Man accused of breaking into downtown Montreal mosque hit with additional charges

A 32-year-old man who was arrested following a break-in at a downtown Montreal mosque that was caught on video has appeared in court and is now charged with assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and mischief.

At first, he was only charged with mischief.

The incident took place last Sunday at the Al-Omah Al-Islamiah mosque on Saint-Dominique Street.TheCanadian Muslim Forum shared videos of the incident online.

The videos appear to show someone at around 5 a.m. using a rock to break into themosqueand into the prayer room. The videos also appear to showthe perpetrator attempting to hit and narrowly missing a worshipper before smashing into the building.

No one was injured.

Muslim leaders criticized the police response to the incident,as a spokesperson for the Service de Police de la Ville de Montral(SPVM)initially saidinvestigators didn't believe the incident was a hate crime.

The SPVM later said that its hate crime unit was investigating the case "given that the event happened in a place of worship."

The 32-year-old suspect is expected back in court on Thursday.