Toronto police’s hate crime unit is investigating after a federal Liberal MP’s constituency office was vandalized in the city’s west end this week.
Davenport MP Julie Dzerowicz told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday that two people dressed in black showed up at her Bloor Street W. office on Tuesday at 1:06 a.m. and painted on the windows.
Photos from the scene show the graffiti included the phrase “Rahaf is burning, Toronto will too” — an apparent misspelling of Rafah, the southern Gaza city garnering international attention after it was hit by a deadly Israeli airstrike this week.
Dzerowicz said she considered the graffiti to be a threat, and said her office has been vandalized multiple times since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.
“Peaceful protest is OK, vandalism is illegal,” she said. “Toronto will burn is a threat.”
Dzerowicz said she is happy to meet with protesters, but this incident crossed a line.
In an email to CBC News, Toronto police confirmed the force’s hate crime unit is investigating.