WARMINGTON: ‘Hank Idsinga effect’ has police board probing and Toronto cops making more arrests

City Councillor Shelley Carroll wants answers while Chief Myron Demkiw's officers lay more charges in an alleged antisemitic incident

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Published May 01, 2026  •  Last updated 3 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, left, and Toronto Police Services Board Chair Shelley Carroll address reporters on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.

The Toronto Police and its civilian oversight board are now taking more seriously the allegations of antisemitism and racism from former Homicide Insp. Hank Idsinga.

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The “Hank Effect” has kicked in so strongly at the Toronto Police Service (TPS) that its board chair is demanding answers into complaints about Jewish hatred on the job as investigators lay more charges in alleged antisemitic attacks at an off-campus university event.

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Saying she does not tolerate jew hatred, Toronto Police Service Board Chair Shelley Carroll has vowed to dig into to allegations of antisemitism among the senior ranks as detailed in retired Homicide boss Hank Idsinga’s new book.

Earlier in the week the TPS narrative was that the whistleblower cop was a traitor who was just trying to sell a book. Now the whole system is under review from the top to the bottom.

“Let me be clear: I have a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism,” Carroll told the Toronto Sun in a statement. “That applies in our communities and within our institutions, including the Toronto Police Service.”

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Shelley Carroll wants answers

The veteran city councillor confirmed to the Sun that a letter she wrote to a constituent that was posted on social media is accurate.

“Over the coming weeks, I will be engaging directly with Chief (Myron) Demkiw, Service leadership, members across the organization, stakeholders from the Jewish community, and the Board’s own Jewish Community Advisory Table,” the board chair and Ward 17 Toronto City councillor said in that letter.

While calling for an “independent, third party review,” both the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith Canada expressed optimism upon hearing Carroll’s announcement.

Famed Toronto homicide investigator Hank Idsinga. BRAD HUNTER/ TORONTO SUN

Carroll indicated she takes seriously what the former inspector wrote in his book –The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop– and has said in media interviews.

The 34-year-veteran of Toronto Police, whose grandfather Arthur Jacobs was Jewish and was exterminated in the Holocaust in 1942, has described concerning anti-Jewish hate from a senior officer, anti-black racism as well as bigotry toward the LGBTQ+ community and of those suffering from mental health.

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The assertions have rocked the TPS – which at first deployed a cold shoulder to Idsinga approach but has now backed off on that.

The High Road, the debut memoir from Hank Idsinga, a retired Toronto Police officer who former head of the Homicide Unit. Photo by Simon & Schuster /Amazon

Demkiw has said he takes the claims “seriously” and now Carroll has taken it to the next level.

“I want to acknowledge at the outset how serious these allegations of antisemitism are, and how deeply they are being felt in Toronto’s Jewish community,” she wrote. “The allegations raised go directly to questions of integrity, culture, and leadership within the Service and they demand careful, credible, and sustained attention.”

TPS integrity questioned

To the Sun, she said: “I have begun conversations with the chief, members of the Service, and representatives from the Jewish community, and will be meeting with the Board’s Jewish Community Advisory Table in the days to come” and “these conversations are essential to fully understand the scope of the concerns being raised, the lived experiences behind them, and where the gaps in trust and accountability lie.”

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Carroll added: “This will not be a cursory exercise” but “will inform the steps we take as a Board to address antisemitism both within the Service and in how policing is experienced by the Jewish community across Toronto.”

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More charges in TMU event protest

It’s the second step in the right direction by the Toronto Police in two straight days.

On Thursday, Demkiw told the media he is examining what has been broached by his former Homicide Unit commander and would not accept any form of racism from any police officer.

Images from Toronto Police after charges were laid following a private off-campus event held by the TMU chapter of Students Supporting Israel being disrupted on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025.

And on Friday TPS issued a news release saying they have added new charges resulting from a call next to the Toronto Metropolitan University on Nov. 5, 2025, in which police allege “a group of protestors entered a private event without permission, forced entry into the building, damaging property, and entered a common area where attendees were gathered” causing “those in attendance to fear for their safety where “one individual sustained injuries from broken glass” as some demonstrators tired to protest an event featuring a visiting Israel Defense Forces soldier.

Five suspects face charges after protestors violently stormed a Toronto Metropolitan University Students Supporting Israel private off-campus event at 49 Elm St. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. Photo by Brian Lilley /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

“During the arrest process, some of the accused obstructed officers, and one individual assaulted an officer while attempting to prevent an arrest.”

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Police say additional charges were laid Monday against four previously arrested – two of whom were charged with one count each of public incitement of hatred targeting members of the Israeli community.

An anti-Israel activist sprays lighter fluid on a burning Israeli flag atop wooden scaffolding during a march in downtown Toronto on Friday, April 4 2025.Qabil Ibrahim, 26, of Toronto faces arson charges Courtesy X/Leviathan

Now Qabil Ibrahim, 26, of Toronto, has been additionally charged with allegedly taking part in a riot while masked.

Fatimah Mugni, 23, of Toronto, Nicole Baiton, 25, of Oakville, and Kiana Alexis, 22, of Toronto, have been additionally charged with being in an unlawful assembly while masked.

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The charges have not been tested in court.

“It’s definitely the Hank effect,” said former Toronto police officer and media crime specialist Ross McLean. “The tide has turned and police are now at least talking about antisemitism both externally and internally.”

And the TPS culture will also be reviewed – thanks to Hank Idsinga who shone a light on something allegedly very dark.

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