A Halifax man was arrested and charged on Tuesday for allegedly vandalizing three Halifax synagogues over Saturday night, the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) announced on Wednesday, after public outrage over antisemitic defacement of Jewish holy sites claimed that Jews perpetrated the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Halifax resident Gezim Topalli was arrested at his residence and is set to appear before a provincial court to face three counts of mischief related to religious property, three counts of property damage, and a count of public incitement of hatred.
“I am pleased with the outcome of this investigation. While I credit the quick and thorough work of HRP’s hate crime investigator, I also want to thank the public who came forward to help identify the suspect,” Halifax Police Chief Don MacLean said in a statement. “The swift and seamless collaboration between police and the community represents our city taking a strong and unified stance against the promotion of hatred.”
Halifax police arrest man for vandalizing synagogues
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs praised the “swift arrest” of the 31-year-old for the alleged vandalization of the Shaar Shalom Congregation, Beth Israel Synagogue, the Chabad-Lubavitch of the Maritimes Rohr Family Institute, and three spots on nearby sidewalks. CIJA called on X for authorities to continue to confront “rising hate.”
The arrest came after Halifax police published on Monday security footage of the suspect in an appeal for public aid. The photograph shows the suspect in the act of spray-painting one of the targeted sites. Shaar Shalom representatives shared photographs of their synagogue defaced with a swastika and the words “Jews did 9/11.”
MacLean said in the wake of the incident that extra patrols would be conducted around synagogues and other religious sites.
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre addressed the incident on social media on Monday, decrying that the Canadian Jewish community continued to “face vile threats, intimidation and attacks.”
“Conservatives will continue standing with our Jewish neighbors against the scourge of antisemitism and for their right to exist and worship freely,” said Poilievre.
Shar Shalom expressed on Facebook that the incident was a “significant escalation for us as Jews in the city” but that the congregation would not be intimidated or kept from prayer.
Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore also condemned the incident in a Sunday statement, reminding that there was “no path to peace anywhere that includes bringing fear and division to Halifax.”
Fillmore was labeled a “Zionist puppet” on an effigy carried by anti-Israel protesters during protests in Halifax on Saturday and Friday. Tensions rose over the weekend over a Davis Cup tennis match between Israel and Canada, which anti-Israel activists sought to have canceled.