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Suspect charged after antisemitic graffiti found in Yorkdale area: police

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Toronto police say they have laid charges against a suspect after multiple businesses and washrooms in the Yorkdale area were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti over a roughly two-month period.

Police said there were multiple incidents which occurred in the area of Dufferin Street and Yorkdale Road between Jan. 20 and March 26.

In a news release Thursday, police said that they have made an arrest and are treating the investigation as a suspected hate-motivated offence.

Police said that Rashid Kurmally, 80, of Toronto has been charged with seven counts of mischief under $5,000.

He’s scheduled to make a court appearance on May 22.

Toronto has seen a dramatic rise in hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Toronto police recently said that 56 per cent of hate crimes in the city so far this year have been antisemitic. They said Islamophobic attacks have also been on the rise and Muslim, Arab and Palestinian people are collectively the fourth most targeted group in reported hate crimes after the Jewish, 2SLGBTQ+and Black communities.

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