A 31-year-old anarchist bookstore operator has been arrested and charged in connection to a march on a stretch of Hamilton’s Locke Street, where as many as 30 people in masks caused $100,000 in damage to local homes and shops last month.

At about 10 p.m. on March 3, police were called to Durand Park in central Hamilton for a report of a group of people causing mischief.

When they arrived, they discovered a mob of people all dressed in black. Some of the members of the group were wearing masks and were carrying a sign that read, “We Are The Ungovernables,” police said.

Police said the group began to pelt two responding officers with rocks and the pair had to retreat and call for backup.

Some of the group dispersed, but the rest walked on Aberdeen Avenue and then onto Locke Street, setting off smoke bombs and fireworks, and throwing rocks at storefront windows and vehicles.

Hamilton police sent dozens of officers to the scene, the members of the group fled, some tossing away their clothing as they ran.

Damage to area businesses and vehicles was estimated at $100,000.

On Friday morning, police searched a home in the Cannon Street West and Hess Street North area and detained a suspect.

Hamilton Police Deputy Chief Dan Kinsella identified him as Peter Hopperton.

He has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

He is expected to appear in court sometime on Friday afternoon.

Police said the suspect is connected to The Tower, a local anarchist bookstore and event space in the city.

“We believe the individual is the operator of The Tower, what is known as a collective and also an anarchist space,” Kinsella told reporters.

Police had previously said the vandalism suspects were connected to an anarchist book fair that took place at a high school in the city on the same weekend as the march.

Kinsella could not definitively say if the suspect actually took part in the Locke Street vandalism on March 3.

“We believe that he is associated to the events that occurred, and that’s why he’s facing the charge that he is.”

He said that the investigation has been slowed by the fact that all the participants in the vandalism wore masks and fled the scene before they could be detained.

“One of the largest challenges is the way these individuals were dressed during this activity — the masking of their faces, the covering of their identities makes it very difficult.”

Kinsella encouraged anyone who witnessed the vandalism who has not already spoken to investigators to do so as soon as possible.