MONTREAL (AP) — A synagogue in a Montreal suburb was focused in what police suspect was an arson assault early Wednesday, the second time the constructing on this Canadian metropolis was hit by an incendiary gadget in little greater than a 12 months.
Montreal police obtained a 911 name shortly earlier than 3 a.m. a few fireplace on the Congregation Beth Tikvah on the island suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc stated.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and located an incendiary gadget on the scene, she stated. A window of the synagogue was smashed and a door was broken.
“Witnesses told us that they saw one suspect that was leaving rapidly shortly after the fire started,” she stated, including that the constructing was broken by smoke however the total penalties of the fireplace have been minor.
No accidents have been reported and there have been no arrests within the case, Dubuc stated, including that police haven’t but decided whether or not the fireplace was a hate crime.
Just a few hours later, officers on the scene of the fireplace observed a equally smashed window and a broken glass door at a close-by constructing belonging to the West Island workplace of the Federation CJA, a constructing frequented by town’s Jewish group.
Dubuc stated no incendiary gadget was discovered on the second location. Police are investigating a doable hyperlink between the 2 incidents, she stated.
The identical synagogue and the CJA constructing have been focused by arson in November 2023, inflicting minor harm to the synagogue’s entrance door and the again door of the CJA workplace. Nobody was injured in these assaults and police haven’t made arrests in that case.
Jewish teams and politicians condemned the focusing on of the Jewish establishments on Wednesday.
“This vile antisemitic attack against Montreal’s Jewish community is cowardly and criminal,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on X.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog denounced the assault and known as “on the Canadian government to act decisively, and show that such hatred will not be tolerated.”
Initially Printed: December 18, 2024 at 5:40 PM EST
