Toronto City Hall
Toronto City HalliStock

A 26-year-old man is facing seven charges stemming from a vicious attack on an elderly Jewish employee inside a Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store in Toronto’s west end, B’nai Brith Canada said in a statement on Wednesday.

On a summer’s evening, the accused allegedly entered the liquor store and attempted to purchase beer. When asked by the cashier to produce identification showing he was of legal age, he became belligerent, prompting another employee to approach in support of the cashier.

The accused then called this second LCBO employee “a dirty f***ing Jew,” and lunged at him. As the melee developed, the attacker also hit the employee in the back with a wine bottle, threw other items at him and finally punched him in the face, briefly knocking him unconscious. The victim required stitches and was forced to take more than a week off work.

The incident occurred on July 28, B’nai Brith Canada has learned. A suspect was arrested three weeks later and charged with seven criminal counts, including two counts of assault and two counts of assault with a weapon.

B’nai Brith has also confirmed that Toronto Police are treating this incident as a hate crime.

“This deeply disturbing attack is yet another incident of antisemitic violence in Canadian cities,” Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, said on Wednesday. “In the wake of July’s National Summit on Antisemitism, it is imperative that all levels of government and law enforcement take action and work with the Jewish community to stem this flow of violence and hate.”

B’nai Brith Canada has documented a surge in anti-Semitism in Toronto in recent months.

In May, the organization reported that for the third week in a row, anti-Semitism and support for terrorism were on display at a massive protest in downtown Toronto.

A week earlier, at another downtown Toronto protest, attendees threatened Jews by recalling the Battle of Khaybar, in which the ancient Jewish community of Arabia was killed or expelled.

Also in May, a Jewish-owned business in the Kensington Market area was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti which included references to gas chambers.

Last month, the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Toronto was defaced with a swastika and other graffiti.

Earlier this week, a 32-year-old man was arrested and is facing new assault charges after allegedly attacking people he perceived as Jewish.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Yom Kippur in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)