Toronto police have arrested four more suspects in connection with a series of hate-motivated assaults allegedly targeting Jewish community members with gel-blaster imitation firearms, the Toronto Police Service announced Wednesday.
Luka Chokheli, 20, Alishahin Isayev, 23, and two teenagers—a male and a female who cannot be identified under Canadian law—were arrested on May 22 following an investigation by the service’s Counter-Terrorism Security Unit. Ruslan Novruzov, 18, of Vaughan, Ontario, was arrested earlier in May in connection with the same incidents.
Police allege the suspects fired gel pellets from a moving vehicle at three “visibly identifiable members of the Jewish community,” causing minor injuries. The first attack occurred on April 30 near Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West in North York. A second incident took place on May 7 outside Congregation Chasidei Bobov, a Chassidic synagogue near Bathurst Street and Highway 401, where one victim suffered minor injuries.
“Based on the evidence gathered during this investigation, we allege that members of the Jewish community were deliberately targeted,” Chief Supt. Katherine Stephenson stated.
“We know the profound effect incidents like these have on a community,” she said. “Beyond the individuals directly involved, they create fear, anxiety and uncertainty for countless others who see themselves reflected in the victims.”
Police said they are still seeking to identify two additional suspects, one male and one female.
Jonah Fried, a spokesperson for B’nai Brith Canada, told JNS that the area is considered “the heart of the Jewish community,” home to many of Toronto’s Jews and numerous Jewish institutions
“According to some data, about 80% of Jews in the city live within one mile of Bathurst,” Fried said.
Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of research and advocacy, commended law enforcement for investigating the incidents as potential acts of terrorism.
“When individuals within the Jewish community are attacked for the purpose of spreading fear or intimidating members of the Jewish community as a result of their religious beliefs, that is an act of terrorism,” he told JNS.
“We are hopeful that the outstanding suspects will soon be apprehended,” Robertson told JNS. “The Jewish community deserves to live without fear that they will be targeted because of their religion. It deserves the same feelings of safety and well-being as every other cohort of Canadian society.”
