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Toronto police charge woman with vandalizing Starbucks café with pro-Palestinian messages

Toronto police charge woman with vandalizing Starbucks café with pro-Palestinian messages

By Omayma othmani

Published: November 18, 2023

Toronto police have charged a 25-year-old woman accused of vandalizing a Starbucks café in Forest Hill with pro-Palestinian messages.

In a press release issued today, Saturday, the police said officers were called to the café located at Eglinton Avenue West and Bathurst Street in Forest Hill early Thursday morning to respond to an "injury-related incident."

The police also said that the suspect vandalized the storefront with multiple posters and writings, leading to the closure of the café for investigation.

Photos from the scene, as previously reported by CTV News Toronto, show the vandalism inflicted on the downtown café, with signs and writings on the walls saying "Blood on your hands" and "Free Palestine," among other things.

In a social media post following the incident, Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO Michael Levitt thanked the police for their "quick response" and "for everything they have done to keep the Jewish community safe and protected in recent weeks."

Although Toronto police said its Hate Crime Unit charged 25-year-old Skye Johnson of Toronto with causing damage and interfering with the enjoyment of property, the incident has not been investigated as a hate-motivated crime.

The police told CTV News Toronto on Saturday: "The investigation is ongoing, but at this time the incident is not being classified as a hate crime."

While it is unclear why this Starbucks location was targeted for vandalism, last month, the coffee giant headquartered in Seattle accused its 9,000-member union, which expressed pro-Palestinian views following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, of trying to destroy Israel.

The tweet by Starbucks Workers United, which said "Solidarity with Palestine," was also removed within 40 minutes, but the company said it led to more than 1,000 complaints, acts of vandalism, and angry confrontations at its stores.

Since then, amid competing lawsuits between and against Starbucks and the union, the coffee chain issued a statement expressing its "deep sympathy" amid the "escalating violence and hatred against innocents in Israel and Gaza."

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