Alleged hate crime against group of Jewish teens in Toronto — fightthecharges.com

Recently in the news, there has been word of an alleged assault and swarming of several Jewish teens by a group of approximately 9 youths. One youth has been arrested. The allegations are of note given that the victims were identifiable as being Jewish by their attire, specifically the Kippah or yarmulke. It is also alleged that the youths made fun of their yarmulkes. The sections relating to hate crime define an “identifiable group” as one “distinguished by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability”. Sadly, there have been many such allegations. We have heard of young women harassed or assaulted because they wore a hijab, East Indians because of their colour or those with a disability harassed because of their disability. Recently, there surfaced a video that had gone viral of a 14-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy in Cape Breton who had been forced to lie down in a creek while other boys stepped on top of him as they crossed over, essentially using him as a human bridge. As well, the Criminal Code prohibits any speech that promotes or incites hate against an identifiable group. History in Canada A well-known case from the 1980s was James Keegstra, a high school teacher, who was convicted of inciting hatred against Jews by, among other things, saying that the Holocaust was a hoax and also attributing various evil qualities to Jews. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court of Canada where his conviction was upheld. Another infamous case was that of Ernst Zundel who was convicted of hate crimes for publishing material that denied the existence of the Holocaust as well as other neo-Nazi information. Zundel never did become a Canadian citizen and was eventually deported back to Germany. There, he was arrested for inciting racial hatred and imprisoned. Hatred as an aggravating factor More often, we see situations in which it can be inferred that hatred of a specific group is motivating an assault or mischief. If there is graffiti or damage to grave makers in a Jewish cemetery or destruction to a mosque, for example, the Criminal Code allows the court to consider the motivation to be an aggravating factor in sentencing. Putting graffiti on the side of building might result in a charge of mischief and a period of probation but, if the graffiti includes hateful slogans or symbols recognized as racist, or if the vandalism is to a house of worship, the offence becomes even more serious and the punishment is likely to becomes more serious as well. Even a charge of mischief will attract a more severe penalty where it is done to cause emotional upset to members of a congregation. What is the trend? Regrettably, the trend of offences being motivated by hatred of a certain group seems to be on the rise. The Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit reports that the number of hate crimes jumped by 28% from 2016 to 2017. A 2013 study from StatsCan shows that most police-reported hate crimes are reported from major metropolitan areas. In fact, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver reported 43% of all the hate crimes in Canada. However, that statistic does not tell the whole story since the study also indicates that Canada’s visible population is concentrated in those large cities. Any statistic that shows an increase in such behaviour is troubling.If you or someone you know has been charged with any crime alleged to be motivated by hate, it is important to have counsel to assist. At Aitken Robertson, we are here to help.

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