Latest news with #VictoriaPoliceDepartment
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
Recognize this man? Victoria police seek suspect in synagogue vandalism
The Victoria Police Department released this photo of a man suspected in the vandalism of a synagogue on Aug. 2, 2025. Police in Victoria have released a photo of a man they say is a suspect in the antisemitic vandalism of a Victoria synagogue over the long weekend. Officers were called to the Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue on the morning of Aug. 2 when the scrawled statements were discovered, the Victoria Police Department said in a statement. On Wednesday, authorities released an image and appealed to the public for help identifying the suspect. 'VicPD is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all communities and appreciates any information the public may have to assist in this investigation,' the statement said. The graffiti was removed but not before a photo was taken and circulated online by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, as well as other groups. Premier David Eby took to social media to decry the vandalism as a 'disgusting act of hate' and Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger to say 'hate vandalism, speech and intimidation are not protected expressions – they are crimes and will be treated as such.' Anyone who recognizes the man in the photo or who has information that could assist investigators is urged to call 250-995-7654 and quote file number 25-29663. The synagogue on Blanshard Street was built in 1863. It is a national historic site of Canada and the country's oldest surviving synagogue.
UPI
05-07-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Police investigate two anti-Semitic attacks in Australia
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said 'Antisemitism has no place in Australia' after a pair of attacks in Melbourne. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 5 (UPI) -- An Israeli restaurant and a synagogue in Melbourne were damaged in separate overnight incidents, according to police officials. Around 20 people were inside the synagogue in the eastern part of the city when someone used flammable liquid to start a fire on the exterior of the building, the Victoria Police Department confirmed. No injuries were reported and police have not reported any arrests or said if they have identified a suspect. Antisemitism has no place in Australia. Those responsible for the shocking acts in Melbourne last night must face the full force of the law and my Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort. Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 5, 2025 "Last night's attack on a synagogue in East Melbourne is cowardly, is an act of violence and anti-Semitism and has no place in Australian society," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on X, accompanied by a video. A post about the incidents on the Victoria Police Department website has since been removed. Not far from the East Melbourne Synagogue, protesters charged into the Jewish-owned restaurant, overturning tables and breaking a window, leading to the arrest of one man. "Antisemitism has no place in Australia," Albanese said on X. "Those responsible for the shocking acts in Melbourne last night must face the full force of the law and my Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort." Local media reported the man attempted to get inside the synagogue but people inside did not recognize him and left the door closed. His image was captured on camera before leaving the flammable device on the doorstep. "That is the really scary thing. They could have opened the door to a person who clearly had bigger plans. You wonder if he had more stuff in that bag to do more harm," East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Rabbi Dovid Gutnick told The Age in an interview. The two incidents are the latest in what officials call a wave of anti-Semitic behavior in the country over the last several months, due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In January, federal officials confirmed they were looking at whether or not "overseas actors of individuals" were recruiting and paying local Australians to carry out anti-Semitic acts violence or vandalism. Earlier that month, lawmakers passed new legislation prohibiting people from performing the Nazi salute in public and from displaying Nazi symbols in Australia. "Every Victorian deserves to live in peace and dignity, but the acts we saw last night at the East Melbourne Synagogue - and elsewhere in the city - are designed to shatter that peace and traumatize Jewish families," Victoria Premier said on X following the incidents. "Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism. There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is. It is disgraceful behaviour by a pack of cowards."
