A man attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Toronto on May 14 was arrested after he allegedly ignited a smoke flare near an outdoor café, driving diners inside.
Shahrez Hydri, 38, of Beeton, Ont., was charged with mischief and is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on June 26. It is the second time he has been charged in connection with pro-Palestinian protests.
The demonstration, marking Nakba Day, stopped outside Cafe Landwer, at the corner of University Avenue and Adelaide Street. Videos on social media show a man igniting a flare that sent thick red smoke into the air, driving the patrons who were eating outside to leave their meals on their tables and enter the restaurant. A woman can be seen at the café entrance recording the protest with her phone and shouting several times at police, “Why aren’t you stopping them?”
The video then shows a Toronto police officer cautioning the man, warning him that he will be charged with mischief. The man, whose flare is no longer smoking at this point, is turned away from the officer by another protester and replies, “Yeah, yeah, shut up.”
The café chain, which was started in Israel two decades ago, has six branches in Toronto and has been targeted before. In October 2023, just weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel, protesters stopped outside the café, yelling “Zionist café” and “Boycott” and waving Palestinian flags.
Toronto mayor Olivia Chow condemned the protest at the time, saying on social media, “Targeting a business in this way is wrong. There is no place in our city for antisemitism, Islamophobia, hate, intimidation and harassment of any kind.”
Windows at the North York branch of the café were shattered in December 2024.
A spokesperson for the café chain could not be reached for comment.
Hydri was arrested and charged in June 2024, when he attended the UJA Walk with Israel, Toronto Police reported.
He reportedly refused to leave private property and then assaulted an officer. A number of protesters were seen trying to evade police and enter a wooded path that adjoined the Prosserman JCC, where the walk concluded.
Hydri was charged with failing to leave premises when directed and obstructing and assaulting a peace officer.
