Police seek masked suspect after businesses, synagogue targeted with pro-Palestinian graffiti

York Regional Police say their Hate Crime Unit has been notified after multiple businesses, a community centre and a place of worship were targeted with pro-Palestinian graffiti in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in Vaughan Monday.

Images shared to social media showed "Free Palestine" scrawled on a messianic synagogue near Yonge and Centre streets in Thornhill, as well as a nearby Starbucks, a Sobey's store with a large kosher section on Clark Avenue, and multiple banks.  

Police said they are investigating seven instances of graffiti at multiple locations in the area, which has a large Jewish community.

"Investigators from the Hate Crime Unit suspect these incidents to be hate motivated. The Hate Crime Unit is engaged whenever hate is suspected to be a motivating factor in any incident," YRP said in a release.

Images shared online showed one message referencing Nazis, while in another "Free Palestine" was scrawled in red lettering over a UJA sign which read "Proudly Jewish."

'I was shocked'

Security camera footage obtained by CP24 shows a suspect in a 'Ghost Face' mask and robe spray-painting a sign outside at around 1 a.m. Monday.

Police say they are looking for a lone suspect wearing a Halloween costume who targeted multiple businesses and Jewish spaces in Thornhill July 29, 2024.

"I was shocked by it, and I was disturbed, because you always think 'could this happen here in Canada and could it happen to us?' And on Monday morning, it happened to us," synagogue administrator Michael Katz told CP24.

"It was very unsettling. It makes us feel unsafe as a Jewish community and it makes me wonder; can there be civility? Can we have dialog without damaging property and without making each other feel unsafe?"

Police describe the lone suspect as wearing all black and white, with a Halloween-style mask. They said a light blue sport utility vehicle has been identified as a suspect vehicle. The suspect is believed to have used red spray paint to write all the messages roughly between midnight and 1 a.m. on July 29.

Pro-Palestinian graffiti is pictured scrawled on the 'Gates of Zion' building in Thornhill Monday July 29, 2024. (Submitted)

In a statement on X, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto said targeting Jews because of the war in the Middle East is "pure antisemitism." The group said the Vaughan Jewish Community Campus was also targeted with graffiti and they are coordinating with police to investigate.

"We are committed to strengthening our local Jewish community in the face of rising hate, the latest example of which is the shameful targeting of multiple Jewish sites and businesses in Vaughan with antisemitic graffiti," UJA Chair Jeff Rosenthal and CEO Adam Minsky said in a joint statement.

"Every act of anti-Jewish hate only redoubles our determination to stand proudly as Jews—and continue standing up for what’s right."

In a separate post, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center posted images of the graffiti on X.

"These incidents are not random. This is a clear attempt to intimidate the Jewish community," the group said.

Police services around the GTA have said that antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.  

Pro-Palestinian groups have maintained that their protests are not antisemitic. Still, some protests have targeted Jewish neighbourhoods and community spaces in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including community centres, synagogues and businesses.

Pro-Palestinian graffiti is pictured scrawled on a Starbucks store in Thornhill Monday July 29, 2024. (Submitted)

In a statement to CP24, Starbucks Canada said their store was briefly closed because of the graffiti, but has since reopened.

"Fortunately, the store was closed, and all partners (employees) and customers are safe," the statement read. "The graffiti has been removed and the store is open. We thank the community for their support and look forward to serving our customers."

Investigators are appealing to any witnesses who have not yet spoken with police, and anyone who may have dash cam footage of the area around the time of the incident to come forward to investigators.

Pro-Palestinian graffiti is pictured scrawled on a UJA sign in Thornhill Monday July 29, 2024. (Submitted)

Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon in response to the antisemitic graffiti found in Thornhill.

“The recent acts of unacceptable vandalism targeting the Jewish community in Vaughan, Markham and Toronto need to be denounced in the strongest possible terms. Our Jewish neighbours deserve to live their lives without fear, and to be and feel safe at all times," he said.

"I have been in touch with York Regional Police and they have assured me that every effort is being made to find the despicable culprit who is responsible for these hate-motivated acts of antisemitism.”

2 other incidents not being investigated as hate-motivated: police

Meanwhile, Toronto police said a fire which broke out overnight at a Jewish elementary school occurred in a shed that was being used by a homeless individual and it is not believed that it was hate-motivated.

"The cause of the fire is undetermined, with no suspicious circumstances noted at the scene," police said.

They said they are continuing to investigate.

Toronto police are also investigating a fire that engulfed a parked school bus in the Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue area early on July 29. Some posts on social media indicated the bus was used by Jewish schools. However police said Tuesday that while they are investigating the incident as arson, there is no evidence so far that it was hate-motivated and the bus had not been in use for a number of years.