Manitoba urged to do more to prosecute hate-related crime after 4th building in a week targeted
CBC
WARNING: This story includes an image showing a swastika painted on a building.
An Islamic centre and mosque in the heart of Winnipeg's West End is the fourth building to be defaced hate-motivated graffiti in less than a week.
A swastika was found spray-painted on the Abu Bakr Al-Siddique mosque and community centre, at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Home Street, around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
By later in the morning, the graffiti had already been removed.
Adnan Siddiqui, the director of the mosque, said he has been in contact with police, who confirmed they removed the graffiti.
He's also grateful that someone took the time to report the incident.
"Canada is built on respect, diversity and freedom of worship, and we must protect those values together," Siddiqui said.
This incident comes after similar markings were sprayed on Kelvin High School on Monday night and Shaarey Zedek synagogue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, including several swastikas, last Friday.
And on Sunday, a person was caught on surveillance footage smashing windows at Habibiz Café, a Middle Eastern restaurant on Portage Avenue. The person didn't enter the building but did leave a threatening message outside the restaurant, police previously said.
Winnipeg police spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said the major crimes unit is investigating the incident at the mosque, but it's too early to tell if it is linked to any of the others.
Avrom Charach, a member of the Jewish community who volunteers to remove antisemitic and other hateful graffiti, said he's disturbed, but no longer shocked, by such incidents.
"I'm always saddened … [but] I'm not even surprised anymore," he said Wednesday.
"This is happening far too much all over the city — it just doesn't get reported as often as it happens."
Kelvin and Shaarey Zedek are both located in the city's Crescentwood area, but Charach said he's scrubbed graffiti in 2025 from locations around the city.
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