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A woman in a hijab was confronted by a man “yelling derogatory comments” who later assaulted her and two bystanders, London police say – an incident that has unnerved local Muslim leaders and that investigators are treating as a possible hate crime.
London police say it was about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when the incident happened in the area of Berkshire Drive and Berkshire Place, a suburban neighbourhood near the intersection of Wonderland and Springbank roads.
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The man started yelling at the woman, who police say didn’t know him. She called out for help, police said. When another woman came to her aid, police say both women were assaulted and one woman had property damaged. Police described the physical injuries as minor.
The man then flashed a knife at another nearby person and threatened all three before running off. The man was soon arrested, police said.
James Edward Henkel, 79, of London is charged with three counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of assault and one count of damage to property under $5,000. He is to appear in London court on Nov. 5
Police say they’re investigating it as a possible hate-motivated crime.
Members of London’s Muslim community denounced the incident.
Nawaz Tahir is spokesperson for Hikma Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group representing local Muslims. He called it “another example of a hate that we’re seeing,” adding statistics suggest it’s on the rise.
“Acts of Islamophobia are increasing – not decreasing despite all of the efforts of various advocacy groups,” he said.
It also drew condemnation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who wrote on social media that he was “angry to learn” that “women wearing hijabs” were “the target of a violent attack in London.”
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Tahir said the latest incident, which comes on the heels of an arson attack earlier this year, “represents a heightened level of fear and anxiety in the community.” The blaze on Wateroak Drive in northwest London was also addressed at that time by Trudeau, who called it “an act of hate.”
Islamophobic attacks are a concern nationwide, but the issue is especially raw in London: It was roughly one year ago that 23-year-old Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for killing four members of a Muslim family, the Afzaals, and injuring a fifth after running them over with his pickup truck at a northwest London intersection on June 6, 2021.
Veltman, 23, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for the deaths of Talat Afzaal, 74; her son Salman Afzaal, 46; his wife Madiha Salman, 44; and their daughter Yumnah Afzaal, 15. A son survived. A judge found Veltman, a white nationalist, committed an act of terrorism when he drove into the family.
The Free Press has previously reported that hate crimes jumped by nearly 40 per cent in London last year, with the Israel-Hamas war and clashes over gender and sexuality cited as contributing factors, police statistics show. In real numbers, there were 111 incidents in 2023, up from 80 one year prior and 30 five years prior.
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