A police investigation into June’s Zoom bombing during an online vigil is now categorized as a hate crime.
The Coalition of Muslim Women of KW held a virtual vigil on June 6, days after the Afzal family was murdered in an Islamophobic hate attack in London.
Roughly 800 participants were in attendance.
Two hours into the Zoom vigil, individuals interrupted the event with racist and homophobic comments, police said at the time of the incident.
Organizers paused the vigil while the suspects were removed from the virtual event.
According to a media release by the CMW, the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey has classified the incident as a hate crime against religion, which in this case is against Islam and Muslims.
The information will be part of a 2021 Statistics Canada report that is slated to be released in 2023, said Fauzia Mazhar, the executive director of the CMW, during a phone interview.
There have been no arrests or charges in this case.
“Incidents such as these are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said Chief Bryan Larkin of the Waterloo Region Police Service in the same release. “I want to assure the community that this is a very open and ongoing investigation with dedicated resources assigned to it. We are thankful to the Coalition of Muslim Women for their ongoing partnership as we all work together towards building a safer community for all, as well as ensuring long-term strategies for prevention.”
Mazhar said the classification of this incident “is a breakthrough moment. So often incidents like these go unaccounted or unreported. I am happy that it is being recognized for what it really is: an Islamophobic, hate attack.”
More importantly, Mazhar hopes “this will encourage victims of hate crimes to come forward to report, and seek resolutions”
Mazhar said her organization is committed to countering racism, anti-immigrant discrimination and Islamophobia through their hate reporting system.
CMW has their own website dedicated to this called reportinghate.ca.
Anyone with information about the June Zoom bombing is encouraged to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
