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WARNING: This story contains an image showing a swastika.
Winnipeg police have arrested a 34-year-old man after a series of hate-related graffiti incidents in the city.
Oliver Didtger Ederhof was arrested Thursday and charged after swastikas were spray-painted on the entrance of Munson Park on Wellington Crescent, nearby Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Kelvin High School, the Abu Bakr Al-Siddique community centre and mosque on Ellice Avenue, and several residences, police said.
“It wasn’t just property that was damaged. A message was sent to a faith community, to families and to an entire city,” Winnipeg police Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said during a Friday news conference.
“This arrest matters not just because the law was broken, but because our community deserves to know that actions like this will be confronted and answered with justice.”
Ederhof allegedly spray-painted 14 separate locations, including vehicles and residences, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, and now faces several mischief-related charges, said McKinnon.
Swastikas were spray-painted on the entrance of the Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Winnipeg on Jan. 2. (Submitted by Rena Secter Elbaze)
There were several reports in the past week of potential hate-related vandalism and property damage in Winnipeg.
On Monday, McKinnon said investigators with the major crimes division were probing incidents reported two days apart that could be hate-related, including the vandalism at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue last Friday.
Police also said windows were smashed on Sunday at Habibiz Café on Portage Avenue. A threatening message was left at the café, calling the owners “terrorists” and telling them to get out of the country.
McKinnon said investigators are still investigating that case but have determined there is no connection between those two events.
Police received numerous other reports after the Monday news conference, McKinnon said.
Investigators still have to determine what connections, if any, there are between the residences, places of worship, restaurant and vehicles, she said.
Ederhof has not at this point been charged with hate crimes. He has been released with conditions.
“Given the totality of the other addresses and locations [beyond the synagogue] and the type of graffiti that was spray-painted, we now have to look at the motivation behind this,” said McKinnon.
Police are consulting with the Manitoba Prosecution Service, “and those charge[s] can be considered,” said McKinnon.
Ami Kotler is a Crown prosecutor and a member of the Manitoba Prosecution Service’s hate-crime working group. (Trevor Brine/CBC)
Ami Kotler, a Crown attorney who is a member of the Manitoba Prosecution Service’s hate-crime working group, said the number of hate crimes has been increasing in recent years.Â
Hate crimes reported to police forces across Canada rose by 32 per cent in 2023 compared to the year before, according to data from Statistics Canada released last year. The previous years had seen steady increases, with police-reported hate crimes more than doubling between 2019 and 2023, the data shows.
Under the Criminal Code, hatred or bias toward an identifiable group may be considered an “aggravating factor” motivating an illegal act — such as vandalism or mischief — during the sentencing process, Kotler told CBC News.Â
“The way the Criminal Code is structured, the charge sheet won’t always reflect the motivation behind an offence. It will just say somebody was charged with assault or somebody was charged with mischief,” he said.Â
Kolter said he cannot speak specifically to this latest case.Â
Adnan Siddiqui, director of Abu Bakr Al-Siddique mosque, called the acts of vandalism “not just an attack on our property, but on the values of inclusion, respect and peaceful coexistence that we strive to uphold in our city.”
“Healing from such acts of hatred will take time and continued effort from all of us,” Siddiqui wrote in a message to CBC News Friday.
The Abu Bakr Al-Siddique mosque and community centre, at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Home Street in Winnipeg, is shown in a photo taken around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Earlier that morning, a swastika was found painted on the building. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Gustavo Zentner, vice-president for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, told CBC News the local Jewish community was shocked to see the city’s oldest synagogue targeted with an “act of pure hate and evil and antisemitism.” Â
“The larger community needs to understand that when there is hate towards any faith-based organization, any minority group. It’s really an attack on all of us,” Zentner said, adding the local community stands alongside other faith-based communities in denouncing the act.
Zentner said it was “very comforting” to see police had arrested a suspect. He said his organization has been in contact with local police.
McKinnon encouraged any other Winnipeggers who have noticed hate-related graffiti on their properties to contact investigators, and if possible to supply photos before cleaning it up.
“Acts of hate have no place in our community,” she said. “It will not be ignored.”
WATCH | Winnipeg man charged in multiple hate-related graffiti cases:
Winnipeg man charged in multiple hate-related graffiti cases
Oliver Didtger Ederhof, 34, has been charged with 14 mischief-related offences, after swastikas were recently spray-painted on properties that included a synagogue, a school and a mosque in Winnipeg. Prosecutors in Manitoba say they’re seeing an increase in hate-related cases.