On May 26, a 22-year-old man was charged with alleged hate crimes committed against the St. Catherine of Siena Church and its neighboring elementary school in Mississauga, Ontario.
Iqbal Hessan, whose first and last name are Muslim, faces five counts of mischief and over $5,000 in fines.
On May 20, the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue that stands in front of the church was covered in black paint and the fingers of its outstretched arms were broken off. Behind the church, graffiti with the words “There is no Jew God” was scrawled across the brick wall along with a drawing of a face labelled “Jewsus.”
That was the fourth time the church was targeted. On April 9, surveillance cameras caught a young man breaking into the church, ripping pages of the Sacramentary book on the altar and throwing them at the tabernacle, and stealing one of the church’s amplifier speakers. On May 17, a drawing of a hand gesturing with the middle finger was found spray painted on the front steps of the church. And on May 25, graffiti was sprayed on the school walls.