Calgary man charged with hate crimes against Russian community
Posted Oct 13, 2022 6:26 pm.
Last Updated Oct 13, 2022 6:35 pm.
A man has been charged with hate crimes after threatening people at a Russian Orthodox Church, and people in the city on Tuesday.
Police say a 36-year-old Calgary man called staff at the All Saints Russian Orthodox Church at 905 8 Avenue NE and made threats toward the staff and church organizers on Oct. 11 at around 8 p.m.
On the same day, officers say four more reports of threats and harassment came in, all against Russian-Calgarians.
The man has been charged with five counts of criminal harassment. Police say all five incidents are deemed hate-motivated crimes.
“We would like to make it clear that hate-motivated crimes of any kind will not be tolerated in our city,” said Const. Matt Messenger of the Calgary Police Service Hate Crime and Extremism Team.
“Uttering threats and harassing individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, mental or physical ability, sex, age, or any other similar factor, are considered criminal offences. We take these incidents seriously and recognize hate-motivated crimes have negative impacts on victims and in these cases have left victims feeling unsafe.”
Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or leave a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
