Vancouver police have arrested one person and are probing whether their comments made at a protest last week broke hate crime laws.
The comments, captured on video and widely shared on social media, were made Friday during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
In the video, Charlotte Kates of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network can be seen describing the Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel — which killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians — as “heroic and brave.”
Kates then led the crowd in a chant of “Long live October 7th,” and called for the delisting of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and several other groups as terrorist organizations.
“These are resistance fighters, these are our heroes, these are the ones who are sacrificing so we can live and speak and struggle and fight,” she told the gathering.
Premier David Eby later described the comments as “reprehensible” and “the most hateful” he could imagine.
“Celebrating the murder, the rape of innocent people attending a music festival — it’s awful,” Eby said on Monday.
In a Wednesday media release, police said they support the public’s right to protest and express unpopular opinions.
“We also have a responsibility to ensure public comments don’t promote or incite hatred, encourage violence, or make people feel unsafe,” Sgt. Steve Addison said.
“We will continue to thoroughly investigate every hate incident and will pursue criminal charges whenever there is evidence of a hate crime.”
In response to inquiries about Kates, Samidoun responded with a lengthy statement accusing the premier of “slander” and describing the Oct. 7 attack as “a legitimate military operation against one of the most brutal and longest occupations in modern history.”
In an attached statement, Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver said Kates was the subject of a “witch hunt” and had been released on the “outrageous condition that she does not attend any ‘protests, rallies or assemblies’ before an Oct. 8 court date.
It goes on to allege that pro-Palestinian groups face a double standard compared to pro-Israel groups.
“This is not the first case of fraudulent charges being brought against pro-Palestinian advocates and it won’t be the last,” the group said.
Police said Kates has been released from custody pending further investigation.