WARMINGTON: Cops 'aware' of strange incident outside U of T encampment (2024)

What this unidentified woman was holding in her hand at the Little Gaza encampment on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus is unknown at this time.

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However, Toronto Police say they are “aware” of a strange video from Friday showing a woman pulling down posters from the fence of the encampment and then appearing to display what onlookers described as a knife.

Police have not said it was determined to be knife and at this point no charges have been laid.

“We are aware of this occurrence,” Const. Caroline de Kloet said Saturday. “No charges have been laid at this time. This is an ongoing investigation.”

The video was posted to X by the National Council of Canadian Muslims who wrote “a knife was brandished by a pro-Israel protester against those standing for Palestinian human rights at the University of Toronto. This is hate. This is violence. This is criminal. This needs to stop.”

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The video shows a woman carrying an Israeli flag and wearing a Star of David button as she tears down banners along the fence in King’s College Circle.At one point, the video shows the woman putting something in her right hand and stepping forward, raising it in the air and pointing the object.

But it’s unclear what she is actually holding in her hand.

“She has a knife, she has a knife,” you can hear a female voice say. “She has a pocket knife.”

A man can be heard saying, “You don’t pull a knife out.”

The woman can then be seen placing whatever was in her hand into her purse before a U of T security person and a Toronto Police officer pull her away to speak with her.

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“This was day 29 of the Occupy of U of T and then pensioners came packing this time,” Samira Mohyeddin posted to X.

“Pulling a knife on another woman, vandalizing and destroying property,” Mohyeddin added, while posting another video showing an elderly man pushing at the fence line.

U of T has given an eviction notice to those who have set up the tents inside the fenced-in area, a court injection is being sought and some supportive faculty have indicated they will stand with the protesters. This has created tension there and drawn counter-protesters to the encampment.

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Tensions seem to be rising there and were also hitting a fever pitch Friday at Union Station where pro-Palestine protesters took over.

Last weekend’s at a Toronto Jewish girls school, and increased anger and action at Union Station and U of T, is concerning for people on all sides of the issue and for authorities.

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It has the feeling of getting to a tipping point.

“University of Toronto Campus Safety works with Toronto Police Service for the safety and security of everyone on our campus,” a U of T spokesperson said. “Campus Safety filed a report to Toronto Police about this incident.”

Police have not indicated so far if the Hate Crimes Unit has been consulted regarding the U of T incident. And no one has been accused of a crime at this point.

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It is, however, being scrutinized in the same fashion as it would be if it had been a demonstrator inside the encampment doing something similar to a counter-protester – as it should be.

It’s appropriate to see this through.

While police have not yet determined what this was, they have indicated they are on it. This is them doing their job. They were on scene and in a good position to pull together the facts to determine this woman’s identity, her affiliation, what she had in her hand and what here intentions were.

Regardless of whether it is determined it was knife or if it was a misunderstanding and it was being used to cut down objects from the fence, the optics for Toronto are of concern. This video shows people appearing to take matters into their own hands as a result of what they see as inaction by authorities to remove this encampment.

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This has potential to become a major problem.

Our city’s leaders have to get ahead of this before it spirals out of control, because there is so much anger being displayed that things could blow up and someone could get hurt or even killed.

It’s clear to any objective observer that this encampment needs to be dismantled immediately and all protesters need to be instructed to hold their protests and counter-protests in public squares only.

It’s also clear that while people may be frustrated with the haste in which a protest is being dealt with, however infuriating they may find it, it is not their place to take physical action toward an encampment or protesters.

jwarmington@postmedia.com

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