Toronto police arrested two anti-Israel pro-Hezbollah protesters accused of flying Hezbollah terrorist flags outside of a Jewish restaurant a day after Israel eliminated Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Toronto Police Services informed the public that two 34-year-old men, one residing in Oakville, Ahmad Sheikhani, and Hamad Khalid Menshed in Mississauga, on Wednesday in connection to a protest outside of a Jewish restaurant on Sept 28.
The two men are accused of flying Hezbollah flags, a Lebanese-based group listed as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.
“Officers approached the accused and cautioned them about how the flags represented Hezbollah and the threats such flags cause to the public peace,” the report said. “Officers disengaged with the accused due to the large crowd size and public safety concerns.”
Police said the two continued to publicly wave the flags despite being warned and are now both charged with public incitement of hatred.
While Hezbollah does not have an official charter like Hamas, which calls for Jewish people to be “vanquished,” the terrorist group’s former leader Nasrallah has stated a desire to hunt and kill Jewish people globally. Nasrallah was recently assassinated by an Israeli airstrike a day before the protest.
“If they [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide,” Nasrallah said in response to an Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon in the 1990s.
Independent Ontario MPP Goldie Ghamari, whose family immigrated to Canada as refugees escaping the Islamic regime in Iran, called out the incident on X.
“Islamofascists are abusing our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to promote terrorism & jihad, then cry “Islamophobia” to silence their critics,” she said. “Wake up Canada.”
When asked for further information on Sheikhani and Menshed’s citizenship status TPS told True North they would not comment.
Jewish community groups such as B’nai Brith Canada have repeatedly called for all levels of government and law enforcement to take action against the public display of terrorist symbols as incitements to hate and violence, as reported by True North.
A day after the arrest, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw vowed to increase security ahead of the one-year marking of the deadly Oct. 7 attack, which left over 1200 killed and hundreds taken as hostages by Hamas terrorists.
“Our expanded Hate Crime Unit continues to investigate every reported instance of hate, including on the ground at demonstrations, to gather evidence and investigate any suspected hate crimes, or hate speech, or signage,” he said. “This includes the presence of flags that promote terrorist organizations, as identified by Public Safety Canada.”
Demkiw noted that arrests and charges can be laid at any time, even if suspects are not detained during a protest.
Police also arrested a woman on Wednesday in connection to an anti-Israel protest of a Jewish Charity fundraising event at Meridian Hall in September.
Deijaumar Clarke, 32, is currently wanted by TPS after being accused of allegedly spitting on an officer and is being charged with assaulting a peace officer. Police are also requesting help in identifying a woman accused of allegedly striking an officer at the same protest.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.