CALGARY - Cops have collared a man they believe to be a tagger responsible for a rash of anti-Semitic graffiti that targeted Calgary's Jewish community.
The 18-year-old allegedly hit the Calgary Jewish Centre, The Chabad Lubavitch Centre in Woodbine and the Holocaust memorial in Pump Hill last November with hate graffiti that included swastikas and phrases such as "Die Jews."
The man, who can't be named because he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged crime, was arrested by Winnipeg police on Thursday and charged with several hate crimes, just one day after a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest.
It's the first time Calgary cops have filed hate charges and they are now working to return the man to Calgary.
Adam Singer, vice-president of the Calgary Jewish Community Council, said the graffiti spree had a major impact on the local Jewish community.
"What happened last November made many in the Jewish community, especially Holocaust survivors, extremely uncomfortable," he said.
"It was a harsh wake-up call and we're happy with the very positive response from the police and the (Crown) prosecutors' office."
Police have enlisted the aid of a graffiti expert to go through a data-base of previous tagging and have also gathered forensic evidence from the scenes.
Singer said the local Jewish community was also comforted by the reaction from Calgarians who were quick to condemn the attacks.
"Calgarians treated it as an attack against Calgary and not just one small group," he said.
