Toronto police have arrested and charged a man in a suspected hate-motivated incident at a Scarborough mosque.
In a news release on Tuesday, Toronto police said the man, 41, has been charged with harassment and uttering threats of death and bodily harm.
The incident happened on Thursday around 2:20 p.m. at a mosque near Kennedy Road and Lawrence Avenue E.
Police said an unknown man entered the mosque, made hate-motivated threats and slurs against people, then was forced outside. Shortly afterward, police from 41 Division arrested the man. He had been scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning.
“This investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence,” police said in the release.
According to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a non-profit organization, the slurs and threats were “Islamophobic, racist, and anti-Palestinian” and those inside the mosque at the time were “worshippers, teachers and students.”
The NCCM said no one was hurt, but the incident left people inside the mosque shaken.
“Our mosques are supposed to be places of peace and safety, particularly for children and the elderly,” the NCCM said.
“Yet such incidents have become almost commonplace. It is time for our leaders to produce a real plan to address this ever growing pattern of Islamophobia.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, in a post on X on Tuesday, thanked police for making an arrest.
“I am aware of the terrible incident of Islamophobia at a mosque in Scarborough that has shaken the community,” Chow said on Tuesday.
“Islamophobia and any form of hate is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our city. Toronto must be a place where people can feel safe, where they can be free to celebrate their culture, their identity, and to worship without fear,” she said.
“Together, we must recommit ourselves to making Toronto a place where people feel safe, a place where everyone belongs.”