Charges laid in hate-motivated attack, Calgary investigators still looking for intervening bystander

Charges have been laid after a hate-fuelled tirade on a Calgary CTrain earlier this fall.

Police say 63-year-old Gary Dawson has been charged with assault, criminal harassment, causing a disturbance and mischief. The case is being treated as hate-motivated.

On the evening of Sept. 2 , a young South Asian woman was riding the train and a couple with a child in a stroller boarded at Chinook Station.

One of the parents sat in a seat with their child, while the other stood nearby.

Police say a man on the train began telling the young woman to give her seat up for the standing parent and, despite the couple assuring the woman and man that they do not need the seat, the man’s comments escalated to include racial and sexual slurs. The man then stood up and walked toward the young woman, but another passenger intervened and blocked him.

Calgary Transit staff were alerted and the man was told to leave the train at the City Hall station. The woman then met police at a station further down the line to report what happened.

“No one should have to fear for their safety when they are out enjoying our city, especially if that fear comes from being targeted because of their race or some other personal characteristic,” said Sgt. Gareth Joels with the CPS Hate and Extremism Team.

“This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable, and we want this young woman to know that Calgarians are not OK with what happened to her.

“It shows in the fact that people on the train intervened, and I hope it shows in all the investigative work we have done to try hold the person responsible accountable.”

The investigation continues and police are still hoping to speak to the bystander who intervened and anyone else who witnessed the incident.

Police said in a news release hate-motivated crimes are recognizable crimes, like assault, theft, vandalism or any other crime, where the offender was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on one of nine personal characteristics of the victim.

And while a hate motivation does not result in any additional charges, any evidence of it is considered by the courts after a person is found guilty of the connected crime and can add to the convicted person’s sentence.