The Toronto Police Service (TPS) said it has initiated an investigation into suspected hate-motivated arson and graffiti at International Delicatessen Foods (IDF). “This isn’t lawful protest protected by Constitutional rights,” said TPS Staff Supt. Pauline Gray in a Wednesday press release. “It’s criminal.”On Wednesday around 6 a.m., TPS said officers were called to Steeles Avenue and Petrolia Road for reports of a fire inside a store. It said the fire was extinguished by the Toronto Fire Department (TFD). Officers located graffiti on the outside of the building. The TPS Hate Crime Unit is investigating this incident as a suspected hate-motivated crime. This investigation will be conducted in consultation with the Ontario Attorney General and with assistance from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office. If it is alleged a criminal offence was committed and is believed to have been motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate, TPS said the officer in charge might consult with the Crown attorney. If a person is charged and convicted of the offence, it said the judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence. Willful promotion of hatred and advocating genocide are hate propaganda offences, which require the attorney general’s consent to lay charges. These charges are often laid at a later time. Gray concluded by calling this incident “violent, targeted and organized.”“We’ll use all resources available to investigate, arrest and prosecute those who are responsible for this,” she said. Anyone with information about this incident or dash cam or video footage is asked to contact police by calling (416) 808-3100 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477. This ordeal comes after a group of pro-Palestine protestors walked past Cafe Landwer and demanded people stop going to it on December 2. READ MORE: WATCH: Pro-Palestine protestors demand boycott against Jewish cafe in Toronto“We have one message to them,” said the protest organizer. “Landwer.”
