Police investigating graffiti at Hamilton Farmers' Market as a hate crime

Police are investigating graffiti scrawled across the windows and doors of the Hamilton Farmers' Market Friday morning as a hate crime.

The vandalism, what police call "hate bias graffiti," wasseen along the glass facade on York Boulevard, according to investigators.

Market staff could be seen using black garbage bags to cover up the messages and symbols around mid-morning. The five bags and graffiti had been removed by 12:30 p.m.

Police are asking business owners and neighbouring residents to check their security cameras and dashcam footage between 1 and 2:15 a.m. for any suspicious activity.

"Hate crime in Hamilton is not acceptable," the forcesaid in a media release. "Left unchecked, hate crime can have a far reaching impact on communities."

A spokesperson for the city, which oversees the market,said it was aware of the graffiti, whichwas removed after police had investigated so "thepublic and vendors can access the market free from hateful symbols."

Aisling Higgins said the city is focused on making Hamilton an inclusive place, adding it condemns all racism and hate-motivated imagery or speech.

The graffiti comes just one day before theHamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) is set gather with other community groups outside the Concession Branch of the Hamilton Public Library to respond to a separate act of vandalism.

A plaque outside the library that commemoratesHamilton's Black community was vandalized on Feb. 5, according to HARRC executive director Lyndon George.

Saturday's noon event will be about calling out acts of racism in Hamilton and offering strategies to deal with hate crimes, he said.

"The sad part of all of this is this is happening all too often in our community."

'We need to say that these things are happening'

A2020 Hate/Bias report compiled by Hamilton police said there were eight hate crimes (such as assault) and 72 hate incidents (such as racist graffiti) reported that year.

Of those, 44 involvedracial bias, 31 involved religion, two involvedsexual orientationand three involved gender identity.

New data from Statistics Canada shows the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country went up 37 per cent in the first year in 2020, hitting2,669 the highest number since comparable data became available in 2009.

George pointed to the graffiti at the farmer's market as an example of how pervasive messages of hate can be.

"When you see it at the front of a marketplace where you go to buy your daily groceries, where you go to have a coffee with your friend it should speak to all of us about how we confront racism and hate in our community."

Experiencing hate leaves trauma that sticks with people, said George, and impacts whether or not they feel welcome.

"We need to say that these things are happening," he said. "We need to report them. We need to document them."

George added that HARRC is working with the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion to set up an online toolwhere people can report hate incidents and expects it to be available soon.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the graffiti outside the farmer's market to contact the police hate crime unit at 905-546-5511 or online.