Markham man charged with making antisemitic threats towards Toronto city councillor

A day after Toronto’s police chief shared disturbing statistics about the surge of antisemitic hate crimes in the city, a man has been arrested for allegedly directing antisemitic threats towards a Toronto city councillor.

Investigators say on March 9, 2024, the suspect contacted the office of a city councillor and “made several antisemitic threatening comments towards them.”

Police did not name the councillor but a statement to CityNews from Coun. James Pasternak’s office confirms he was the one targetted.

After an investigation police arrested Mehboob Rajwani, 64, of Markham.

He’s facing charges of uttering threats, indecent communication and criminal harassment.

During an update on Monday, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said hate crimes and hate crime calls have surged recently, with the majority of them (56 per cent) being antisemitic in nature.

“Last month saw the highest number of antisemitic occurrences in the last three years,” Demkiw grimly noted, adding that “the impact of the geopolitical unrest abroad continues to affect people worldwide, including in Canada and right here in Toronto.”

Demkiw revealed that since October 7, 2023, hate crimes have risen 93 per cent year-over-year and Toronto Police have attended 989 hate crime calls.