Toronto police are calling on the public to help identify a suspect involved in a suspected hate-motivated assault targeting a visibly Jewish man in the North York district of the city.
The incident occurred on September 27 at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the area of Bathurst Street and Baycrest Avenue. According to investigators, the suspect was a passenger in a moving vehicle when he allegedly assaulted a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk.
During the attack, police say the suspect hurled racial slurs at the victim, who was identifiable as a person of Jewish faith.
Authorities confirmed Tuesday that the case is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offense.
The suspect is described as a male, approximately 20 to 24 years old, standing six feet four inches tall, with a slender build and a thin mustache. He was last seen wearing a white shirt layered with a grey sweater, black pants, and a black beanie hat.
Police have released an image of the suspect and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Toronto has seen an uptick in incidents of antisemitism since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
Data released by the Toronto Police Service in May found that the city experienced a historic high in reported hate crime incidents in 2024, with the Jewish community, once again, being the leading target.
Last week, a suspect smashed windows at Kehillat Shaarei Torah (KST) in Toronto, marking the tenth attack on the synagogue in just 18 months.
A day later, anti-Israel rioters stormed an event featuring IDF veterans. The off-campus event was organized by the Students Supporting Israel chapter of Toronto Metropolitan University. Five suspects were arrested in connection with the incident.