Canada man arrested after attempting to run over people at two mosques
According to the Canadian police, the attack was "anti-Muslim and hate-motivated."
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Muslim women attend vigil for victims of deadly vehicle attack on members of Muslim community in Canada's London, Ontario, on 8 June 2021. (AFP)
After an "anti-Muslim, hate-motivated investigation," a man who drove his vehicle towards worshippers at two Toronto mosques in Canada was detained, according to reports on Thursday.
Police say they received a call to a mosque in Toronto after a man reportedly drove into the parking lot and attempted to hit worshipers, as well as other vehicles.
The driver then drove away, stopping at another mosque and repeating the same behavior. The crimes occurred on April 5 between 5:30 and 6 a.m., according to authorities.
The suspect then drove to a local shopping mall, where he assaulted numerous customers in a menacing manner and yelled anti-Islamic remarks.
A 28-year-old male was detained and charged with two charges of reckless driving, five counts of criminal harassment, uttering threats of physical harm, assault, and indecent actions in public, and insulting others.
Police also charged the man in connection with another incident on April 7 at a mosque in the neighboring city of Markham.
In a second instance, a 27-year-old woman in Kitchener, roughly 100 kilometers west of Toronto, committed a hate-motivated attack on Wednesday while people waited in line at a driving test center.
Mifrah Abid, the local coordinator of the Coalition of Muslim Women's Together Against Islamophobia initiative, released a video on Twitter in which she addressed a lady.
She accused the woman of "making a racist comment about brown women." The lady refuted the charge before lunging forward, grabbing Abid's phone, and throwing it at her.
The confrontation was captured on film by an onlooker and the woman was charged with assault, assault with a weapon, and theft under $3,700.
