Canada
Thousands gather to honor Toronto police officer who was slain in Canada shooting rampage
- On Wednesday morning, over 8,000 people, including officers, politicians, family and friends, gathered for the funeral of the Toronto police officer who was slain in a shooter’s rampage last week.
- Constable Andrew Hong, 48, was ambushed and shot dead by Shawn Petry, 30, while on his lunch break on Sept. 12.
- He was one of the three people fatally shot by Petry that day before the suspect was later shot dead by police in Hamilton Cemetery.
- Hong was a 22-year veteran and a member of Toronto police’s Traffic Services Unit.
- His casket was carried to the Toronto Congress Center from the Kane-Jarrett Funeral Home in Thornhill as a parade of officers and dignitaries lined the route to pay tribute to the slain officer.
Thousands of mourners, including officers, politicians, family and friends, gathered for the funeral of the Toronto police officer who was slain in a shooter’s rampage last week.
On Wednesday morning, mourners gathered as hundreds of police officers gave solemn salutes at Constable Andrew Hong’s funeral cortege.
Suspect who stabbed Afghan refugee in Vancouver’s Chinatown charged in 2nd attack on stranger
- Dennis Prasad, the suspect arrested and charged for stabbing an Afghan refugee in Vancouver’s Chinatown, has been charged in a second unprovoked attack.
- On Sept. 10, Prasad allegedly attacked a 55-year-old man and left him with life-altering injuries.
- On Sept. 11, Prasad allegedly approached a 22-year-old Afghan refugee from behind and stabbed him in the throat and chest.
- Prasad is charged with one count of aggravated assault for each of the stabbing incidents.
- He remains in police custody.
The suspect arrested and charged for stabbing an Afghan refugee in Vancouver’s Chinatown has been charged in a second unprovoked attack.
Dennis Amanand Prasad, 43, has been charged with one count of aggravated assault for each of the stabbing incidents that took place on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11.
Vancouver election chief asks court to ban names in Chinese, other non-Latin characters from ballots
- Vancouver’s Chief Election Officer Rosemary Hagiwara filed a court application on Tuesday to keep 15 candidates from using names with non-Latin characters on the ballot papers for the municipal election on Oct. 15.
- Hagiwara’s affidavit named 10 respondents in total from the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), two from Vision Vancouver and one each from Forward Together and COPE who she deemed are not eligible to use Chinese, Persian or other non-Latin characters on the paper ballots.
- The hearing for the case, initially set by the provincial court in Robson Square on Thursday, has been adjourned to Friday morning.
- While the city has committed to comply with any court ruling, it noted that regardless of the decision on the non-Latin characters, none of the candidates will be disqualified.
- Vision Vancouver expressed dismay over the potential removal of the “unique and usual names” printed in non-Latin characters of both school board trustee Allan Wong and council candidate Honieh Barzegari from ballot papers.
A court application filed by Vancouver’s chief election officer is aiming to keep candidates from using names with non-Latin characters on the ballots in the upcoming municipal election.
On Tuesday, Rosemary Hagiwara named 15 candidates in her application who she deemed ineligible to use Chinese, Persian or other non-Latin characters on the paper ballots.
Toronto police officer, auto repair shop owner killed in Canada shootings
- Constable Andrew Hong, a 48-year-old member of Toronto police’s Traffic Services Unit, was ambushed and shot dead by Shawn Petry, 30, in Mississauga, Ontario, on Monday.
- Another individual at the scene was also shot. The victim, who suffered life-altering injuries, is being treated at a trauma center in the GTA.
- Petry also went to MK Auto Repairs in Milton, where he shot three individuals. The shop owner, Shakeel Ashraf, was pronounced dead at the scene.
- One of the other two victims is in critical condition, while the second is in serious condition, according to reports.
- The suspect was later located in Hamilton, where he was shot and killed by the police in the Hamilton cemetery.
- Information on the suspect’s motive and the interaction that led to his death has not been released.
A Toronto police officer and an auto repair shop owner were fatally shot while three others suffered gunshot wounds in two separate shootings before the gunman was killed by the police.
Constable Andrew Hong, 48, was at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario, at around 2 p.m. on Monday when he was ambushed by Shawn Petry, 30, who shot him dead.
Afghan refugee stabbed in the throat in unprovoked attack in Vancouver’s Chinatown
An Afghan refugee was stabbed in the throat and chest in an unprovoked attack in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
The 22-year-old victim was locking his bicycle to a street pole on Gore Avenue near East Pender Street at around 6 p.m. local time on Sunday when a man approached him from behind and stabbed him, according to Vancouver Police Department Sgt. Steve Addison.
Wife of security guard attacked in Vancouver’s Chinatown challenges the mayor to walk its streets
- Harold Johnson, a 64-year-old security guard, was previously attacked on Aug. 12 by a stranger, identified as 44-year-old Kevin Aaron Hibbard, while patrolling the Chinese Cultural Center in Vancouver’s Chinatown in Canada.
- Fed up with the rising attacks in Chinatown, Johnson’s wife Brandy La Rocque called on Mayor Kennedy Stewart to walk its streets with her to see what it is like.
- Stewart did not directly answer when asked if he would walk with her; however, he reportedly did walk through the 100-block of East Hastings Street where he passed some tents.
- The mayor did not make any promises, but he said that public safety is his top priority.
The wife of a security guard who was repeatedly punched in Vancouver’s Chinatown, challenged the city’s mayor to walk its streets to see what it is like amid rising attacks in the area.
Harold Johnson, a 64-year-old security guard, was previously attacked on Aug. 12 by a stranger, identified as 44-year-old Kevin Aaron Hibbard, while patrolling the Chinese Cultural Center.
