Neighbours upset after racist graffiti targeting Jewish and Black communities spray-painted outside London public school

Blackacres neighbourhood resident, Carmi Levy, stands over racist graffiti that was supposed to have been cleaned up at Emily Carr Public School. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

A London man is facing charges after hate related graffiti was spray painted outside Emily Carr elementary school in London’s north end.

“I’ve been exposed to anti-Semitic behavior in the past, but never quite so in your face, never quite so obvious, never quite just bald-faced racist,” said Carmi Levy, an area resident and member of London’s Jewish community.

He was out for a walk this past weekend when he came across the graffiti spray-painted on the sidewalk outside of a front entrance to the school.

The phrase ‘die in the camp you’ was followed by the ‘n-word’ and ‘Jews’. A crude swastika was painted into the bottom right corner.

“Sadly this isn’t just a hate crime against Jews, it’s a hate crime against another identifiable group. And it means that any efforts we are engaged in, in the community to educate clearly aren’t good enough. There are those out there who would still spread hate,” said Levy.

Police were called to Hawthorne Road and Black Acres Boulevard on Saturday around 12 p.m. after reports a man was seen screaming and damaging property by spray-painting. A 41-year-old London man has been charged with mischief and causing a disturbance by fighting/shouting/swearing, said London Police Media Relations Officer Const. Sandasha Bough.

“Graffiti style property damage was located and there were messages and phrases that were hate related,” she said.

She said the case has been reassigned to the police service’s Hate Crime Investigator.

Regardless of the charges themselves, police said it is up to a court to determine if the incident is hate motivated, and that would be reflected in the sentencing. The accused is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 10.

According to the London Police Service, in 2023 there were a total of 192 hate/bias motivated occurrences reported. That’s an 18 per cent increase over 2022, but a 215 per cent increase over 2019.

The most frequently targeted victims were from the LGBTQ2S+, Black, Muslim, Jewish, and South Asian communities.

In the meantime, the Thames Valley District School Board has issued the following statement:

“The property damage consisting of hate-related phrases and messaging has been removed from school property. Thames Valley strongly condemns these acts of hate and will continue to work with police to prioritize the safety and well-being of all Thames Valley students and staff,” Purveen Skinner, Superintendent of Student Achievement Thames Valley District School Board.

But, even after the cleanup, the hateful messages were still visible on the school sidewalk. ‘Die in the camp you’ written in white and the N-word and swastika still easy to make out.'

“It’s all well and good to say that it’s been removed. It has not been,” exclaimed Levy.

“They’re also part of the broader community. I’m not a student at this school, but I was affected by it as well because it is in my neighbourhood, and it’s adjacent to a public area. They need to do better. You can’t simply react to something like this, you need to be proactive.”