The news that Toronto police had arrested and charged a local man with 29 counts including serious hate crimes such as inciting and promoting genocide against Jews on social media, is being hailed by the city’s Jewish leaders, including some whose synagogues were damaged by arson or vandalism.
But the decision issued on Monday, March 17, by an Ontario justice of the peace to release the suspect on bail, is being received with incredulity.
Toronto police announced in a release that their Hate Crimes Unit had arrested a suspect, Amir Arvahi Azar, 32, on Jan. 11 in Willowdale, after a months-long investigation. He has been in custody at the Toronto South Detention Centre ever since.
Police arrested the suspect after a series of disturbing fires and vandalism attacks against the Toronto Jewish community and places of worship spanning nine months, dating from April 2024 until Jan. 3, 2025.
Notably, he was charged with three hate speech crimes that, should he be found guilty, could carry a sentence of life in prison. The Ontario Attorney General’s ministry approved these three serious charges, and said they also “constitute terrorist activities” under the Criminal Code.
A 32-year-old man was arrested and charged with 29 criminal offences, many of which are alleged to have been motivated by hatred toward the Jewish community. Two of these charges include Advocating Genocide and Wilful Promotion of Hatred—offences rarely laid in Canada.
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) March 17, 2025
The… pic.twitter.com/MtZ9OdsU5X
On that same Monday afternoon, Toronto’s police chief and a deputy chief met with some members of the Jewish community, along with the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, Shelley Carroll.
And according to Rabbi Jarrod Grover, whose synagogue was one of those where pro-Israel signs were damaged, pointed questions were asked of the police about why the suspect was allowed to be released from custody on bail.
“This is a serious, serious case,” he told The CJN.
Rabbi Grover was informed by officials at the meeting that due to a court-ordered publication ban, they could not divulge more than what was in the news release.
The executive director of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Rivka Campbell, recalls sending security footage to the police, when the wooden sign outside their building was set on fire in April 2024. She said the images on the video were too grainy to make out the license plate, but it was clear it was a man involved.
She’d heard nothing since, and is upset that Toronto police did not inform her that a suspect was arrested months ago, or that he is now out on bail.
“I don’t expect them to arm our building, but I need information to keep me safe,” she said. “Let me protect my community.”
“If this is the same guy, why did you not notify us that you’d made the arrest? Nobody bothered to tell us anything,” Campbell said.
Police said their investigation centred around the Willowdale and Parkview avenues area. It is only a five-minute drive away from the Beth Tikvah synagogue on Bayview Avenue and a further short drive to Kehillat Shaarei Torah. It is also not far from the Café Landwer franchise at 5000 Yonge St., which had its window smashed in December 2024.
On the other side of North York, Temple Sinai’s senior Rabbi Michael Dolgin has been monitoring developments following the arson outside his synagogue’s school wing in July 2024, which he said only damaged the pro-Israel billboard sign, but not the section of the building that houses the sanctuary.
His reaction to Monday’s news hinted at some of the widespread feelings of frustration which the Jewish community has expressed about the ability of Toronto police to protect them in the face of hundreds of antisemitic hate crimes that exploded in Toronto after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent military operation to destroy the terrorist group and free the 250 hostages kidnapped into Gaza.
“The rise of antisemitism in our society is of great concern. It is meaningful to see these hateful crimes taken with due seriousness,” Rabbi Dolgin said.
However, Rabbi Dolgin cautioned, “as it says in the first hall of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, a society is measured, not just by what it does, but by what it tolerates. Further arrests of this nature will indicate that we are unwilling to tolerate hatred and antisemitism in our city.”
Social media monitoring led to evidence
A source with knowledge of the case told The CJN that police gathered intelligence by monitoring the suspect’s online activity on social media.
“We know that that’s where a lot of the evidence was. It’s such a problem in the country,” said the source, who is not authorized to speak publicly.
Canadian police have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the threats to national security from violent extremism and radicalization happening on the internet. In December 2023, the RCMP’s INSET unit arrested and charged an Ottawa teenager for plotting to murder members of the city’s Jewish community with a bomb attack. The teen’s father reportedly told police his son, who cannot be named because he is a youth, became embroiled in the terrorism world through recruiting videos and social media.
A year ago, CSIS also warned that violent rhetoric and protests in this country connected to the conflict in the Middle East could result in violence.
On March 6, during a national forum in Ottawa to combat antisemitism, the federal government announced it would provide up to $10 million to its Community Resilience Fund, to support universities, community groups and international researchers developing programs to address violent extremism in its early stages.
According to the source with knowledge of the Toronto case, “there will always be those who will fly under the radar.”
Have there been other suspects?
Toronto police did not say whether there have been other suspects arrested in connection with this case. They did tell The CJN the investigation is ongoing.
They are asking the public or anyone who has information, to contact police at 416-808-3500, or to contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.
In January, Toronto police issued a public call to help them identify a male suspect caught on security cameras outside a synagogue in the Bayview and York Mills area in connection with two separate incidents of mischief involving the vandalizing of signs. Authorities released photos of “a middle aged man” with a moustache, who drove a grey pickup truck.
Sources tell The CJN this is not the same person in today’s case.
For her part, Rivka Campbell of Beth Tikvah, a congregation with 900 members, fears there must be others still out there who were working to compile information about Jewish buildings. She recalls catching a woman who entered her synagogue last Oct. 22, easily getting by security.
