Toronto Police Arrest Man Responsible for Antisemitic Graffiti Near York University
by Dion J. Pierre
Antisemitic graffiti near York University. Photo: Screenshot.
The person responsible for graffitiing antisemitic messages near York University in Canada has been arrested and charged, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) announced on Tuesday evening.
Trevor York, a 35-year-old Toronto resident, responded to the charges in court earlier that morning, TPS said. He faces multiple counts of “Hate Motivated” property damaging, mischief, and breaking and entering.
As previously reported, York’s offensive graffiti depicted a Jew with sidelocks and a Star of David inside crosshairs next to a message that says, “Shoot a Jew in the head.”
It compounded concerns about the safety of Canada’s Jewish community, which has experienced record highs of antisemitic hate crimes for six consecutive years, with almost eight incidents occurring per day in 2021.
“It’s not a surprising thing in this area, but it makes me feel a little bit nervous, a little big sad, a lot angry as well,” York University graduate student Garrett Ryan told CP24, a local news outlet, in June. “It’s frightening that people are trying to incite violence on us.”
In May, B’nai B’rith Canada urged the Canadian government to issue a report assessing its progress on fulfilling its promise to aggressively fight antisemitism throughout the provinces. The Canadian government subsequently filed a report last year at the Malmo International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism.
TPS added that its investigation, supported by the Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit, is “ongoing.”
