Westmount synagogue targeted by arson attempt, suspect arrested
Posted June 5, 2026 6:53 am.
Last Updated June 8, 2026 9:59 am.
A 38-year-old man was arrested after an attempted arson attack targeted a synagogue in Westmount shortly after midnight on Friday.
According to Montreal police (SPVM), officers responded to a 911 call at approximately 12:15 a.m. regarding the incident on Sherbrooke Street West near Wood Avenue.
Upon arrival, police and Westmount public safety officers quickly located and arrested Steven Luu a short distance from the place of worship.
Investigators allege that Luu smashed a window before attempting to ignite a fire inside the synagogue. Firefighters were called to the scene and successfully extinguished the flames before significant damage could occur.
The case has been transferred to the SPVM’s arson squad for further investigation.
The suspect is now facing a number of charges including arson and possession of an incendiary object.
SPVM say that at first glance, and given that a synagogue was targeted, the hypothesis that this was a hate-motivated crime is favoured by them. However, they say they must complete the full investigative process before reaching a definitive conclusion.
“We’re looking into that avenue on the Montreal Police department side. We have the arson squad that are working the case at this moment. We’ll get in contact with our hate crime unit to see if any information could lead to that man wanting to make or to do a hate crime,” explained Jean-Pierre Brabant, SPVM spokesperson. “At this moment, it’s not confirmed, but we’re looking into it to make sure that we get all the information. And if it’s a hate crime, we’ll go forward.”
No injuries were reported, and damage to the building has been described as minor.
The synagogue had previously been targeted in February 2025, when a swastika was spray-painted on the building in what police investigated as an act of antisemitic vandalism.
The events are a part of a larger trend in recent years of an increase in religion-based hate crimes which quadrupled between 2022 and 2023.
According to SPVM data, there have been 322 presumed hate crime events targeting Jewish Montrealers, property and other incidents in Montreal between Oct. 7, 2023 and May 31, 2026. During the same period, there were 104 such incidents targeting the Muslim community.
While the Criminal Code doesn’t designate an offence as a hate crime, SPVM spokesperson Marc-Antonie Bélanger added that, “The hateful nature of an act is a constitutive and aggravating factor in a given criminal act.”
Senior Rabbi Lisa Grushcow says that security camera footage suggests that it could have been a Molotov cocktail that was thrown at her synagogue.
“If we had not had in place the measures that we have in place, if we hadn’t advocated for the kind of monitoring and protection that we have, we would be standing in front of a burned down building right now,” Gruschcow said. “I want to say that clearly.”
Earlier Gruschcow told CityNews in a statement that attacks against Jewish institutions and schools in Montreal have gotten more violent than in the past.
“When there have been arrests after police investigations we find that the perpetrators are virulently anti-Israel and spurred on by the hateful rhetoric which denies the legitimacy of Israel and calls for the destruction of the ‘zionist entity,'” Gruschcow said.
Westmount City Councillor Paul Levine said the repeated attacks which caused anxiety among residents must be stopped.
“We must feel secure and we must have residents feel that they can sleep at night and not worry about their kids attending daycare here at the temple and attending schools in the vicinity,” Levine said. “This has now reached a point where we must put an end to this.”
Samer Majzoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum, condemned Friday’s incident.
“They were condemned by all means and any sort of expression through violence is totally refused and very well condemned, very heavily condemned,” Majzoub said. “We applaud the honesty of the SPVM for their quick work on this by arresting the perpetrator to face justice.”
Paola Samuel, regional director for B’nai Brith Quebec & Atlantic Canada, said the police should get to the bottom of the incident.
“Our reaction is always when a synagogue is targeted, when any Jewish organization is targeted, it is our first instinct is that it’s a hate crime,” Samuel said.
“There were other buildings across the street. There are other buildings in that area that were not targeted. The fact that it was fire bombed and only the synagogue was fire bombed. We would like the police to dig deeper.”
Jewish advocacy groups Federation CJA and CIJA say the attempted arson at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom is part of an antisemitic climate that has left the community feeling unsafe.
In a statement to CityNews, the organizations said the incident was part of a “toxic” antisemitic climate fuelled by the conflict in the Middle East.
“Enough is enough; the law must be enforced and order restored in Montreal,” the organizations said. “The Montreal Jewish community is tired of fearing for its safety and that of its children. We have already let the hanging of a Jewish effigy in our streets go unchallenged. We cannot wait for a ‘Bondi Beach’ to happen in Montreal,” they said, referring to the mass shooting incident in Australia during Hanukkah last December.
“You hear what people in the Jewish community said in Australia after Bondi Beach, in England after Golders Green and they say first there was graffiti and then there were violent attacks and then people were murdered, right? I don’t want to be having that interview,” Gruschcow said.
