6
submitted 2 days ago by potatomuncher@lemmy.ca to c/london@lemmy.ca

This is the same city that charged a man for drawing a swastika in gravel with a pressure washer.

Attack and harass a random woman and her two daughters in public, traumatizing them. Proudly admit on camera that you are a racist and you face no legal consequences. Draw a stupid symbol and you're charged with one count of offence motivated by hatred.

all 29 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Obviously not a hate crime but

her hijab was incompatible with Christian values,

Religion has no place in public life. He should be charged with infringing on people's freedom from religion for bringing up Christian values in public.

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Obviously not a hate crime but

Idk... he says he's racist. He's proud of it.

Sure doesn't seem like a love-crime either.

I'm all for freedom from religion, no blasphemy laws and all that good stuff. But wtf kind of double standards do we have where drawing an ancient symbol is illegal but attacking a random family for their religious dogma because of your own dogma is acceptable?

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Why not use the actual title of the article for the post?

Then editorialize in the comments all you like.

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 day ago

It's not editorialized. It cuts to the chase and gets to the point in fewer words.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

In that case why bother with making a post that is a link to the CBC article? Write a post with your own text. You can link to the CBC article as a source.

It's just bad etiquette to mix the two. Either post the article (with the original title) and add your comments underneath. Or post a text article of your own with whatever title and content as you like and cite the article and any other sources that make sense to you.

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 day ago

It's lemmy... social media. Not an educational institution nor an assignment.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Which is why we ourselves must curate the conventions of our own communities, as opposed to some teacher. Which is why I talked about etiquette.

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

I don't think etiquettes are necessary in every instance in life. Certainly not when shitting on white supremacists and the system that protects them.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Look bud, we share the politics, ok? I'm not asking you to maintain etiquette towards the asshole in the article. I'm asking you to maintain it towards this community. Keep the Community Centre/Infoshop/Union Hall tidy, you know what I mean?

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Yea, I hear ya. It wasn't malice or targeted towards anyone.

One dude got mad at me and accused me of racist propaganda and stoking racial tensions. A total wtf moment but I was glad it made people Feel a certain way. One way or another.

This incident happened in the same city where an asshole thought its his duty to mow down a random innocent family because they weren't white. Then a significant number of people in the country got mad at the government for the government "getting involved" and paying for their funeral and whatnot. Cops in that city think it's okay for a proud white supremacist christan to attack a random muslim woman and her 2 daughters without any legal consequences. Plenty of people agree with that assessment and I know it's mostly because of their bias against muslims.

Anyway, it reached more eyes. Partly because of the engagement due to the title making people react. Mission accomplished without anyone getting hurt.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Islamophobia gets way too much of a pass... Way way way too much to the point it turns murderous and we still scratch our butts like idiots.

[-] potatomuncher@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

It's been normalized in pop culture and media since a while now. On top, we have well meaning people do silly things. For example, the former PM of Canada pretty much said 'Samuel Paty was asking for it' without saying it in those words when he was murdered by an islamist. As a result of such incidents, lines get blurred further for many.

Prime Minister had to walk it back when people pointed out that you just empowered islamo-fascists who say "behead those who insult Muhammad" without thinking through the wider implications of your statement.

It's such a fine line to walk in our society. I don't want women attacked for their choice of headgear. I also don't want women attacked for refusing to wear religiously mandated "modest clothes". I know I'm not the only Canadian who knew girls in school who took off their religious attire as soon as they got to the locker. Then put it back on before heading home.

I also know that Iran conceded on mandatory head coverings after Masha Amini protests. I also know we used to have police harass women for showing too much skin in many western countries a few decades ago, which really isn't that far back. Raids on gay hangout spots to bash some heads was a favourite hobby of our cops.

Islamophobes, even on the Left, don't care about nuances or a productive conversation. They just start foaming, like Sam Harris and Bill Maher, as soon as muslims are mentioned. 2 billion Mohammad-lovers are not a monolith. Many of them actually oppose blasphemy laws and bigotry towards LGBT+ themselves.

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Attacking

The video is in your article...

He's a racist asshole, but he didn't "attack" anyone, which is why there wasn't a crime and the victim even agrees:

According to Al-Azem, the victim in this week's incident is confident the police have taken all necessary steps. She hopes to see the perpetrator face some repercussions for his actions, whether that includes municipal infractions, or consequences at his place of work.

"There is a criminal threshold, but there are other thresholds that we expect people to engage in as part of the social fabric of our community," Al-Azem said.

Your title is so wrong I'm curious if it's intentionally wrong....

this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
6 points (60.7% liked)

London, Ontario

366 readers
19 users here now

A community for general discussion about the city of London, Ontario.

Official website: https://london.ca/

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS