INDIGO 11: Paralegal, teachers, academics busted in 'hate-motivated' mischief probe (2024)

The coterie of activists busted for recent anti-Semitic vandalism at a downtown Toronto Indigo bookstore includes academics, a failed City Council candidate, teachers, a paralegal and other fellow travellers.

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There is no sign of Pete from Joe’s Trucking.

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Toronto Police announced Thursday that an investigation – led by the Hate Crime Unit – has resulted in the arrests of 11 people allegedly connected with “hate-motivated” mischief at the business.

On Nov. 10, around 4:15 a.m. – a school night – officers responded to a mischief call at Chapters Indigo located at Bay St. and Bloor St. W.

A group of vandals glued posters to the doors and windows of the store, then splashed red paint on the windows and sidewalk.

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Their message was clear: Indigo founder Heather Reisman (who is Jewish) was “funding genocide.”

Bizarrely, protesters congregated outside 52 Division on Wednesday calling on cops to drop the charges. They insisted that the vandalism wasn’t “hate-motivated.”

The Toronto Sun reached out to York University, the Toronto District School Board and a number of the individuals for comment. But only the TDSB and York University had responded as of Thursday evening.

None of the charges have been tested in court.

Nisha Toomey, 41 – the first among the roster of accused to be taken into custody – was arrested Tuesday and charged with mischief over $5,000.

Toomey is a “Postdoctoral Researcher: Liberating Migrant Labour? IMPs in Settler Colonial Contexts” at … drumroll … York University. She had been in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), the left-wing classroom incubator.

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Dr. Toomey describes herself as “here for BIPOC academic brilliance & migrant justice. Desi settler on Dish w/One Spoon territory.”

Police said subsequent investigation by the Hate Crime Unit led to search warrants being on residences and vehicles in the city.

And ten additional suspects were arrested on Wednesday.

Sharmeen Khan, 45, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Khan works full-time at Ontario Public Interest Research Group at York University and calls herself a “radical bookkeeper for unions.”

Paralegal MacDonald Scott, 56, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The elder statesman of the group, he is the law firm Carranza LLP’s immigration consultant.

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Their website states: “Mac became an activist at the age of 21, participating in anti-war campaigns and rallying around indigenous solidarity.”

Mercedes Lee, 44, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

She is an activist with No One is Illegal (Toronto) and in 2019 told a website that granting citizenship to a “privileged few is part of a racist policy” designed to exploit immigrants.

Former elementary teacher Suzanne Narain, 38, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

On LinkedIn, she describes herself as a “Teacher, Social Entrepreneur, Social Justice Advocate.”

She is a failed City Council candidate as well.

York University associate professor Lesley Wood, 56, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

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She has written blockbusters, Crisis and Control and Direct Action, Deliberation and Diffusion.

York University told the Toronto Sun they are aware of the arrests in the Indigo vandalism case.

“We have learned of this very serious matter through the Toronto Police news release issued earlier, which appears to involve York employees who have been charged,” York University spokesperson Yanni Dagonas said. “The University is looking into this matter but is not able to comment further at this time.”

Sarom Rho, 29, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Rho is an organizer with the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and a self-declared leader with Migrant Students United.

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TDSB elementary teacher Ian Doty, 43, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

He is on the Ontario Sunshine List, which discloses the names and salaries of public sector workers in the province who earn more than $100,000 annually.

The TDSB said in a statement to The Toronto Sun: “The staff member is on home assignment pending the outcome of an investigation.”

Stuart Schussler, 39, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

On his web page, Schussler states: “I’m a doctoral student in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, where I study social movements and autonomy.”

Karl Sebastian Gardner, 33, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

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Shout out to the University of Toronto where Gardner is doing his postdoc.

He proclaims on Twitter: “Described as a ‘professional agitator’ by the Toronto Sun. I think and write about migration, citizenship, settler colonialism, and abolition.”

Clement Cheng, 26, of Toronto, is charged with mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Toomey is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 8, 2024.

The other 10 accused are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10, 2024.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call police at 416-808-3500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)

bhunter@postmedia.com

jwarmington@postmedia.com

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