HATE GRAFFITI SPREADS
Video may provide clues as police tackle crimes
Ottawa police have 10 to 12 officers investigating a rash of racial and religious hate messages that grew to five by Friday morning, and they believe at least three appear to be the work of the same person or persons.
The city woke up Friday to red swastikas and slurs painted on the doors of Parkdale United Church at Parkdale and Gladstone Avenues, and the Ottawa Mosque on Northwestern Avenue.
This follows similar incidents at three Jewish sites in the past week, first at Kehillat Beth Israel congregation near Carling and Kirkwood Avenues, later at a small prayer centre in the Glebe, and at Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Featherstone Park.
Officers from the east, west and central divisions and the hate crime unit are all working on the investigation. Seven of them met Friday morning to divide up assignments and set timetables.
Insp. Mike Laviolette said in an interview that several facts in the investigation stand out so far:
“We certainly are going with the theory that the three on the Jewish institutions are connected,” he said. This isn’t yet certain but he called it “one of the very strong working theories that we have.”
He wasn’t ready to say whether the later incidents reported Friday at the church and the mosque are connected, since he had not yet seen evidence or police reports from the scenes.
The three Jewish sites are many kilometres apart, which means that if one person wanted to attack all three it would require travelling and planning, not just impulsively spraying a message close to home.
Behaviour like that “is absolutely out of the ordinary. That is certainly factoring into our investigative initiative,” he said.
The nature of at least one message was unusual too. Someone sprayed the word “kike” at one Jewish centre, a word the hate crimes unit doesn’t generally see. “We have experienced police officers in here who have never even heard the word, let alone knowing what it means,” Laviolette said. “So that’s not kids fooling around here. That’s somebody who is very upto-speed in terms of the history.”
The early work in forensics shows “there is definitely material to work with,” though Laviolette said he can’t give all the details.
But he said there is useful video evidence from at least one scene, “albeit not the greatest quality,” that shows one suspect alone. He appears to be a man about six feet to six-feet-one-inch tall.
Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said in a radio interview that video evidence came from the incident in Featherstone Park.
Laviolette said the incidents definitely fit the definition of hate crime in the Criminal Code.
One synagogue has announced a day of “solidarity and thanksgiving” to show the community’s opposition to racism and hatred.
“To honour and give thanks for this support, Congregation Machzikei Hadas will be hosting a Solidarity and Thanks-giving event this Saturday (at 11 a.m.), open to the entire Ottawa community,” the message reads.
“There is an emboldening that has taken place, I believe,” said Anthony Bailey, Parkdale United’s pastor. “I don’t think it’s just one person or one group. I think that they are elements within our city that contribute to this kind of hateful speech.”
Ottawa Mosque vice-president Ahmed Ibrahim said of the hate message: “This is not Canada. Canada is an accepting, welcoming, beautiful country. tspears@postmedia.com twitter.com/TomSpears1