Eleven individuals have been charged in connection with a hate-motivated vandalism incident at a prominent book shop chain in Yorkville, according to Toronto police. The incident took place at around 4:15 a.m. on November 10, when officers responded to a mischief call in the Bay and Bloor streets area. The suspects allegedly glued posters with offensive content to the doors and windows of the Indigo store before dousing the windows and sidewalk with red paint. The posters, which were captured on CP24’s cameras, depicted the Jewish CEO of the company, Heather Reisman, accompanied by the words “Funding Genocide.”
Last week, authorities arrested and charged 41-year-old Nisha Toomey from Toronto with mischief over $5,000 in relation to the incident. Yesterday, Toronto police revealed that ten more individuals, all residents of the city, are now facing charges in connection with the case. The accused include Sharmeen Khan (45), MacDonald Scott (56), Mercedes Lee (44), Suzanne Narain (38), Lesley Wood (56), Sarom Rho (29), Ian Doty (43), Stuart Schussler (39), Karl Sebastian Gardner (33), and Clement Cheng (26). Each of them is charged with one count of mischief over $5,000 and one count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offense. Their court appearance is scheduled for January.
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Toronto police stated that the investigation is ongoing and is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offense. The book store chain, Indigo, has been a target of boycott campaigns for many years due to its founder’s HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers.
During a meeting of the Toronto Police Services Board yesterday morning, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw highlighted a concerning increase in anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian hate crimes since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7. Chief Demkiw referred to the rise as “staggering” and assured that the police force is dedicating substantial resources to address these worrisome trends and all categories of hate crimes in the city.
