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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-Siddiq 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, 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.
Ederhof has not at this point been charged with hate crimes, she said.
“We now have to look at the motivations behind this,” said McKinnon, adding the investigation continues with the Manitoba Prosecution Service.
Ederhof has been released with conditions.
She 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.”
The Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq 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)