Fake severed hand covered in blood thrown at Islamic Centre in Verdun

The Montreal police (SPVM) hate crimes unit is investigating after a fake severed hand covered in blood was thrown at the Verdun Islamic Centre during a family gathering. (CMF)

The Montreal police (SPVM) hate crime unit is investigating after a fake severed hand covered in blood was thrown at the Islamic centre in Verdun.

The Canadian Muslim Forum (FMC-CMF) posted with “outrage” on Monday after a Sunday afternoon gathering, including families with children, was “turned into a scene of anxiety and intimidation.”

“During a weekend gathering attended by families, children, women, and worshippers, a suspect reportedly threw a plastic bag containing what appeared to be a severed, blood-covered human hand at the entrance of the Centre,” the CMF wrote. “While the object was later determined to be an artificial imitation, the fear and distress it caused were very real.”

The Montreal police (SPVM) responded to 911 calls at around 2:30 p.m. after the bag was thrown at the centre, located on Verdun Street near 1st Avenue.

Officers located the object and determined that it was a fake hand.

SPVM spokesperson Florence Stafford said that the investigation has been transferred to the hate crimes unit and that no arrests have been made.

The “blood-like” substance is also being analyzed.

In condemning the act, the CMF says it “bears all the hallmarks of Islamophobic intimidation.”

“Such actions have no place in Quebec or Canada,” the CMF said. “This incident does not occur in a vacuum. It comes amid a troubling rise in Islamophobia, online hate, and divisive rhetoric that increasingly targets Canadians of Muslim faith.”