NEWS

Charges laid in investigation of two assaults called hate-motivated

A man has been arrested after two alleged assaults police are treating as hate-motivated — one in midtown’s Deer Park area and one at downtown’s Stanley Park.

The arrest came on July 10 after officers responded to a call for an assault near Yonge and Glen Elm streets at about 10:30 a.m., police said in a news release today.

It was reported a person was walking south on Yonge when a man walking north showed him a non-permanent drawing of a swastika on his chest and then yelled anti-Semitic slurs toward a group of people. When the person confronted the man about his language, the person was punched multiple times by the man.

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Police said they located the man a short distance away and charged him with assault.

A video shared by the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto on July 15 shows part of the incident on Yonge Street.

Mayor John Tory released a statement saying he was shocked by the reports of the anti-Semitic attacks.

The same man had been arrested July 6 after a similar incident in a different part of town.

At 8 a.m., police attended a call at Stanley Park near King Street West and Walnut Avenue where it was reported a man with a non-permanent drawing of a swastika on his chest was yelling anti-Semitic slurs at an individual. The man then threw an object at a person.

He was located and arrested nearby, police said.

The UJA also shared video of part of that confrontation.

swastika man in park
IN THE PARK: Image from a video shared by UJA shows a man with a swastika tattoo walking through Stanley Park.

In that case the man identified as Michael Park, 32, of Toronto, was charged with assault with a weapon, interference with the use and enjoyment of a park by others, and using profane or abusive language in a park, the latter two being infringements of the Toronto Municipal Code.

After consultation with their hate crime unit, police said both incidents are being treated as hate-motivated.

Park attended court on July 10 and scheduled next to appear in court July 15 via video.