Vancouver woman arrested over speech that praised Hamas attack

VANCOUVER — Police say a 44-year-old woman has been arrested in a hate-crime investigation over a speech in Vancouver that praised the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

A statement from the Vancouver Police Department said that the woman “referred to a number of terrorist organizations as heroes.”

It said a criminal investigation was underway to determine if her comments violated hate-crime laws.

The speech outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Friday drew condemnation from Premier David Eby, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and others.

The police statement on Wednesday said the investigation was launched on the day of the speech, and the suspect had been released from custody while the inquiry continued.

Video of the rally at the art gallery shows a woman leading the crowd in a chant of “long live Oct. 7” and calling the attackers “heroic and brave.”

Eby said Monday that the comments about the attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were “the most hateful” he could imagine.

Sgt. Steve Addison said in the VPD statement that police “defend everyone’s right to gather and express their opinions, even when those opinions are unpopular or controversial.”

“We also have a responsibility to ensure public comments don’t promote or incite hatred, encourage violence, or make people feel unsafe,” he said.

“We will continue to thoroughly investigate every hate incident and will pursue criminal charges whenever there is evidence of a hate crime.”

The statement said video of the suspect’s speech had been “widely shared on social media and viewed several hundred thousand times.”

“Once the investigation is complete, the evidence will be presented to Crown for their assessment,” the statement said.

Eby said previously of the speech that “celebrating the murder, the rape of innocent people attending a music festival, it’s awful.”

“It’s reprehensible, and it shouldn’t take place in British Columbia,” he said. “There is clearly an element of some individuals using an international tragedy to promote hate that’s completely unacceptable.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press