Criminal Charges and Media Bias Following TMU Attack
- Mark Sandler
- Nov 9
- 4 min read
The November 5, 2025 attack on an off-campus meeting held by TMU’s Students Supporting Israel (SSI) by masked intruders, incited by TMU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), has already been widely reported.
The Toronto Police Service has advised the public of the following:
On Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at approximately 1:13 p.m., police responded to a call for an Unknown Trouble in the Bay Street and Elm Street area.
It is alleged that:
a group of protestors entered a private event without permission
they forced entry into the building, damaging property, and entered a common area where attendees were gathered
their actions caused those in attendance to fear for their safety
one individual sustained injuries from broken glass during the forced entry
police were called to remove the individuals from the premises
several suspects were located in the surrounding area and arrested
during the arrest process, some of the accused obstructed officers, and one individual assaulted an officer while attempting to prevent an arrest
Nicole Baiton, 25, and Kiana Alexis, 22, of Toronto, were arrested and each charged with:
Forcible Entry
Member of Unlawful Assembly
Obstruct Peace Officer
They are scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury Street, on Monday, January 5, 2026.
Fatimah Mugni, 23, was arrested and charged with:
Forcible Entry
Member of Unlawful Assembly
She is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury Street, on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
Chelsea Wu, 29, was arrested and charged with:
Obstruct Peace Officer
Assault Peace Officer
She is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury Street, on Friday, January 9, 2026.
Manal Kamran, 21, was arrested and charged with:
Obstruct Peace Officer
She is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury Street, on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
Police sources advise that the matter remains under active investigation. In my view, such an investigation should extend not only to identifying and charging all those participating in this criminal activity, but those members of TMU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) who facilitated or incited the crimes. Investigation should determine whether additional charges of intimidation, possession of weapon for a dangerous purpose, wear disguise while participating in an unlawful assembly or with intent to commit an indictable offence, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and public incitement of hatred should be laid.
Police should also investigate the connection between this event’s participants / instigators and other unlawful activities that have resulted in multiple charges. As we have discussed with the authorities, these connections cannot be overlooked in addressing the issue of lawlessness in this city and elsewhere.
Media coverage of this event has also been instructive. A case in point – the Toronto Star. Quite remarkably, the Toronto Star quoted a TMU alumna who works at one of the campus startups who said that she came to watch the “counterprotest,” but “caught the aftermath.” Nonetheless, the Toronto Star reported that she thinks Students Supporting Israel should have its student group status revoked and characterized the situation as “police arresting five people for coming here to show their discontent with allowing IDF soldiers on-campus.”
This wasn’t a counterprotest. It was an unlawful assembly in response to a meeting at a private venue held to hear from several IDF soldiers in response to narratives that demonize all IDF soldiers as genocidal.
The Star chose to quote someone who came after-the-fact but nonetheless characterized the police as arresting people just for “showing discontent.” This gives new meaning to “showing discontent” – forcibly entering private premises and shattering a glass door, allegedly through use of a drill bit brought to the scene.
The supposed “discontent” purportedly referred to was about allowing IDF soldiers on-campus, when the university refused to allow the event to take place on-campus.
And, perhaps predictably, the Star also cited this person’s opinion that the victim’s student group status should be revoked. I would have thought that the incitement for this crime by SJP might have been worthy of the reporters’ attention on the issue of revocation. Sadly, not.
The attackers will undoubtedly fall back on the allegation that Israel is committing genocide and that all IDF soldiers are war criminals. SJP TMU calls them all Zionist murderers and shows imagery of IDF soldiers with their eyes x’d out. Simply put, there is no shortage of space or tolerance on TMU’s campus for anti-Israel advocates to make these allegations, even when they rise to the level of hate speech. But the attackers are equally intent on suppressing any contrary views or allowing anyone to hear from IDF soldiers who are in a position to challenge those on-campus narratives.
This is happening across North America as anti-Israel advocates seek to ban any IDF soldiers from even being heard. Too often, there is no room for true freedom of expression on university campuses (or apparently in relation to TMU, even off-campus) unless the expression adheres to anti-Israel orthodoxy. Perhaps it is time for these anti-Israel advocates to stop misleadingly asserting that they support freedom of speech and academic freedom, when they support nothing of the sort. And I thought that universities were the very place to hear divergent, respectful views on controversial, challenging issues.
Apparently not.
Instead, universities and colleges in Canada all too frequently feature one-sided misinformation and active disinformation, uninformed legal analysis, indoctrination, intimidation, and yes, hatred. When I was in university, faculty members held a range of political beliefs, running the gamut from staunchly conservative to Marxist. We welcomed the diversity of views because we were free to disagree without adverse consequences. This is now a distant memory or a reality unknown to too many Jewish faculty, students and staff.
About the Author
Mark Sandler, LL.B., LL.D. (honoris causa), ALCCA’s Chair, is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal lawyers and pro bono advocates. He has been involved in combatting antisemitism for over 40 years. He has lectured extensively on legal remedies to combat hate and has promoted respectful Muslim-Jewish, Sikh-Jewish and Black-Jewish dialogues. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees and in the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions on issues relating to antisemitism and hate activities. He is a former member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, a three-time elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, and recipient of the criminal profession’s highest honour, the G. Arthur Martin Medal, for his contributions to the administration of criminal justice.