According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website):According to a police news release, the suspect approached a group of people outside the Toronto Islamic Centre near Yonge Street and Davenport Road around 6:40 a.m. ET and threw a rock at them while yelling slurs. He then allegedly attacked them with a bike chain, injuring one person, CBC News reported.
This was the third incident involving the suspect this week, police said. On Wednesday morning, he reportedly sprayed an unknown substance on a cab driver near Front Street and Yonge Street after asking him if he was Muslim. Later that day, he allegedly did the same to a woman wearing a hijab near Fort York Boulevard and Spadina Avenue, who was taken to hospital for minor injuries.
The suspect faces eight charges, including four counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of assault and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
The Toronto Islamic Centre condemned the attacks and called for action against hate and Islamophobia. “While our first priority is to ensure the ongoing safety of worshippers, we need to see long-term change to fight all forms of hate, including Islamophobia,” the centre said in a statement.
Uthman Quick, the director of communications for the National Council of Muslim Canadians, said the mosque attendees were shaken up but okay. He also expressed his frustration with the rising hate in the city. “What we see in our city right now is absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “Whether it’s antisemitism, whether it’s anti-Palestinian racism, whether it’s Islamophobia — enough is enough.”
Mayor Olivia Chow also denounced the attacks and expressed her solidarity with the Muslim community, in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
There has been a significant increase in Islamophobic incidents in several countries, including Canada, following the eruption of war between Palestinian resistance Hamas and the Israeli regime since October 7
