Man arrested in Ontario after antisemitic threats made online: police

A Waterloo Regional Police officer in 2010. Photo by STEPHANIE LAMY /AFP/Getty Images

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A Kitchener, Ont. man has been arrested after police say he made antisemitic threats online.

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The 33-year-old man posted a video of a livestream “that contained threats and antisemitic comments directed at members of the Jewish community,” Waterloo Regional Police said on Sunday.

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He was charged over the weekend with uttering threats to cause death.

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The arrest comes on the heels of a “hate-motivated” shooting in Belleville, Ont. at a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. On Sept. 20, Const. Jeff Smith was stationed outside the building and was injured in a shootout with 29-year-old gunman Sean Ward, police said.

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Bullet holes are seen in the stained-glass windows at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont., following an attack on the eve of Yom Kippur, Sept. 20, that left the shooter dead and a police officer critically injured. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Postmedia

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Police said evidence showed that the Jewish community was the intended target and Ward had brought more resources — including ammunition and gasoline — for a larger attack.

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Smith, who returned fire after Ward shot at him, is in critical but stable condition. None of the roughly 25 congregants inside the synagogue, and no other police officers, were injured.

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A day before the Belleville shooting, there was another arrest linked to antisemitism in Ontario.

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A 19-year-old Whitby man identified as Alexander Parfitt was charged with making threats motivated by hate, according to Durham Regional Police. He allegedly made online threats to carry out a shooting at a synagogue in Durham Region.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York said it alerted its partners in Ottawa to threats made by Parfitt by identifying them on social media.

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“The increase in inciting hateful rhetoric has the capacity to embolden, and that is exactly what we’re seeing play out in real time now,” said Richard Robertson, the director of research and advocacy at B’Nai Brith Canada, a Jewish advocacy group that produces an annual report on antisemitism.

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Robertson told National Post that this year, there have been 32 incidents of antisemitic violence, compared to 10 in 2025.

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“If we can’t guarantee that law enforcement is capable of securing all Jewish institutions, then we need to look for novel approaches, such as B’Nai Brith’s proposal to arm certain licensed security professionals to ensure that the Jewish community and Jewish communal infrastructure has the the level of security that is required in this moment,” he said.

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“But that is all reactive to the increased threat level. We need to get at the root causes of antisemitism.”

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Several synagogues in Canada told National Post last week that they have increased safety measures following the Belleville shooting. One synagogue leader in Oshawa said two congregants would be attending courses on how to better secure their facility, while a synagogue in Toronto is putting up fences around its property.

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Several synagogue leaders who spoke with National Post said they would continue to be in contact with local police.

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Robertson said online hate in particular has become a “breeding ground for extremism.”

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“When you tolerate that over a sustained period, it should surprise no one that the next year we see an increase in the number of violent incidents and threats to the Jewish community,” he said.

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In January, a synagogue in Winnipeg was graffitied with swastikas. In March, there were three overnight shootings that targeted synagogues in Toronto. In June, a person was arrested for attempted arson at a synagogue in Montreal.

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