Charge against hate crimes has made many muslims in canada feel a bit secure in their environment. Recently, a Canadian man, who earlier this year offered a $2,500 reward for recordings of Muslim students “spewing hate speech during Friday prayers”, was charged with committing a hate crime.
Peel Region police that is responsible for securing Mississauga explained why the Canadian was charged:
“The canadian Kevin J. Johnston, a former mayoral candidate in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto, was charged with willful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group following concerns over information published on various social media sites.”
In reaction to this, Muslim leaders in the Toronto area had grown increasingly concerned about his videos singling out of their faith, which the website had called “as evil as evil gets” and a “military doctrine” that needed to be banned.
Reports have confirmed that Johnston was charged following a five-month investigation that revealed multiple incidents that the investigators were looking at, police Sgt. Josh Colley explained to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
“The group that was targeted was the Muslim community (and that) affects us all.”
In addition, one of the muslims in the area, Rabia Khedr, the head of an area Canadian Muslim council, explained that following Johnston’s arrest, the Muslim community “can sleep safer knowing that there are consequences for promoting hatred and inciting violence against us”.
However, Johnston posted a YouTube video in March offering a $1,000 reward for a recording of Muslim students at Friday prayers. With no immediate response on the recording, he later decided to raise the amount to $2,500 before his YouTube account was suspended, Canadian media reported. Many muslims has wondered why he needed the recording which resulted to fear and panic during friday prayers in the area.
Also, reports confirmed that johnston attacked Mississauga MP Iqra Khalid, who introduced a successful anti-Islamophobia motion in the Canadian House of Commons on his website:
“Iqra Khalid needs to be deported as an enemy.”
Recent reports on anti muslim hate state that the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) recorded 12 physical assaults, all of which targeted Muslim women wearing headscarves; five threats; five incidents of damage to property; and 13 incidents of vandalism, ten of which involved graffiti. The Organization Racism Islamophobia Watch (ORIW) and the NCCM also reported an arson attack on a mosque.
Johnston’s frequent islamic counter updates and requests for muslims’ Friday prayer video brought a lot of fear to the Muslim community. Reports have also revealed that the legal charge on the victim has brought peace to the muslim communities has they now believe that anti-muslim hate crime is no more a free charge.
