‘Intolerable’ hate incidents continue to rise in Vancouver: police

By Amy Smart, Canadian Press, Jul 17, 2020

VANCOUVER — Reported “hate incidents” have more than doubled this year in Vancouver and police say offenders are targeting the city’s Asian community as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Insp. Dale Weidman, incident commander for the Vancouver Police Department’s new hate crime project team, said the department has identified 155 hate-associated reports this year, up from 69 over the same time in 2019.

The city’s Asian community is seeing more than nine times the number of incidents at 66 compared with seven last year, he said.

“It’s an alarming increase and I want to assure you that the department takes these things very seriously,” Weidman said. Read more…

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past the boarded up shops along Robson Street in downtown Vancouver, Monday, May 4, 2020. Reported “hate incidents” have more than doubled this year in Vancouver and police say offenders are targeting the city’s Asian community as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Photo Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward