Antisemitic incident in Canadian school investigated by police

A group of students from École Secondaire Catholique Algonquin were seen in a video chanting "F*** Jews" and "Heil Hitler" while holding their arms in a Nazi salute.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 08:19

A MEMBER of a neo-Nazi party gives a salute outside a speech by Richard Spencer on the campus of Michigan State University on March 5 (photo credit: REUTERS/STEPHANIE KEITH) — A MEMBER of a neo-Nazi party gives a salute outside a speech by Richard Spencer on the campus of Michigan State University on March 5

(photo credit: REUTERS/STEPHANIE KEITH)

North Bay police in Canada are investigating a possible antisemitic hate crime that took place among a group of students, Canadian media is reporting.

A group of students from École Secondaire Catholique Algonquin was seen in a video chanting "F*** Jews" and "Heil Hitler" while holding their arms in a Nazi salute.

A video circulating on social media shows students on North Bay school property chanting “f*** Jews” and “Heil Hitler,” while holding their arms in a Nazi salutehttps://t.co/5iRuFnh70v pic.twitter.com/BQVW6iC8pn
— Jonathan Kingstone (@TorSunCity) September 21, 2021

Police Chief Scott Tod has said the video is being investigated and finds it "very disturbing."

“I want to offer our condolences to the Jewish community of North Bay for having to see this video and see this happening in our community,” he said.

“It really is, in all the time I’ve been chief of police, I never thought I would have to deal with in our community. The North Bay Police will completely and thoroughly investigate to determine whether a crime related to hate, genocide, or the incitement of hatred has occurred.

“As the chief of police in North Bay, I’m disturbed at watching the video. I only watched it a half-an-hour ago. For that event to occur in the city of North Bay is shameful,” Tod said at police headquarters.

“We are investigating. We take hate and intolerance very seriously as a police service. Hate crimes require thorough investigation by all the policing resources we have.”

The mayor of North Bay tweeted: "Hate and racism has no home here. It is everyone's responsibility to speak up against racism & hate when it appears."

We @cityofnorthbay are a welcoming & inclusive community. Hate and racism has no home here. It is everyone's responsibility to speak up against racism & hate when it appears.
— Al McDonald (@MayorAlMcDonald) September 21, 2021

Stephen Lecce, Ontario Minister of Education, called antisemitism "a great scourge," referencing the prevalence of hate crimes committed against Jews in Ontario.

296 hate crimes involving Jews were reported in 2019, more than any other religious group, according to Statistics Canada.