Ahmad Hassan Hajahmad was arrested by Toronto police on Tuesday and charged with participating in or contributing to the activities of a terrorist group.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Toronto police have charged a 33-year-old man with a terrorism offence for his alleged conduct during two pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the city’s downtown core two years ago.
Police allege that Ahmad Hassan Hajahmad was acting on behalf of Hamas when he used a megaphone to call for harm to members of the Israeli and Jewish communities at demonstrations in Toronto in May and September of 2024.
Mr. Hajahmad was arrested Tuesday and charged with participating in or contributing to the activities of a terrorist group, police said in a news release published on Wednesday. Toronto police said they gathered evidence after the demonstrations supporting the allegation that he acted in association with Hamas.
The allegation against Mr. Hajahmad has not been tested in court and his lawyers issued a statement denying them.
Toronto is among cities across Canada that have seen regular anti-Israel protests since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Since then, police forces have reported an increase in antisemitic hate crimes, including multiple high-profile incidents since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran earlier this year.
Toronto police allege Mr. Hajahmad made the statements at two pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the Bay Street and Front Street West area on May 25, 2024, and Sept. 7, 2024. The release did not specify what he is alleged to have said.
On March 7, 2025, investigators seized multiple electronic devices from a Toronto residence after executing a search warrant, the news release said. A joint investigation by the Toronto Police Service hate crime unit and an RCMP national-security unit subsequently gathered evidence that Mr. Hajahmad acted for the benefit of Hamas, police say.
While terrorism investigations typically fall under the RCMP’s federal policing mandate, Toronto police in March announced its counterterrorism unit as part of its response to violence linked to the Middle East conflict.
Mohamed El Rashidy, legal counsel for Mr. Hajahmad, said in a statement that the accused is presumed innocent and “has no connection to Hamas or any other foreign group.”
“He faces a single charge arising from speaking at public demonstrations,” the statement said. “No violence, no weapon, no one harmed.”
The statement said Mr. Hajahmad’s speeches amounted to “protected expression, not terrorism” and that the charges “won’t hold up when measured against the law.”
Toronto police said the Attorney-General of Ontario and the federal government on Monday provided consent to proceed with the charge.
Alexandra Wilkes, spokesperson for Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey, declined to comment. The office of federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Toronto police offered few details about the investigation, citing a publication ban. However, spokesperson Stephanie Sayer confirmed that Mr. Hajahmad was separately charged with mischief in January, 2025, after a smoke canister was set off inside Union Station during a protest on New Year’s Day. Ms. Sayer did not immediately respond to a question about the status of that case.
The federal RCMP referred questions to Toronto police’s news release.
Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called the terrorism charge “chilling” in a statement published Wednesday.
“Governments and authorities across Canada must do more to confront those who are radicalizing people in our streets to support violence and promote terrorist organizations,” he said.
Ottawa-based criminal lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said laying the criminal charge strikes him as a potentially groundbreaking use of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act, which was passed by Parliament in 2001.
“The big challenge for the Crown in this case is to prove – whatever this person did, and whatever they possessed – how that was, in some way, of assistance to Hamas,” Mr. Greenspon said.
More than 20 years ago Mr. Greenspon represented the first Canadian charged with criminal terrorism offences.
He recalled how in that case, in the mid-2000s, Momin Khawaja was convicted of building a detonation device that contributed to an al-Qaeda-inspired group overseas.
The new case, Mr. Greenspon said, appears to be a much different application of these same laws.
“The novelty is using the terrorism provisions in this way,” he said.
“We don’t know at this point how the Crown intends to prove that a designated terrorist group, Hamas, was assisted by virtue of the acts of the person that has been charged.”
Carleton University professor Stephanie Carvin said it is unclear what link investigators made between how Mr. Hajahmad’s words during the protests allegedly furthered the interests of Hamas. That connection will be key to determining whether the charges stand up in court, she said.
“It goes above just someone saying something with a megaphone that is found distasteful,” said Prof. Carvin, a national-security expert.
“It has to actually be deemed as to be furthering the interests of this particular group.”
With files from Colin Freeze