When Campbell challenged the woman and asked what she was doing, the woman responded, “I’m coming to see where you pray.”
Campbell said she told the woman she had ten seconds to get out, before police were called.
The woman, who Campbell said looked “innocuous”, was wearing a hoodie, jeans and sneakers.
Campbell caught the woman scoping out some entry doors downstairs and filming the area with her cell phone camera.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Campbell said in an interview.
The executive director of Kehillat Shaarei Torah congregation, which was targeted eight times during 2024, had already been told weeks ago of a suspect’s arrest. Michael Gilmore confirmed to The CJN that detectives from the Hate Crimes Unit advised him in early January they had picked up an individual thought to have burned signs outside the synagogue on July 31.
“This arrest highlights the dedication of the Toronto Police in protecting the Jewish community. While it took longer than I, and many others, had hoped, it reaffirms that justice has and always will prevail,” Gilmore told The CJN’s news reporter Jonathan Rothman.
Gilmore worries the case “speaks to a much larger issue in Canada. Jew-hatred has become increasingly normalized, tolerated, and even justified. These crimes are not isolated incidents—they are symptoms of a deeper and more insidious problem that demands urgent attention from our elected officials in every level of government.”
The implications of bail release
Even before the police news release was issued Monday afternoon, word of the “groundbreaking” hate crime investigation had already begun to circulate amongst several Jewish community leaders, according to a memo obtained by The CJN that had been sent out from the Jewish Security Network, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s in-house security monitoring organization.
The unsigned memo said JSN reached out to the Toronto police to ask why hate crimes detectives had been visiting different Jewish buildings to inform staff they had arrested someone. JSN wondered what safety implications this would have, since the suspect was let out on bail.
“The JSN is appreciative of the collaboration we have received from the Toronto Police Services as well as the quick reporting of the situation by various institutions,” the memo said. “As leaders of community institutions, we encourage you to continue to apply effective security within your facility. As part of this, do not let individuals enter that you are unfamiliar of or uncertain of.”
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto officials issued a statement on March 18.
“Our community is deeply concerned in the wake of the arrest of a 32-year-old man who has been charged with 29 criminal offences. Many of these charges are alleged to be motivated by hate toward the Jewish community, among them advocating the genocide of Jews, inciting hatred and damage to community institutions,” said Adam Minsky, president and CEO of the Toronto Jewish federation.
“This disturbing case highlights the escalation of antisemitism and serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to confront hate in all its forms. We commend law enforcement for taking action and expect that the justice system will hold the individual accountable for these heinous acts,” Minsky said.
“It is imperative that we continue to work together to combat hate and ensure that all members of our society are treated with respect and dignity and feel safe in their community.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, CIJA, also praised the efforts of Toronto police and prosecutors.
“We are encouraged to see law enforcement and Crown prosecutors upholding the rule of law and taking action to hold individuals accountable for alleged hate-motivated crimes,” said Michelle Stock, a vice-president of the political lobby group.
“In a time of rising antisemitism and hate, it is essential that authorities demonstrate zero tolerance for those who cross the line into criminal conduct. We will continue to monitor this case closely and expect that the justice system will pursue accountability wherever hate crimes occur.”
Michael Levitt, the president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre Canada, is also chair of the Toronto police’s Jewish community’s liaison committee.
On Tuesday, his organization welcomed the news of the charges laid against the suspect, saying it was “reassuring” to see that law enforcement are keeping their pledge to crack down on antisemitic hate crimes
“With antisemitism running rampant in our city, it is reassuring to see law enforcement uphold their commitment to holding such perpetrators accountable,” the Holocaust education advocacy group said in a post on social media. “Now, it is up to our justice system to ensure that justice is served and that these hateful acts are met with the full force of the law.”
B’nai Brith Canada’s Richard Robertson suggested the charges are a wake-up call for politicians to recognize the incitement to genocide against Jews comes from a wider context of antisemitism, such as the upcoming Al-Quds Day anti-Israel protest rallies taking place across the country, beginning on Sunday March 23 in Toronto.
“That arrest? Things like that don’t happen in a vacuum,” Robertson told The CJN’s Jonathan Rothman in an interview. “Allowing hate-fests like Al-Quds Day to ferment on our streets…enables the indoctrination, the radicalization, and creates an environment where…nefarious actors feel emboldened to target the community and to engage in the dangerous behaviour that we are witnessing.”
Tiferet Israel Congregation on Sheppard Avenue West had a “free the hostages” sign attached to its property burned on Aug. 3, 2024.
Synagogue leader Guidy Mamann, who also runs a weekly pro-Israel rally in the same area on Sundays since Oct. 7, said the arson didn’t cause much damage to the property of his small congregation, where a dozen worshippers might attend Shabbat services.
And while he suggested the Toronto police are acting in good faith to help crack down on hate crimes targeting the Jewish community, he was stunned to learn of the suspect’s release on bail.
“It sends a pretty crazy message that you could be accused of some pretty heinous things like 29 crimes, 29 charges here, and you’re targeting a specific community. This is Canada. And we’re not supposed to have views like that. We’re not supposed to behave like that,” Mamann said. “That’s not a guy you should be rolling the dice with, in my opinion.”
Mamann, an immigration lawyer, also fears the publicity about this arrest and the suspect could send the wrong message to inspire others like him.
“You know someone is undoubtedly going to think this guy is some sort of a hero. ‘Yeah, he represents what I’m thinking. And you know, I gotta do my part’.”
