A Mississauga man has been arrested and charged in a mischief investigation over a Nov. 22 pro-Palestinian protest that shut down Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway.
Toronto Police Service (TPS) said they arrested Ahmad Islaih, 26, of Mississauga, on Jan. 22, on a charge of mischief interfere with property. In a news release TPS says officers executing a Criminal Code search warrant recovered “items of evidentiary value” following the investigation led by the TPS Hate Crimes Unit.
The crime is not deemed a hate-motivated offence, according to TPS spokesperson Stephanie Sayers.
The Nov. 22 protest took place around 1 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, with demonstrators blocking the on-ramp to the Gardiner Expressway at Spadina Avenue.
In a Jan. 23 media release detailing the Nov. 22 events, TPS alleges that traffic was blocked as a result of cars stopped on the Gardiner, and that several people “got out of their vehicles and engaged in an unlawful assembly on the highway.”
The TPS release goes on to say the accused “along with other unidentified demonstrators fled when police arrived.”
As the incident was unfolding, TPS had posted videos online accompanied by time-stamped notes detailing that “all lanes were blocked by demonstration (12:23 p.m.)” and “demonstrators immediately drove off upon police arrival (12:28 p.m.)” on the westbound Gardiner Expressway at the Spadina Avenue/Lake Shore Boulevard off-ramp.
Videos shared online showed demonstrators trying to ascend the Gardiner entry ramp at York Street on foot, the Toronto Sun reported at the time, “but they were thwarted by a large contingent of Toronto Police officers armed with weapons and batons.”
Sayers would not give further details about what evidentiary items were recovered in the execution of the search warrant, saying the evidence will be presented in court. Islaih is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice on Mar. 6.
The Toronto Star reported that “it took two months to arrest this man… because he was wearing a mask,” according to police.
TPS has repeatedly mentioned that even if charges are not laid at the time of an incident, police may investigate and later make arrests and charges.
One day prior, TPS announced two Toronto men were arrested and charged with mischief and assaulting a police officer following a Dec. 17 pro-Palestinian protest in the Eaton Centre that included an alleged threat captured in a widely circulated video.
