Staff Sgt. Astrid Bonter: “Cases are solved when someone calls police to report a crime.”
An 87-year-old man of Jewish descent is headbutted on Commercial Drive for taking issue with a man waving a Palestinian flag.
Two women walking away from a pro-Israel rally are accosted by two teenage boys who threaten to rape the females and slice their faces.
Graffiti is sprayed on a community centre that says all Muslims should die.
These were some of the hate-motivated incidents highlighted Tuesday by Staff Sgt. Astrid Bonter of the Vancouver Police Department as she released information on the number of hate crime incidents and protests that occurred in the city in 2023.
“Whether it be a hateful gesture, anti-Islamic or anti-Muslim commentary, a swastika written on a sidewalk window or wall, an assault, a threat or an act of intimidation, this behaviour cannot be normalized and will not be tolerated in this city,” said Bonter, who works in the VPD’s diversity, community and Indigenous relations section.
Reporters heard at a news conference at the VPD’s Cambie Street precinct that the Israel-Hamas war is the single biggest reason why hate crime incidents and protests increased in Vancouver last year.
In total, police have investigated 50 criminal offences connected to the Israel-Hamas war, including assaults against police officers and cases of obstructing police. Suspects have been identified in 26 of the 50 incidents.
To date, VPD has recommended criminal charges in 17 cases, resulting in nine people being charged in connection with 11 different incidents. That includes people charged in the incidents involving the 87-year-old man on Commercial Drive and the two women accosted by teenagers after a pro-Israel rally.
Six cases are currently being reviewed by Crown counsel.
Last year, police investigated 265 hate crime reports across all communities, a 31 per cent increase from 2022. Police also saw an increase in reports from the South Asian and…
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