VPD says one person taken into custody then released in hate case

One person was taken into custody over what Vancouver Police say is part of a hate-crime investigation.

A statement from the department says officers from its Major Crime Section and Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant on a home in the 1800 block of East 1st Avenue on Thursday.

Police say that one person was taken into custody then released “pending completion of the investigation,” which is being conducted under a section of the Criminal Code on inciting hatred.

The person was not named by police, but a Corporations Canada database shows that the registered address of Samidoun — a pro-Palestinian group the federal government recently added to its list of terrorist groups — is located in the same block as the police search.

The file names Charlotte Kates as one of Samidoun’s directors and lists her address as that of the group’s office.

Kates was arrested last year in Vancouver after praising the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel as “heroic and brave” in a speech at a rally.

Samidoun said at the time that Kates was released on the condition that she not attend any protest or rallies until an October court date, but no charges were filed by then and the conditions expired.

The Hamas attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, setting off Israel’s offensive in Gaza that the Health Ministry there says has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press