Montreal police probe whether incendiary materials, five arrest, tied to Middle East conflict
Posted October 2, 2024 11:33 pm.
Last Updated October 3, 2024 6:29 pm.
Montreal police (SPVM) arrested five people, including three teens, in possession of incendiary material in Côte Saint-Luc and the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (CDN-NDG) borough early Wednesday morning.
An investigation is ongoing and in a press release sent out Wednesday night, SPVM report that “one of its aims is to determine whether these events are local repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East.”
“Obviously it took place, we say that it’s near to synagogues. Is there a link? Do we know yet? We don’t know if there’s a link, but rest assured that our investigators will look upon that because yes, there’s a lot of synagogues around the area,” said Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture on Thursday morning. “It’s our unit of the Arson Squad who is investigating on that. And they will try to know if there’s a link with everything concerning the community, Jewish community, or the conflict…in the Moyen-Orient (Middle East).”
Two vehicles intercepted
At around 1:50 a.m. on Wednesday, the SPVM first intercepted a vehicle at the intersection of Décarie Blvd. and Isabella Ave. in CDN-NDG. “The occupants were a 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds. Incendiary objects were found inside the vehicle,” explain police.
“Fifteen minutes later, following a report from Côte Saint-Luc public security, the SPVM apprehended two adults, aged 20 and 22, near the intersection of Chemin Kildare and Cavendish Blvd. The vehicle also contained incendiary material,” reads the SPVM press release.
Following their arrest, the suspects were released with conditions and a promise to appear at the Montreal courthouse (the two adults) and at the Youth Division of the Court of Quebec (for the three minors).
Crimes and Hate incidents towards Jewish and Muslim communities in Montreal
Over the last year, there’s been a spike in hate crimes and incidents in the city towards both the Jewish and Muslim communities.
“Montreal has been the epicenter of hate,” said Marvin Rotrand, Director General of United Against Hate Canada. “There have been shootings at Jewish schools, fire bombings of Jewish institutions, attacks against synagogues.”
Rotrand says he doesn’t think it’s “far-fetched to say that given that there’s already been a series of attacks for which there’s been exactly one arrest in Montreal, only one arrest, multiple incidents, that this was part of a plot.”
Data from police shows that from Oct. 7, 2023 to Oct. 2, 2024, there have been a total of 288 crimes or hate incidents related to the Jewish or Muslim communities in Montreal.
“When we condemn Islamophobia, we condemn anti-Semitism, when we call for calm, we call for calm to all the communities,” says Samer Mazjoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum. “When we call for freedom of expression, we call it for all the communities. We call for the SPVM to quickly investigate and see exactly the intention of those individuals. There’s no space for violence anywhere in our city.”
Specifically there were 75 towards the Muslim community and 213 directed at the Jewish community. There could be more that have not been reported to police, these were all reported to the SPVM.
“Documentation whether it comes from Statistics Canada, police departments in all our major cities, the B’nai Brith audit of 2023 shows that Jews are disproportionately targeted,” Rotrand said.
“Please note that these statistics are based on a pre-survey summary analysis. They are therefore subject to change and are continually updated, particularly in light of the results of investigations. As a result, the number of hate crimes or incidents may vary, either upwards or downwards, over time,” write Montreal police to CityNews.
This comes as McGill University is upping security on campuses from Oct. 5 to 7, and after an “impromptu protest” on Sunday night left Concordia University windows vandalized and broken and downtown businesses also affected. More pro-Palestinian protests are planned over those days.
“In the run-up to October 7, police officers will be on the lookout and exercising heightened surveillance to ensure the safety of Montrealers,” write police. They are pointing to their “increased visibility and surveillance plan” with their partners – saying it’s “bearing fruit.”
Couture said the SPVM has more police officers on the ground.
Meanwhile, Rotrand says he’s called on Mayor Valérie Plante and SPVM police chief Fady Dagher to make strong statements on the current situation and for more visibility from officers.
“It appears to be the case,” he said. “Those arrests are extremely encouraging, but we still live in a time when there’s going to be demonstrations fomenting hate.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police
The investigation into the five arrests with alleged incendiary objects is led by the SPVM’s Arson and Explosives Unit – and continues.
Anyone with information is invited to contact 911 or their local police station. It is also possible to contact Info-Crime Montréal anonymously and confidentially at 514-393-1133 or via the reporting form available online.
-With files from The Canadian Press
