A 28-year-old Toronto resident has been charged in connection to an alleged hate-motivated incident that took place at a mosque in Markham last week, according to York Regional Police (YRP).
On Apr. 6, just before 7 a.m., police responded to a call for a disturbance at The Islamic Society of Markham on Denison Street, according to a press release issued on Sunday.
Witnesses reported that a man drove directly at one of the worshippers and yelled threats and religious slurs, police said.
Investigators said the suspect drove dangerously in the parking lot before finally leaving.
The mosque had also said that the suspect tore apart a Quran during the attack.
Sharan Karunakaran is facing three charges of Uttering Threats, Assault with a Weapon and Dangerous Driving.
At a news conference on Monday, the society’s president, Qasir Nasir Khan, said the perpetrator threatened to burn down the religious site, uttered slurs about terrorism and tried to ram people with a vehicle.
“Our congregation and Muslims across the country have a reason to be concerned,” he said.
“Whether looking at the Quebec City mosque massacre, or the London attack, where the individual ran down the entire family with his truck, our communities have reasons to feel afraid. Make no mistake. We could have been at a funeral today.”
Khan also said that more needs to be done on all levels of government and that Ontario Premier Doug Ford should consider the London Family Act, a bill that hopes to combat Islamophobia and hatred.
“What happened here last week was extremely distressing, especially during the holy month of Ramadan where many Muslims, families and elders gathered for collective acts of worship,” Nadia Hasan, chief operating officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said during the press conference.
In another news conference on Monday, YRP Deputy Chief Robertson Rouse shared that the individual was not part of a larger extremist group and that the incident was not terror related.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that our faith communities remain safe during these holidays. As a police organization, we are committed to thoroughly investigating any incident of threat to a member of our community,” Rouse said.
Canadian ministers also spoke out regarding the incident:
Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to contact YRP at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7541, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS.
