Fight at Nova Scotia restaurant was hate-motivated crime: RCMP

A Nova Scotia man is facing multiple weapons charges after what RCMP describe as a hate-motivated crime in Middle Sackville.

An assault at a restaurant on Sackville Drive was reported to police on Wednesday just before 9 p.m. According to RCMP, two patrons at the restaurant had gotten into a verbal altercation inside the business that spilled out.

RCMP said it’s not believed if the two men knew each other.

“The altercation moved outside after racial slurs were expressed by one man. The same man then assaulted the other individual with a sensory irritant before fleeing on foot,” RCMP said in a release.

“Information gathered by investigators indicates that the offence was motivated by hate, based on the race of the victim.”

The victim, who was a 30-year-old Lower Sackville man, had minor injuries and was treated at the scene by EHS.

Shortly after, officers arrested a 31-year-old man at the Halifax Transit terminal on Cobequid Road.

The man has been charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon, and possession of a weapon contrary to an order. He appeared in court and has been remanded until his next court date on Feb. 8.