Toronto Canada – Jewish Group Says Graffiti, Swastikas Nothing to Laugh About

Toronto Canada – What police describe as pranks and thefts had a neighbourhood worried that there is a hate group in their midst.

Niagara Region police have had complaints of graffiti-covered garage doors, fences and cars in the northwest Welland area, and the symbols caused extra alarm.

There were also swastikas spray-painted, said Det. Const. Alexander Mackay.

But officers believe that one of the three teens they just arrested for stealing items from area vehicles is responsible for the graffiti. And they say the incidents were not racially motivated and the victims were chosen randomly.

"It's apparently a way teenagers `punk' someone," said Mackay.

But Len Rudner, the Canadian Jewish Congress' National Director of Community Relations, said the graffiti "is nothing to laugh about."

"When someone uses a swastika, what they are doing is trying to up the emotional impact of what they are doing," he said. "The first question (I'd ask) is `what were you thinking? Was it your intent to hurt people? If it was your intention to show how stupid you are, you certainly succeeded.'"

The three teens, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were charged with possession of stolen property, and one of the three also faces a charge of mischief related to the spray-painting incidents. [TheStar]