Toronto police have arrested a man wanted in connection with a hate-motivated incident after two nooses were found at a construction site in the summer.
On June 10, police responded to a construction site in the area of Coxwell and Sammon avenues, which is near Michael Garron Hospital in East York.
It is alleged that workers assigned to a closed construction site, which is not accessible to the general public, arrived at work and found two nooses located on their construction equipment.
As part of the Service’s commitment to tackling Hate Crimes, a task force was set up in response to several similar reports at construction sites across the city. This project team includes members of the Hate Crime Unit as well as investigators from 55 Division, 52 Division and 11 Division.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, officers were able to identify a suspect in relation to one of the nooses discovered on June 10 and a 34-year-old man was arrested on Friday, December 4.
1207 12:00 Arrest Md In Hate-motivated Mschf & Crim Hrsmt Invst, Sam…nstruction Site https://t.co/C74rBAYRqh
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) December 7, 2020
According to police, Jason Lahay of Toronto has been charged with Mischief Interrupt Property Over $5000 and three counts of Criminal Harassment.
Lahay is scheduled to appear at College Park Courts, on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at 2 pm.
After several nooses were found at various Toronto construction sites this year — in addition to the ones discovered at Michael Garron Hospital — Tridel launched the “Built for Respect” campaign, which is intended to “tackle and ideally eliminate” racism within the construction industry.
Tridel said its Built for Respect mandate will work to provide clarity on what is expected and what will not be tolerated to ensure every workplace remains equitable and inclusive for everyone.
“Providing the appropriate training and education in support of anti-racism is a major milestone in raising awareness that racist acts are not typically in isolation, and that systemic racism exists within the field of construction,” reads a release from Tridel.
