‘Large-scale’ Palestinian, Israeli demonstrations expected in Toronto this weekend

“Large-scale” demonstrations related to conflict in the Middle East are expected in Toronto this weekend, police say, prompting an increased officer presence and a warning from the deputy chief that “hate-motivated” behaviour won’t be tolerated.

At a press conference Friday afternoon, deputy Toronto police Chief Lauren Pogue said police are aware of “many” demonstrations that are planned across the city on both Saturday and Sunday.

She said the public will continue to notice an increased police presence in demonstration areas and in neighbourhoods across the city.

“While the Toronto Police Service will be present to ensure lawful demonstrations, we want to be very clear we will not tolerate any intimidation, any harassment or any hate-motivated behavior aimed at specific communities in our city,” Pogue said.

“We will always aggressively pursue any alleged or suspected cases of hate crime or violence in our city, including the recent arrest that we announced today.”

Earlier on Friday, Toronto police announced they had launched a hate-motived assault investigation after a person was attacked when they approached another person who was removing “materials in support of Israel” from downtown telephone poles.

The person who was attacked suffered minor injuries and an arrest was made, police said.

Pogue said officers have heard concerns from the public about hate speech at demonstrations and in neighbourhoods.

“Anyone whose behavior crosses the line from lawful demonstration to criminality can expect to be arrested,” she said.

“In addition to a visible front-line officer presence, we will also have officers from our dedicated hate crime unit who will be on the ground to gather evidence and investigate any suspected hate crimes, hate speech or signage.“

Pogue noted that even if a person is not arrested at the time of an alleged offence, they can be at a later date.

What constitutes hate speech is “complex,” Pogue said, and does require consultation with the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The Toronto Police Service notes that charges for the wilful promotion of hatred and advocating genocide require the Attorney General’s consent and the hate crime unit works with investigators in seeking that consent, if applicable.

Such charges are often laid at a later time, the service said.

If a criminal offence such as assault or mischief is motivated by hate, police will consult with the Crown. If the person is convicted, motivation will be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing, police say.

“As a police service, we put a number of things in place as things have been escalating,” Pogue said. “We’ve enhanced our hate crime investigators, the enhancement of our unit itself. And we are trying to streamline reporting as well.”

Pogue said since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and ensuing intensification of the Israel-Hamas conflict, there have been 15 antisemitic incidents reported in Toronto and five incidents of Islamophobia. Those numbers are up from seven and zero, respectively, from the same time period last year, she said.

Pogue said Toronto police haven’t laid any charges motivated by hate at a demonstration.

She said the downtown core is expected to see the majority of demonstrations this weekend.

She said some of the planned protests have permits, which helps officers respond, and some don’t. “Adequate resourcing” will be provided regardless, she said.

“We still today have no known threat to the city of Toronto, but we always ensure that that these protests are adequately resourced, again, to ensure public safety and to minimize disruption to our city,” she said.

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