Police investigating graffiti at Hamilton Farmers' Market as a hate crime

Police are investigating graffiti scrawled across the windows and doors of the Hamilton Farmers' Market Friday morning as a hate crime.

The vandalism, what police call "hate bias graffiti," was seen along the glass facade on York Boulevard, according to investigators.

Market staff could be seen using black garbage bags to cover up the messages and symbols around mid-morning. The five bags and graffiti had been removed by 12:30 p.m.

Police are asking business owners and neighbouring residents to check their security cameras and dashcam footage between 1 and 2:15 a.m. for any suspicious activity.

"Hate crime in Hamilton is not acceptable," the force said in a media release. "Left unchecked, hate crime can have a far reaching impact on communities."

A spokesperson for the city, which oversees the market, said it was aware of the graffiti, which was removed after police had investigated so "the public and vendors can access the market free from hateful symbols."

Aisling Higgins said the city is focused on making Hamilton an inclusive place, adding it condemns all racism and hate-motivated imagery or speech.

The graffiti comes just one day before the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) is set gather with other community groups outside the Concession Branch of the Hamilton Public Library to respond to a separate act of vandalism.

A plaque outside the library that commemorates Hamilton's Black community was vandalized on Feb. 5, according to HARRC executive director Lyndon George.

Saturday's noon event will be about calling out acts of racism in Hamilton and offering strategies to deal with hate crimes, he said.

"The sad part of all of this is this is happening all too often in our community."

A  2020 Hate/Bias report compiled by Hamilton police said there were eight hate crimes (such as assault) and 72 hate incidents (such as racist graffiti) reported that year.

Of those, 44 involved racial bias, 31 involved religion, two involved sexual orientation and three involved gender identity.

New data from Statistics Canada shows the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country went up 37 per cent in the first year in 2020, hitting 2,669 — the highest number since comparable data became available in 2009.