A London police hate crime officer is investigating a hate-motivated assault that happened over the weekend in a downtown park.

At approximately, a man was with his family in Ivey Park, in the area of King and Thames streets, when an unknown man approached them, police said. The suspect made derogatory comments toward the man before proceeding to assault him.

In a social media post, the National Council of Canadian Muslims said it was “deeply horrified” to learn the victims were Muslim

“They’re shaken up,” said Nawaz Tahir, a London lawyer who serves as spokesperson for HIKMA Public Affairs Council, which has been in touch with a friend of the family. “Generally, when you go to the park your goal is to have a good time, and this just sort of shatters that.”

The Muslim community is seeing an increase in a compromise of its safety and security, said Tahir, through both verbal and physical forms of hate, despite the City of London’s comprehensive plan to dismantle Islamophobia.

“We’d like to see more action at the provincial and federal level,” he said. “On both fronts, I think the response has been lacking. There are still so many recommendations from the national summit that took place in 2021 that are yet to be implemented. Things like hate crime legislation and the Our London Family Act not have been passed or brought back at all.”

in June, police identified a suspect involved in an alleged hate-motivated arson at a Muslim family’s home in northwest London. It’s believed the suspect has since left the country.

On X, formerly Twitter, London Mayor Josh Morgan condemned Saturday’s incident.

“Islamophobia has absolutely no home in London or anywhere else,” said Morgan. “We must continue to condemn these incidents, and work to ensure everyone feels safe in our city.”

The suspect remained in the area for around 20 minutes before leaving the park on a blue bike-style e-bike. Police were contacted. The victim sustained minor injuries and did not require medical attention.

The suspect has not been identified. He is described as male, white, around 40 years of age, wearing a black toque, black jacket, dark jeans and light-coloured sneakers.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them.

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

“I’m angry to learn that women wearing hijabs were the target of a violent attack in London, and a mosque in Winnipeg was the target of hateful harassment,” Trudeau said on his official X account on Friday.

According to a statement by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), two women wearing the Muslim headscarf were attacked Thursday in front of their children in London, where four members of a Muslim family were killed in a ruthless attack in 2021.

The statement noted that a knife-wielding man punched the women in their faces and made inappropriate comments. “The Israelis did a good job of landscaping Gaza. They’ll do the same to Lebanon,” and other slurs of an Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian nature,” according to NCCM.

“Needless to say, the incident amounts to yet another disturbing example of how Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, often intersecting, continues to pervade corners of our communities, primarily targeting the vulnerable,” the civil rights organization said, adding that anti-Muslim hatred led to the killing of the Muslim family three years ago, and earlier this year, a Muslim family’s house was set on fire due to anti-Palestinian racism.

“It is time to act. Now. There is no time for more platitudes and words. Our leaders have to come up with a real plan to address this massive and disturbing rise in hate against our communities,” NCCM statement said.

No details were provided about the attack on the mosque in Winnipeg, in the country’s central Manitoba province.

A horrific mosque attack in Quebec province, where a lone gunman killed six Muslims and wounded 19 during evening prayers, shook the North American country in 2017.

In June 2021, four members of a Muslim family, who were out on a stroll in London, Ontario, were killed after a white nationalist man deliberately drove his truck into them. Countless other attacks occur on an ordinary basis, as Muslims across the country urge the government to take concrete action to stop the crimes.

Islamophobia is entrenched in Canada, according to a report by the country’s Senate Committee on Human Rights.

Source: Daily Sabah