a group dressed in black and brandishing a banner that read: “We Are The Ungovernables.”
Hamilton Police said damage to shops, cars and homes in the area totalled about $100,000, but no injuries were reported. Police are investigating a possible anarchist group link to the vandalism that began just after 10 p.m., that Mayor Fred Eisenberger called “random and senseless.” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, the Hamilton Centre MPP who lives a couple of blocks from Locke St., was on hand supporting residents she said felt violated by the attack on their “peaceful, lovely, loving” neighbourhood.
Police are investigating but no arrests have been made so far.
An organizer at an anarchist book fair held over the weekend declined to comment Sunday and asked a Spectator reporter not to approach others attending. Ahandwritten sign on the wall read: “No cops/No photography/No bulls--t.”
The first signs of trouble began just before 10 p.m. Saturday when Hamilton Police responded to a “mischief in progress” call. When two officers arrived, a large group of people dressed in black — some wearing masks — began pelting the officers with rocks.
Insp. Paul Hamilton said police calledin about 30 officers from three patrol divisions, the ACTION team, and the emergency response and K9 units — but by the time they had assembled the rampaging group on Locke St. was gone.
Bitten on Locke co-owner Rebecca Tomasic had been locking up the shop for the night when she saw the mob approach. She ran to her car parked across the street and locked herself inside and saw someone in the group throw a large rock through her store window. “It was terrifying,” she said afterwards. An outpouring of support for Locke Street businesses emerged Sunday on social media, with some pledging to visit for coffee, lunch or dinner.
Horwath is asking Hamiltonians to support businesses on Locke St. on March 10, which has been dubbed #LoveLockeDay.