Police arrest five more suspects in connection with display of antisemitic signage at protest

A Toronto Police Services logo is shown at headquarters, in Toronto, on Friday, August 9, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Toronto police have announced the arrest of five more suspects in connection with the display of antisemitic signage during a demonstration in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in North York earlier this year.

Police say that the suspects attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue on the afternoon of March 15.

It is alleged that while attending the demonstration the suspects “either displayed and/or distributed antisemitic signs.”

Some of the suspects were also disguised at the time, police say.

The arrests were carried out on Sunday following the execution of a number of search warrants in Toronto and Durham Region.

Police previously arrested a sixth suspect in connection with the display of antisemitic signage at the protest back in April. At the time, officers said that the investigation remained “active and ongoing.”

“We will continue to be relentless in following the evidence to hold those who commit criminal acts of hate accountable. Not matter how long it takes we will root it out. Today is an example of what we mean when we say that arrests and charges can come at any time after an incident,” Toronto Police Chief Myron Denkiw said at a news conference. “Hate has real impact. Antisemitic behaviour like this creates fear, anxiety and division in our communities.”

Images from the March 15 protest that were previously posted on social media showed demonstrators carrying signs that depicted Jews variously as gaunt monsters with long noses coming out of the ground and as rats.

In the weeks following the protest, police banned demonstrators from entering residential streets in the Bathurst and Sheppard Avenue West area.

They also separately confirmed that a criminal investigation was being conducted into the use of antisemitic signage. That investigation was led by the Toronto police Counter Terrorism Security Unit.

On Monday, Denkiw said that all six suspects are now charged with both public incitement of hatred and willful promotion of hatred.

He said that the charge of willful promotion of hatred is “rare” as it requires the consent of Ontario’s Attorney General. It has been laid by Toronto police on a total of 11 occasions since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October, 2023 and only four times in the decade prior.

“We are committed to working with all our partners to combat hate and we will continue to have a visible presence at protests and around places of worship and community centres for as long as it takes,” Denkiw promised.

The suspects taken into custody on Sunday include Hosaam Hemdan, 19, of Toronto, Omer Turcan, 43, of Toronto, Syed Hussaini, 43, of Whitby,Hasan Aydin, 48, of Toronto and Yasaf Shaikh, 46, of Toronto.

For a full list of the charges they are facing follow this link.