Canada’s largest Muslim advocacy organization and politicians are speaking out after a 54-year-old man was charged with allegedly threatening to blow up a mosque and a Muslim family’s house in Newmarket.
York Regional Police said in a news release Thursday that officers were notified of a hate-motivated incident in which threats were made toward the Muslim community of Newmarket.
In a news conference Monday, the media and communications lead at the National Council of Canadian Muslims said the suspect was allegedly planning to blow up the local mosque and the home of a Muslim family.
“The suspect is an HVAC expert. He allegedly said that he would use his expertise in that area to tamper with gas lines, to blow up his Muslim neighbour’s home, to kill everyone inside and including, allegedly, the children, ” said Steven Zhou.
Police said the alleged threats were made on Sep. 1, and officers were notified about the incident two days later. On Thursday, a 54-year-old man from the Town of Newmarket was arrested and charged with two counts of uttering threats, police said.
Zhou said the suspect was a close neighbour with the targeted family and knew them for 14 years.
“The suspect had long befriended this Muslim family, but confided in another neighbour that he had allegedly planned to murder the Muslim family and to blow up the mosque,” he said, adding that the neighbour reported the suspect’s plan to police.
The suspect also allegedly consumed large amounts of Islamophobic and anti-Muslim content online, Zhou said.
In a statement read by the chief mobilization officer at NCCM, the father of the targeted family, who wants to remain anonymous, said they continue to live in fear given the current situation.
“The thought that someone living so close to us, within our own community, was consuming and sharing far right, anti-Muslim content and beliefs while planning violent attacks is deeply disturbing and unsettling,” read Omar Khamissa at the news conference.
The family hopes authorities will do what’s necessary to protect them and the community, the statement said.
“It is my hope that our experience alerts the people of Newmarket to the severity of this incident and highlights the urgent need to address Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in our community,” said Khamissa, reading the statement on behalf of the family.
Khamissa also read remarks from the mosque that the suspect allegedly planned to attack.
The mosque, which doesn’t want to share its name due to safety concerns, said that knowing about the suspect’s plan has been “truly sobering and difficult.”
“The mosque is a place for peaceful reflection and communal worship. Had this person been allowed to carry on his plan, it would have turned into a massive tragedy,” read Khamissa.
Khamissa said the community deserves to see change and real solutions to help respond to hate crimes and hate motivated incidents.
He said he wants to reiterate the recommendations from an Islamophobia study by the Standing Committee for Justice and Human Rights published in December. The study lists a series of recommendations including reforming the security and infrastructure program for mosques and places of worship.
“We have the right to be angry in the face of these threats and attempts to intimidate Muslims in our community. Do we have to wait for more bloodshed before action is actually taken?” Khamissa said.
York police Insp. Stu Garner said the investigation is being treated as a hate crime, but said he could not share any specifics.
“I’m not going to jeopardize the integrity of the investigation, but what has been conveyed in terms of wanting to blow up the mosque as well as kill a Muslim in his neighbourhood is what we are investigating,” said Garner at the news conference.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said at the news conference that he spoke with the targeted family about the incident.
“To hear just how deeply it impacted this family is disturbing,” he said.
Taylor said he will continue to work with the Islamic Society and all the faith groups in Newmarket to make sure the town is a place where everyone feels safe and welcomed.
