WOMAN CHARGED IN ATTACK

Police call for hate-crime treatment

A 32-year-old woman is facing a string of charges after a second “hate-motivated” attack in a week on a Muslim woman in the Southgate area.

A 23-year-old Black woman wearing a hijab walked through the Southgate LRT southeast doors about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday when she was approached by a woman who tried to hit her in the head with a shopping bag, all the while “yelling racially-motivated obscenities,” said city police in a Wednesday morning news release.

The complainant avoided being hit but, as she ran away, the accused continued to pursue her before an Edmonton Transit Services (ETS) peace officer intervened, calling in city police who made an arrest.

The complainant has since been offered help via the city police Crime and Trauma-informed Support Services.

She was also provided contacts for the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council (AMPAC) and the National Council of Canadian

Muslims (NCCM).

Rene Ladouceur, 32, is charged with assault with a weapon and nine outstanding warrants for unrelated events.

The city police Hate Crimes and Violent Extremism Unit is also recommending that Section 718.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada be applied in this case, allowing the courts to consider increased sentencing when there is evidence the offence was motivated by hatred.

Police note Tuesday's case is not connected to the Dec. 8 hate-motivated attack on a Muslim mother and daughter at Southgate Shopping Centre's parking lot.

In that case, the Black women, also both wearing hijabs, were approached by a man as they sat in their vehicle at the Southgate parking lot. The man was yelling racist obscenities before he punched the passenger door and broke the window, police said.

Both women fled and were assaulted after being thrown to the ground. Witnesses tried to intervene before police arrived.

Richard Bradley Stevens, 41, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and one count of mischief.

On Friday, 11 organizations supporting Black, Muslim and African communities in the Edmonton area wrote a letter in reaction to the attack, saying the act of violence wasn't a one-off.

Mayor Don Iveson said he was saddened by the two attacks and he condemns them in the strongest terms during a news conference Wednesday morning.

“The responsibility to condemn racially motivated behaviour falls on all of us, from elected officials and community leaders, to all Edmontonians from all walks of life,” Iveson said.

“These attacks demonstrate that hate comes in various forms and while there appear to be unrelated and distinct dimensions to these incidents, they are both outright unacceptable and downright un-edmontonian, period.”

Iveson said the city has been working on increasing safety on its transit system, including placing cameras on buses, the LRT, and transit stations.

“We have added security that we added a couple of years ago after previous incidents and concerns, and in this case, fortunately, there was a peace officer on the scene at Southgate who was able to intervene,” Iveson said.

“Ultimately, so many of those measures are in place so that should an incident occur, folks are going to be much more easily held accountable because there's very often video footage of what happened.”

Iveson said it's clear there are still challenges to tackling racism in the city and its institutions.

“This is why the city is committed to looking at these issues straight on with our anti-racism advisory committee to council,” Iveson said. “We don't shy away for a moment from the challenges that we continue to hear and that especially come to light in the aftermath of incidents like this.”

Premier Jason Kenney also condemned the attack on Wednesday.

“This is completely unacceptable, it is revolting, it is un-albertan,” he said on Twitter, adding he hopes to see “justice swiftly rendered for the victim of this crime.”

In a separate joint statement, ministers Leela Aheer, Kaycee Madu and Rajan Sawhney, along with the Alberta Anti-racism Advisory Council, also denounced the attacks.

“I want to make myself very clear: racism, religious intolerance, hatred and discrimination have no place in Alberta. Racists have no place in Alberta,” said Aheer in part of the statement.

“Our great province was built by people from different cultures and ethnicities, and it will continue to be built by Albertans from diverse backgrounds. The overwhelming majority of Albertans are welcoming and tolerant.

“Anyone who wants to play a part in building our future needs to embrace our pluralistic society and take an active role in creating a welcoming province for all.”

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley issued a statement condemning the attacks and expressing sympathy to the affected communities.

“I'm very concerned that many Edmontonians are waking up wondering if they can feel truly safe in this city. I want you to know that all of us owe you a duty to protect your safety and instil your sense of security,” Notley said.

“Hate cannot be tolerated in our city. I want the people targeted by this hate to know they are loved, they are respected and they, like of all us, have a place.”