A 33-year-old Kitchener, Ontario man has been arrested and charged after police investigated an online livestream containing threats and antisemitic remarks targeting members of the Jewish community, CTV News reported.
Waterloo Regional Police said they were alerted Saturday to the video, which had been posted online. Investigators subsequently executed a warrant at a Kitchener residence and arrested the suspect.
“As a result of the investigation, officers completed a warrant at a residence in Kitchener and arrested the suspect," police said in a media release. The man was charged with uttering threats to cause death - hate motivated.
The arrest comes amid a rise in antisemitic incidents across Canada and follows last week’s shooting outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, where members of the Jewish community had gathered for Kol Nidre prayers on the eve of Yom Kippur.
Belleville Police described that shooting as a “premeditated and targeted" attack against the Jewish community.
Police also released footage of the incident showing 29-year-old Sean Ward, a former Canadian Forces soldier, firing outside the synagogue. During the confrontation, Ward was heard asking Const. Jeff Smith, who intervened and prevented what police said could have been a greater tragedy, “You are going to die for the Jews?"
Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Ward had the ability to inflict mass casualties and destroy the synagogue. “The suspect had the means, the motive, and the mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue. The loss of life and irreversible damage that could have rippled through our community for generations cannot be overstated," he said.
Ward, who left the Canadian military in 2022, was armed with a shotgun when he confronted Smith, who had arrived in a police truck and was positioned outside the synagogue. Smith was shot while inside his cruiser and suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body, along with fractures and shrapnel injuries. He is expected to undergo several surgeries during a lengthy recovery.
Ward sustained life-threatening injuries in the confrontation and later died in hospital.