Antisemitic graffiti on a sign outside the courthouse in Ottawa, Canada, c. 2021. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism.

A delivery driver is facing possible hate crimes charges after making violent threats to Jewish students at a yeshiva in Toronto and assaulting a staffer there, a Canadian Jewish group said Thursday.

According to Yeshiva World News, the Uber Eats deliveryman showed up at Toronto’s Yeshiva Gedolah, accosting students and saying he would “kill 30 Jews today.” The disturbing scene was witnessed by the school’s cook, YWN reported, who was punched in the face after asking the man to leave. The cook then tackled the perpetrator and detained him until the arrival of police, who discovered that he was armed with a knife.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center confirmed Thursday that the driver now faces criminal charges, including assault and communicating threats.

“It is extremely troubling that a man with a weapon violently threatened people at a yeshiva and, even more disturbingly, yelled that he wanted to kill Jews, ” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, director of policy at the Toronto-based Jewish organization. “Such an attack comes on the heels of the Toronto Police Service’s most recent annual hate crime report that once again showed the city’s Jewish community as the most targeted group.”

The Toronto Police Service report found that 257 hate incidents took place in the city last year, with 56 targeting Jewish victims.

“Jewish students deserve to go to school without fearing threats and violence,” Kirzner-Roberts continued.

Antisemitic hate crimes in Canada overall have reached record highs for six consecutive years, according to data compiled by B’nai B’rith Canada. Almost eight incidents per day occurred in 2021, a recent audit by the group revealed, including 2,460 episodes of harassment and 75 violent incidents throughout 2021.