Nine Islamic schools across Canada have increased security after receiving an anonymous email threatening to kill Muslims, just days after a shooting at an Ontario synagogue and the arrest of a Whitby man accused of threatening another.
The Muslim Association of Canada says the same email reached several schools in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec over a 24-hour period this week.
The message, signed “Citizen Vigilante,” threatened the “slaughter” of Muslims and said Canada would become “Islam free,” according to the letter shared with The Canadian Press.
Police forces in multiple jurisdictions are investigating.
Peel Regional Police said Friday that its hate crime unit is investigating a letter containing “hate-motivated threats” against Islamic institutions. Officers have increased patrols near mosques and schools.
Police in London and Waterloo Region are also investigating threatening emails.
Ottawa police said there was no indication of a “specific or imminent threat” but have increased their presence at affected locations.
The threats to Islamic schools come just days following two separate attacks on Ontario synagogues during Yom Kippur.
On September 18, Durham Regional Police received information from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation about online messages threatening a shooting at a synagogue in Durham Region.
Officers searched a Whitby home the next day and arrested Alexander Parfitt, 19. He was charged with threats motivated by hate, and Durham police increased patrols around Jewish places of worship.
The allegation has not been proven in court.
Then, on the evening of September 20, a gunman opened fire on an officer stationed outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville as worshippers attended Yom Kippur services. Constable Jeff Smith was shot multiple times, but no worshippers were injured.
Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Thursday that investigators had determined the shooting was a deliberate, hate-motivated attack on the Jewish community.
The gunman, identified as 29-year-old Sean Ward, later died of his injuries.
Muslim Association of Canada spokesperson Nabil Sultan told reporters that the organization has hired paid security. He said the organization has received threatening emails before, but threats to their schools are new.
“The targeting of children, the targeting of schools, in that kind of way is something that shook us to our core,” Sultan said.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree called the threats “deeply disturbing,” saying every child deserves to learn in safety.
Police have not identified who sent the threatening emails to Islamic schools.
