WARMINGTON: Not every day cops accuse someone of assault with a stuffed animal

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You live by the stuffed animal, you die by the stuffed animal.

Protesters allegedly mocking the murders of dead Jewish kids with dolls and stuffed animals is something Toronto has never seen before. Nor have Toronto Police officers, as far as anybody can recall, laid an assault with a weapon charge before when the alleged weapon was a stuffed rhinoceros/hippopotamus.

Sadly, there is a first time for everything.

“Marco Antonio Munoz, 37, of Mississauga, has been arrested and charged with: assault with a weapon,” said a Toronto Police news release Tuesday. “He is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury St., on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 2 p.m., in room 201.”

Police alleged the man “attended a demonstration” and “approached the opposing group of demonstrators and assaulted a women using a weapon.”

The weapon being referred to there is a kid’s stuffy — a cross between a rhino and a hippo. The accused is to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

None of the allegations have been tested in court but what a trial that could be as the Crown is expected to present an evidence bag — normally containing a gun or a knife — with a stuff animal inside.

While detectives probe this further, the people at this weekly vigil for the remaining hostages in Gaza at the corner of Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. had complained to Toronto Police that they perceived stuffed animals — one being a toy cactus wearing an Arab headdress — as something negative directed at the Jewish community.

While there have been allegations of hate crimes with these dramatic props, witnesses say they interpreted this as a weird simulation of the macabre repatriation to Israel from Gaza of slain children, Kfir Bibas, 2, and his brother, Ariel Bibas, 4. They, and their mother, Shiri, were kidnapped at the Nir Oz kibbutz in Israel Oct. 7, 2023, and murdered at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

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When their remains were handed over to Israel last week, there were hundreds of Hamas members and supporters making a spectacle of it.

When they were taken, a rhinoceros/hippopotamus stuffed animal was left behind — the same one seen in pictures being clutched by Kfir.

People at that corner Sunday said it looked to them like a reinactment effort of that kidnapping scene — which had tempers flaring and resulted in heated interactions among people on both sides, and with police.

It’s important to say that police have not laid a hate crime in this instance and no charges indicate any connection to what happened in Gaza. But, at the insistence of Jewish participants Sunday, police are on top of this matter and have their eyes and ears open as they investigate.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3500,” said Toronto Police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer who sent this release out for Det. Pasquale Alberga. “Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.”

Meir Weinstein, of Israel Now, who brought all of this to the police’s attention, said it takes a lot for the regular participants in the weekly hostages vigil to get upset but seeing a woman allegedly assaulted and, what he believes was a “mocking of dead Jewish babies,” was something that crossed the line.

“It was disturbing. I admit I was mad there and I articulated that to the police,” said Weinstein. “But I am thankful that they took it seriously, made an arrest, and are still investigating.”

Advocates for Toronto’s Jewish community are also expressing loudly their concern – the same as they did when pro-Hamas protesters simulated the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and even brought a bloody chair as part of their demonstration.

Things this time took a turn for the worse when someone was allegedly assaulted.

“The fact that a man was arrested after (allegedly) hurling slurs at a Jewish woman, and (allegedly) assaulting her in the heart of Toronto’s Jewish community, is a damning indictment of the climate we now live in,” said Austin Parcels, manager of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada. “This is not an isolated case, but a part of a growing wave of emboldened (alleged) antisemites who believe they can harass and intimidate Jews without consequence.”

Councillor James Pasternak was a witness and told The Toronto Sun at the B’nai Brith Award’s dinner Monday that “the anti-Israel” mob’s signs and props “were disgusting and illegal” and that this was not a “Charter protected gathering but a hate rally targeting community” and that “no minority group should be subjected to this bigotry.”

Michelle Stock, a vice-president with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) agreed, while reminding that “time and again, we see counter-protests at Bathurst and Sheppard being used not for legitimate expression, but as a means to intimidate, harass, and make Jewish community members feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood.”

As she rightfully states “no one should be subjected to taunts, threats, or acts of aggression simply for being Jewish. This behaviour is unacceptable, and we urge authorities to continue taking strong action to ensure that all residents can go about their daily lives without fear.”

Sadly, Toronto’s reputation as being a safe place for Jews to live peacefully has taken a massive hit since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and this latest incident involving an innocent woman being allegedly struck with a stuffed animal is not going to help that.