Montreal police are asking for the public’s help in locating a man who slapped and insulted three Muslim women downtown last March, acts treated as hate crimes.
The facts occurred at the exit of a business not far from the intersection of Sainte-Catherine and Saint-André streets, in downtown Montreal, around 5:15 p.m. on March 9.
In addition to inveighing against them, the man allegedly assaulted the three women by slapping them in the face, said the Montreal Police Service in a press release issued Wednesday.
“Citizens would have intervened and, at that time, the suspect would have left the scene on foot and would have entered the Berri-UQAM metro station,” it added.
The wanted individual is a black-skinned man between the ages of 30 and 40, about 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) tall and weighing nearly 90 kg (198 lb). During the events, he wore a beard, a black hooded coat, a gray jacket, dark blue jeans and a black cap.
Anyone who has information related to the events can contact 911, their neighborhood station or anonymously Info-Crime Montreal at 514 393-1133.
A crime is considered heinous when it is motivated or suspected of being motivated by hatred of race, national or ethnic origin, language, color, religion, sex, age, disability mental or physical condition, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression or any other similar factor.
The SPVM insists on the importance of denouncing a hate crime.