Montreal police are investigating what they believe is a hate crime after swastikas were painted on four cars in the parking garage of an apartment building.
Police were called to an apartment building in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, a neighbourhood close to downtown, around 10 p.m. Monday night after a resident discovered four cars had been spray-painted with red swastikas. Her own car had a broken windshield.
The resident went down to the garage to make sure everything was okay after she was roused from her sleep by the building’s fire alarm.
Envelopes with swastikas on them were also left on some windshields. One of the envelopes had a bullet inside, with a note saying “one of these will be in your head.”
A pickaxe was also found near the car with the broken windshield.
Police spokesperson Louis Heroux said police are treating the case as a hate crime "due to the nature of the graffiti on the vehicles."
Police were in the building for much of the night, interviewing residents and collecting evidence. They have not identified any suspects.
While residents expressed concern about the security at the building, which does not have cameras, they said they have never felt unsafe.
“Shock. Just pure shock, because NDG is a great community and you don’t expect this here,” one resident told CTV Montreal.
“You don’t know how to react to that, because you never face this and you hope to never be faced with this.”
Montreal police officer Abdullah Emran said Tuesday that crime scene technicians continue to analyze “every clue that could possibly lead to an arrest.”
Harvey Levine, the Quebec regional director of B'nai Brith Canada, called the incident "deplorable." He said a number of Jewish people live in the area, and there is a synagogue nearby.
"A particular problem like this is not some teenager running around with a spray can; this is a pre-meditated, hate-motivated crime." Levine said.
While the swastikas appear to have been painted backward, Levine says it's not uncommon for young people to mix up the symbol with the one traditionally used by the Nazis.
"I certainly hope the culprits will be apprehended and when they are apprehended, I hope that they will be charged with a hate crime because this is very significant."
Rabbi Reuben Poupko, of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called the incident more than just vandalism, given the recent deadly attacks on Jewish people in Paris and Copenhagen.
“The level of concern that people have expressed about this, is much greater than it would have been eight or 10 months ago, because of the increasing incidents of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews elsewhere,” Poupko said.
But, he said Montreal’s Jewish community will not be intimidated.
Graffiti being removed
Meanwhile, a Montreal power washer is volunteering his time to help rid the vehicles of vandalism.
Corey Fleischer, who owns Provincial Power Washing, removes offensive graffiti for free.
“Little by little, I’ll be able to remove everything off these cars and hopefully there won’t be a marking left when I’m done,” Fleischer said.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Montreal’s Maya Johnson
