‘Vile’: Human rights group denounces vandalism at Toronto Indigo store, police investigating

The Toronto Police Service’s Hate Crime Unit is investigating after the Indigo store at Bay Street and Bloor Street West was vandalized on Friday morning, with one human rights group calling it a “vile antisemitic attack.”

Police did not provide details on the nature of the vandalism, but in a release, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) said the store was found “vandalized with red paint and posters plastered on its front windows wrongfully accusing its Jewish founder and CEO, Heather Reisman, of ‘Funding Genocide.’ “

FSWC President and CEO, Michael Levitt, called the vandalism “absolutely appalling.”

“Sadly, this is the tragic, new reality for Jews today in Canada and around the world which requires more than just condemnations from government leaders,” he wrote.

Speaking earlier this week, Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw said the city is seeing an alarming spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes amid the latest Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s very, very concerning,” Demkiw said. “We have committed an extensive amount of resources … we are going to do everything possible to hold those responsible accountable.”