Durham Police says they are investigating a violent swarm trapped in a security video that an outstanding Muslim defense group says it may have been motivated by hatred.
The incident took place around 12:30 am on Wednesday in a pizza pizza location at Wentworth Street W. in Oshawa, police said in a press release on Thursday.
According to the police, a group of people, who are believed to be young, were “creating a disturbance” inside the restaurant. One of the individuals jumped a counter and tried to steal an article.
The victim faced the person and a “violent struggle” occurred.
“During that fight, several other people also jumped behind the counter, struck and assaulted the victim,” said the police.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) publicly published a security video of the attack and, in an accompanying statement, said it was “completely horrified and disgusted” by the assault.
According to the group, the victim was the owner of the establishment. During the attack, NCCM said, his hijab was torn off and the attackers trampled on his head.
“We are encouraging the Local Police to analyze each angle of this incident, including the investigation of this incident as a motivated hate,” the statement said.
Victim “lucky to be alive,” says the daughter
At a press conference on Thursday morning along with NCCM representatives and federal and provincial politicians, the victim’s daughter said the attack left her mother seriously injured.
“My mother is still recovering from the attack. She is deeply shocked. The incident has left her with scars and extremely nervous,” said the woman, whom CBC Toronto does not identify publicly by her safety.
“She is very lucky to be alive,” he added. “Our family is still reaching an agreement with what happened.”
The woman said that her family has faced multiple instances of anti-Muslim verbal abuse and harassment in her businesses in recent years.
Omar Khamsa, director of Operations of NCCM and also speaker at the press conference, highlighted a series of Islamophobic incidents in the Durham region in recent months, including a woman who used the Hijab that almost caught fire in an Ajax library in March.
Several mosques in Clarington were recently destroyed, while the anti-Musulman graffiti recently appeared in Whitby, Khamsa said.
Durham Police confirmed that “all the reasons”, including the possibility that the swarm was motivated by hatred, are considered in their investigation. The service hate crime unit is helping the main investigators, according to the press release.
Police added that they know that the video of the attack is circulating online, but warned that the youth criminal justice law prohibits publishing any information that identifies a young person accused of a crime.
Researchers are encouraging anyone with information about the attack to be presented.
