Statement on the Tragic Events in Montreal
- Mark Sandler
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
This week, we witnessed a violent event that tragically impacted the policing community, as well as the Muslim and Jewish communities in Canada. Montreal Police Constable Mohamed Lamine Benredouane was killed during the shootings in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, as was Michel Moshe Mizrahi, a prominent member of the city’s Jewish community.
About 1,000 mourners, including family, friends and members of Montreal’s Muslim and Algerian communities attended Constable Benredouane’s funeral. He leaves behind his partner, who is pregnant with his second child, and their three-year-old son. Mizrahi, who will be buried in Israel where his two daughters live, was described as a selfless hero who ushered others to safety when the shooting began between police and the gunman, Seth Scott Hatfield. Hatfield was fatally injured during the events. A second officer was seriously wounded but reports indicate she is likely to recover.
It appears to be clear that Hatfield, armed with a long gun and in military-style clothing fatigues was intent on shooting others. His specific targets are, as of yet, unclear. It is reported that a 104-page manifesto associated with Hatfield surfaced in the aftermath of the tragedy. The manifesto contains themes associated with the involuntary celibacy or “incel” movement, rooted in deep misogyny and linked to a number of terror acts internationally and in Canada, including the mass murders committed by Alex Minassian, who drove his van onto a crowded Toronto sidewalk in 2018, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.
The manifesto contains a disjointed series of beliefs, conspiracy theories, mixing far-right and Marxist anti-capitalist ideologies. It lists dozens of potential targets, including the headquarters of pornography companies (one of which was in close proximity to the shooting site), pedophiles, sex traffickers, capitalists of various descriptions and not surprisingly, influential Zionists and the headquarters of all corporations with ties to Zionism. I say “not surprisingly” because antisemitic themes figure prominently in extremist manifestos, whether originating from the far-left, far-right or radical Islamism.
This phenomenon, known as “horseshoe antisemitism” sees opposing ideological, religious and political extremism converge in a shared hatred of Jews. CBC also reported that Hatfield’s now deleted YouTube account contained a number of videos, the most recent being a Q & A on fascism posted in 2021 by a channel that uses pagan and neo-Nazi imagery, featuring a Holocaust denier.
The death of Michel Mizrahi, together with the shooting site in a prominently Jewish neighborhood, prompted reports that Hatfield was targeting Jews for murder. However, there appears to be evidence that Mizrahi was not a target, but instead caught in the cross-fire between police and Hatfield. As already indicated, the close proximity of a large pornography company’s headquarters (and observations made by witnesses of broken windows at those headquarters) may be relevant.
Regardless of Hatfield’s precise motivation, this is yet another instance of domestic terrorism linked to ideological extremism captured by the perpetrator’s own writings, and fueled by online hatred.
This week, I was privileged to participate in an International Roundtable on Antisemitism, hosted by the Embassy of Israel in Canada. The roundtable’s focus was on online antisemitism and the digital realm. Participants including Canadian government representatives from multiple ministries and agencies, experts on online hatred, social media platform representatives and community organizations. We discussed both challenges and opportunities for those assembled to collaboratively do more to remove antisemitic content from social media platforms and hold platforms accountable for failures to act.
In a subsequent editorial, I will address what, in my view, must be done to address the scourge of online antisemitism and other forms of hatred. The needs are great. We continue to see the rapid radicalization of young people through social media, and their use of online manifestos, videos and other forms of messaging as inspiration for acts of terror or discrimination.
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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.