The alleged incident took place at approximately 10:30 p.m., July 9, at a convenience store / gas station on Lasalle Boulevard.
A 31-year-old man faces charges motivated by hatred after a verbal argument and a physical altercation outside a convenience store / gas station on Lasalle Boulevard on July 9th.
The incident went viral this week after a video of the altercation was posted on Instagram. Click here to watch the video in question, which justifies a content warning for racism, heated discussions, and possible violence.
In the video, a man is seen shouting racial insults at a client who is a black woman.
In a press release issued today by the Greater Sudbury Police Service, it is noted that they received a call about an assault after the events, at approximately 10.30pm.
“The information provided was that two people had been in a verbal argument where a man made racially charged comments towards another customer that caused a physical altercation between the two people outside the store,” according to the press release .
“Due to the hate-based nature of this incident, the matter was assigned to a Detective of the Major Crimes Section of our Criminal Investigation Division who is specially trained as a crime investigator. hatred and prejudice / motivated by hatred “.
As a result of this investigation, a 31-year-old man has been charged with the following offenses under the Canada Penal Code:
- Assault with a weapon
- Assault
- Cause a disturbance
The man was released on a promise of appearance, and his name has not been released, as the information has not yet been sworn in by the court process.
In consultation with the Crown prosecutor’s office, police reported that the charges were motivated by hatred, which will be taken into account during the sentencing within the judicial process.
“We will continue to work with the Crown throughout this case as long as we support the survivor and his family,” according to the police statement.
“We know that hate crimes and hate speech incidents are very unreported and we are working hard to change that. The Greater Sudbury Police Service takes crime-motivated crime reports very seriously. hatred and incidents of hatred prejudice and we recognize the impact and pain that community members feel when there is evidence of hatred.We want to make sure we are committed to investigating these situations thoroughly.We take these matters into account seriously “.
In their statement, police also noted that through their Diversity Advisory Committee, officers have been invited to report on hate / bias incidents at various community participation events that allow for personal interactions with several members of the community.
“This is a step towards building trust between diverse communities, with the hope of making community members more comfortable when reporting incidents to the police,” they said.
“Although hate / bias incidents are poorly reported, we continue to work with our internal members, community members and community partners to build public trust through transparency and community engagement through education and awareness “.
In a statement earlier this week, Black Lives Matter noted that this is not an isolated incident and urged others to speak out for those who need it, as did the woman in the video when she defended a employee, which is colored.
“While Sudbury tries to boast of being an inclusive, safe and friendly community, the BIPOC population (blacks, Indians and people of color) and specifically members of the black community continue to face attacks of this nature on a regular basis and without hesitation.” , they wrote. .
“To our allies, we ask that you speak and intervene when you observe something remotely of this nature. You are by the side of the oppressor when you remain silent.”