Two people have been killed after a gunman allegedly influenced by anti-Jewish hatred opened fire from a hotel window in a heavily-Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal.
On Monday, a man reportedly opened fire from a hotel window in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, killing a Jewish civilian and a police officer. Police shot dead the perpetrator, who has been identified as Seth Scott Hatfield.
The victim, Michael Moshe Mizrahi, has been described as a “a beloved member of Montreal’s Jewish community.” The police officer, Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, was killed in the line of duty.
The attack took place earlier this week but officials only provided more information last night, which we had hoped would shed more light on the incident. But investigators have reportedly declined to comment on a possible motive behind the attack.
Côte-des-Neiges is home to a large Jewish population. Following the attack, a manifesto allegedly authored by Mr Hatfield and reportedly inspired by incel-ideology, circulated online, expressing hostility towards “influential Zionists.”
Mr Hatfield had also reportedly deleted a YouTube account created under his name that included favourited videos from a channel featuring a Holocaust-denier and neo-Nazi imagery.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is perplexing that police have not identified a motive for the attack. Is it really a coincidence that a man who appears to have harboured anti-Jewish views chose a visibly Jewish neighbourhood for his attack? In today’s world, where Jews are being murdered from Washington DC to Manchester to Bondi, Jewish people no longer have the luxury to rely on the benefit of the doubt.”
