By Marshall Shapiro — Tribune Correspondent
For several weeks the offices at Ryerson University’s Muslim Students Association and Hillel have been the target of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish posters and literature as well as minor vandalism.
Last week, Kevin Haas, 21, was arrested “in the act” by Toronto police. According to Detective Matt Moyer, the arresting officer and head of 51 Division Hate Crimes Unit, this is a very troubled young man who tends to internalize any anti-Jewish acts he may hear or read about. He takes them personally, said Moyer, who has the demeanour and sensitivity one would expect from a psychologist.
Haas, a resident of North York, has no connection to Ryerson and claims to be registered to attend Herzing College, also located in downtown Toronto. Moyer said, “He seems to be very intelligent. He goes on web sites and really absorbs and personalizes all antisemitic news. He took the desecration of graves personally and also the swastikas” painted on synagogue walls and doors.
Moyer did not oppose bail and sees Haas as needing treatment. Since the interview with Moyer, Haas has been released on $25,000 bail with tight curfews and conditional on staying away from Ryerson and appearing in public only in the company of his mother.
According to an article in The Eye Opener, a Ryerson student publication, Haas had recently visited Israel and, deciding that the Conservative synagogue he had been attending was “too Reform,” had turned Orthodox.
Haas has been charged with two counts of threatening death, and seven counts of mischief under $5,000. Several posters contained a star of David and antisemitic slogans. A poster displaying a black-and-white photo of a white male contained a caption reading: “Those who follow the Islam faith need to be killed in the worst possible way imaginable.”
If the intent of the perpetrator was to foment enmity between Jews and Muslims on campus, it has failed miserably. Before the crime, relations between Jews and Muslims had been amicable and this event has brought them even closer, according to the students’ associations and the University, itself.
“From the beginning, Ryerson denounced these acts in the strongest possible terms. They were deliberate attempts to divide our community and provoke feelings of ill will,” said Claude Lajeunesse, president of Ryerson University, “and instead they strengthened our collective resolve against hate. Our faculty, staff and students have united to ensure that Ryerson remains a safe and welcoming campus for everyone.”
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