WARMINGTON: Woman accused of hate-motivated vandalism at Starbucks
The 25-year-old was slapped with a mischief charge and quickly released after a video confession went viral on TikTok
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First a young woman took to TikTok with a video confession pertaining to the recent vandalism of a Starbucks in Forest Hill.
And now a 25-year-old suspect has been arrested by the Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit.
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WARMINGTON: Woman accused of hate-motivated vandalism at Starbucks Back to video
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Skigh Johnson, of Toronto, is charged with mischief interfere with the enjoyment of property in relation to Thursday’s vandalism at a Starbucks near Eglinton Ave. W. and Bathurst St., police announced Saturday.
“It is alleged that the accused attended the Starbucks and vandalized the storefront with multiple posters and writing,” Const. Victor Kwong said Saturday, adding the coffee shop had to be shut down while police investigated.
In the confession video that was posted online after the Starbucks was vandalized with anti-Israel messaging, the woman declares she’s “pro-Palestine” and doesn’t feel defacing a business is a crime.
It’s unclear where Johnson was arrested but sources say she was taken to 13 Division at Eglinton Ave. and Allen Rd. on Friday night.
She was subsequently released and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 11, 2024.
A second video, believed to be the first one she posted that was later deleted, is now once again making the rounds on social media and it shows footage of the alleged crime.
“Yes, last night did I commit what you may think was a crime. Maybe,” admits the woman in the Instagram video. “But it’s not a crime to me. I am fighting for justice.”
She adds: “I vandalized a Starbucks beside me (and) then I posed for the camera. I didn’t even cover my face. I am not a criminal. I am fighting for peace.”
In the video she claims that during the alleged crime “some f—— little Jewish boy and his girlfriend pulled up and said, ‘What do you think that’s going to do.’ I said I don’t know, we are going to see, right.”
Messages on the doors and windows of the coffee shop included “Starbucks kills” and “Blood on your hands,” among other things.
The accused is innocent until proven guilty.
But sources say she was looking to speak with lawyers from the police station Friday night – some of whom were Jewish and declined to take her case.
The arrest is key for Toronto Police who have warned that while people may not be arrested at the time of an alleged crime, they may be charged at a later date.
Sources tell the Sun there are many ongoing investigations looking at links between different crimes involving the defacing of Jewish businesses.
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Police were at the Starbucks Thursday taking fingerprints and the woman in the video said she woke “up in the morning” to the “cops” calling on her.
She was originally questioned, then arrested and released soon after on a promise to appear in court in the new year.
This differs drastically from how the Ontario judicial system treated those charged in connection with the Freedom Convoy protest in 2022 — many of them were held for months.
In this crime, the accused is already free.
Now all eyes are on her social media to see what she may say next.
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