Meet the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Canada’ who ordered her followers to arrest police, not pay bills
- Romana Didulo, a Filipino immigrant who has dubbed herself the “Queen of Canada,” made headlines after telling her followers to arrest officers at the Peterborough Police Station on Water Street, Ontario City, on Aug. 13.
- Didulo was born in the Philippines and lived there until she immigrated to Vancouver on July 25, 1990, at 15 years old, according to the website of her political party, Canada 1st.
- Her father, Romualdo Didulo Jr., was a lawyer and engineer and died when she was 10 years old. Her mother, Ana Didulo, died a year later.
- Didulo, the youngest of two children, allegedly led a privileged life that she described as being the “modern equivalent of Royal Family."
- She set up an engineering recruiting and consulting firm and a healthcare consultancy in 2007 and formed Canada 1st in 2021.
- The self-proclaimed “Queen of Canada” gained fame in May after tailoring her speeches to align with the narrative pushed by the far-right political conspiracy theory movement QAnon. She has over 70,000 followers on the messaging app Telegram, where she posts her decrees.
Canadian officials are raising concerns over the rise of a QAnon-linked movement in Canada led by a Filipino immigrant who has dubbed herself the “Queen of Canada.”
Romana Didulo made headlines after leading dozens of her followers to the Peterborough Police Station on Water Street, Ontario City, on Aug. 13, where she ordered them to arrest officers at the establishment.
‘Go back to China’: Vancouver restaurant owner yelled at, spat on by woman who let her dog pee on his door
- Edward Hur, who has been running Nobu Sushi in North Vancouver, Canada, for 19 years, said he was yelled at and spat on during a woman’s anti-Asian tirade last week.
- Hur said it all started after he confronted the woman for letting her dog pee on his front door.
- The woman allegedly told Hur “I hate Asian people” and that he should “go back to your country, back to your China.”
- Hur, who is Korean, said the woman had let her dog pee on his business several times in the past, but she just “never listens” when confronted.
- North Vancouver police are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
A long-time restaurant owner in North Vancouver, Canada, has come forward to share a racist experience involving a woman who had told him to “go back to China.”
The incident, which was caught on video, reportedly occurred at Nobu Sushi in the 3000 block of Edgemont Boulevard sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. last Friday.
Filipino mother and daughter fatally stabbed in Toronto
- Filipino mother Elvie Sig-Od, 44, and her daughter Angelica Sig-Od, 20, were fatally stabbed by her ex-husband in Toronto on Aug. 26.
- The victims were both pronounced dead at the scene.
- Godfrey Sig-Od, the 46 year-old suspect, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
- The victims’ local pastor has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for their funeral and to send their remains back to the Philippines.
A Filipino mother and her daughter were fatally stabbed by the mother’s ex-husband in Toronto.
Elvie Sig-Od, 44, and Angelica Sig-Od, 20, were stabbed to death by Godfrey Sig-Od, 46, inside a vehicle by Bathurst Street and Ellerslie Avenue in North York at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Followers of QAnon ‘Queen of Canada’ obeyed her orders to arrest police officers. It hasn’t turned out well.
- Followers of QAnon influencer Romana Didulo were arrested for obeying her request to meet in Peterborough, Canada, and arrest police officers.
- Didulo, who has over 70,000 followers online, claims to be the newly installed Queen of Canada.
- She is a leader in the QAnon movement in Canada, which is a far-right political conspiracy theory movement.
- Didulo called on her followers to arrest anyone involved with Canada’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and to make a “citizen’s arrest” of police officers in Peterborough on Aug. 13.
- So far, six of Didulo’s followers involved in the incident have been arrested.
Followers of Filipino QAnon influencer Romana Didulo, who claims to be the newly installed Queen of Canada, obeyed her request to meet in Peterborough, Canada, and arrest police officers.
Didulo, who has over 70,000 followers online, is a leader in the QAnon movement in Canada, which is a far-right political conspiracy theory movement.
Woman arrested for ‘sickening assault’ of 89-year-old man out for a walk in Vancouver’s Chinatown
- An 89-year-old man was walking in Vancouver’s Chinatown on Aug. 13 when he was approached by Patricia MacDonald, 58, who knocked him to the ground.
- The senior suffered minor injuries such as cuts and scrapes.
- MacDonald has been charged with assault and released from custody by the court, according to police.
- Vancouver Police Department officials said patrols in Chinatown have been increased in response to the community’s concerns regarding hate incidents and rising violence.
Police arrested a woman who assaulted an 89-year-old man in Chinatown in Vancouver, Canada.
The senior was walking alone along Main and Keefer streets in Chinatown when he was approached by Patricia MacDonald, 58, who knocked him to the ground at around 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 13, according to the Vancouver police.
‘Why do we have to bend over backward?’: Man lectures women for not speaking English in Canada in TikTok video
- TikTok user Donna Damaso posted a clip to the platform of a man subjecting a group of Asian women to racist remarks at the Brighouse station on the Richmond Canada Line.
- Damaso, who captured the encounter on Aug. 11, saw the man berating two women for not speaking English while reminding them that they are in Canada.
- When Damaso approaches them and calls the man out for being a racist, he repeatedly denies being one and claims to be a lawyer.
- The argument goes on as the man repeatedly asks Damaso why she doesn't care about the women speaking another language.
A woman captured the moment a man subjected a group of Asian women to racist remarks at a train station in Canada.
Donna Damaso uploaded the clip to TikTok on Sunday of a masked man berating two women for not speaking English during their conversation at the Brighouse station on the Richmond Canada Line. According to Damaso, the incident happened on Aug. 11.
