Toronto police face 'unprecedented' hate crime charges after man allegedly held 'terrorist flag' during protest

A man has been charged with incitement to hate in Toronto after police say he held a “terrorist flag” during a demonstration last weekend.

Police said a 41-year-old man waved the flag of “an organization designated as a terrorist organization by Public Safety Canada” during a rally in the city center on Sunday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Toronto Police Services Board on Thursday, Police Chief Myron Demkiw called the charge “unprecedented” and noted the “very high threshold” for charging anyone with a hate crime.

“We will not tolerate such hateful behavior,” Demkiw said at a news conference Thursday.

“These types of allegations reflect an extremist, hateful attitude that we do not condone in our city.”

Police have not confirmed what the flag depicted or which group it belonged to. Speaking before the board, Demkiw said he was “not involved in providing a platform to espouse or promote a hateful ideology.”

The man will appear in court in Toronto on February 23.

The chief says Toronto has seen more protests than any other Canadian city since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and that the protests have intensified recently.

He also announced Thursday that demonstrations on the Avenue Road Bridge over the 401 Freeway will now be banned because they pose a threat to public safety and have intimidated many in the surrounding Jewish community.

Demkiw said people who ignore the ban will be arrested “if necessary” and any activity on the bridge will be investigated “through a criminal lens”.

2 hate crimes were reported in 2024

Demkiw also gave the board an update on the force's hate crime statistics, saying hate crime calls to Toronto police dropped in December.

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Demkiw said 10 hate crimes were reported last month, a 48 percent decrease from November's 48. The shift is the first since October 7, when the alarm over a steady increase in the number of calls.

He called the latest figures “good news” but warned that anti-Semitic incidents would still be a major concern, accounting for the majority of all hate crimes in 2023. In 2022, 132 total incidents were reported compared to 65 incidents.

There have been two reported anti-Semitic hate crimes so far this year, one of which was the burning of a Jewish-owned deli in North York.

So far, the force has received 145 reports from people using a recently launched hate graffiti web form, police said.

“Let me be clear and unequivocal that our commitment to preserving the Jewish community in the city is unwavering,” Demkiw said.

“I will repeat this one more time and as long as necessary: ​​violence and hatred will not be tolerated.”

Demkiw and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Wednesday to discuss the recent and “appalling” increase in anti-Semitic incidents and what more needs to be done to keep Jewish Canadians safe. The meeting comes after two Toronto councilors asked the federal government for help to fight anti-Semitism in Toronto.

“As partners, we will continue to do what is necessary to fight hate in all its forms,” ​​Trudeau said in an earlier post on X's Twitter account.

Between October and December, the force received an average of 190 hate-related calls, 47 above the average for all months until 2023.

Demkiw noted that the second highest increase was for LGBTQ+ hate crimes, which increased from 40 in 2022 to 66 in 2023. There were also 35 reported hate crimes against Muslims, Palestinians and Arabs last year, up from 12 the year before, the third highest category.

Between October 7, 2023 and January 10, 2024, the force reported 54 arrests, resulting in 117 hate crime charges. The most common charges were mischief, assault and intimidation.