Global News
29-06-2025
- Global News
Suspect charged in alleged carjacking of Victoria mom and kids
A man has been arrested and charged after what Victoria police Chief Const. Del Manak described as a 'very troubling & dangerous incident' Saturday morning. In a post on X, Manak said a suspect forced his way into an occupied vehicle, forcibly removing the female driver and yelling at her kids to get out of the car, before driving away. Stecy Joseph Luc Baulne is accused of motor vehicle theft, flight from police and dangerous driving. Victoria police Stecy Joseph Luc Baulne, who turns 46 this year, is accused of motor vehicle theft, flight from police and dangerous driving. Story continues below advertisement The Victoria Police Department shared a photo on social media of a man it initially described as a 'person of interest' in the investigation, after it said the vehicle was stolen at Hillside Avenue and Shelbourne St. around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In an updated post at 6:40 p.m., Manak said the suspect identified earlier as the person of interest, had been arrested by West Shore RCMP. Manak commended Victoria police, Saanich police and RCMP in their efforts to apprehend the suspect. Baulne remains in custody ahead of a bail hearing.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Daughter of First Nations woman missing 20 years remembers her mother's 'warm hands'
Stephanie Cameron-Johnson was 11 and in foster care when she learned her mother had gone missing on Vancouver Island, after a friend showed her a photo in a newspaper. What followed would be two decades of challenging racial stereotypes surrounding her mom, undoing shame, and repairing identity disconnection caused by the child welfare system, Cameron-Johnson says. "The narrative that's been spoken about missing, murdered Indigenous women and two-spirit folks… I really feel like it's my responsibility to change that," said Cameron-Johnson. Her mother Belinda Cameron, a Sixties Scoop survivor from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, was 42 when she was last seen at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Esquimalt, B.C., on Esquimalt Rd near Head St., on May 11, 2005. She suffered from a mental illness and was prescribed medication, to be picked up at Shoppers daily, but failed to attend the pharmacy in the days following. She wasn't reported missing until June 4. Det. Colin Hanninen of the Victoria Police Department said Cameron was a person of routine and a fixture in Esquimalt in 2005. She was considered a vulnerable person by police due to addiction and mental health issues, said Hanninen, and her disappearance is considered suspicious. Cameron was initially reported missing by a man who she'd been involved with, but the man told Victoria Police he had not seen her in over a month. Police used a polygraph test to question if the man had harmed Cameron; he denied doing so and passed the test. "At the time there was a robust investigation involving this person, and a polygraph was part of that," said Hanninen. Investigators conducted over 100 interviews and an extensive forensic examination of Cameron's Cairn Road apartment near Old Esquimalt Road, said Hanninen, as well as canine and helicopter searches. "Unfortunately, you know, it had been potentially three to four weeks from the time we can confirm she was last seen to her being reported, which puts you at a disadvantage," said Hanninen. "In 2005, it would have been a lot more challenging than it would be today to find clues of where she could have gone or, you know, if she was with anybody." A 2010 report from the Native Women's Association of Canada said British Columbia had the highest number of cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in the country, according to its database. B.C. also had the highest percentage of suspicious death cases: nine per cent of the cases in its database from B.C. fell under the category of suspicious deaths, compared to four per cent nationally, the report said. Cameron-Johnson said police and media reports her mother used drugs or may be doing sex work don't fit with the way she remembers her mother. "It's a stereotype… that's not all who she was," said Cameron-Johnson. "I remember speaking to some social workers, and they said that she was just always so sweet and kind but that could also kind of get taken advantage of." Cameron-Johnson and her younger sister Zoe were living in foster care at the time of their mother's disappearance. Social workers told the sisters their mother voluntarily put them into care, said Cameron-Johnson, but she remembers being abruptly removed by ministry workers from her Grade 1 classroom in 1999. 'When she went missing, my foster mom told me that it was essentially, like, her fault," Cameron-Johnson said. "They really did make her look like she was in the wrong." She and her sister being put in care was the beginning of her mother's downward spiral, Cameron-Johnson said. "I feel like that really kind of did have that ripple effect on my mom's self worth, and going missing," said Cameron-Johnson. "I don't think she was surrounded with care and love and support. I feel that someone did, like, harm her in a terrible way, and I think that people knew her... know things." Kirsten Barnes, director of clinical legal services at the B.C. First Nations Justice Council, said women like Cameron faced less access to legal recourse and understanding around systemic barriers in the '90s and early 2000s than today, with improvements still needed. "Indigenous women, a lot of them would have felt incredibly alone. They would have felt incredible power imbalance… she probably felt a great deal of pressure," said Barnes. Federal and provincial sanctioned policies such as residential schools and the Sixties Scoop were "created deliberately to destroy the family unit," said Barnes, and have led to the ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care, known as the Millennial Scoop. As of January 2024, 68 per cent of the 4,835 children and youth in care in B.C. were Indigenous, according to the province. "In this case with Belinda, had she had those [family] connections her whole entire life, things may have been different, right? She may have had all of the support that she would have needed," Barnes said. "No parent wants to ever voluntarily give their children up… and that may not have happened if she had not been taken as a child herself. It wasn't really voluntary if you think about the circumstances that she was probably dealing with at the time." Cameron-Johnson said she and her sister are still looking for answers on what happened to their mother, and can feel their mom guiding them. Belinda Cameron was a mother, a homemaker, a baker, enjoyed beading group nights at the Victoria Friendship Centre, and was a skilled thrifter with incredible style, said Cameron-Johnson. "I just remember her warm hands. She just had a really lovely, warm presence," Cameron-Johnson said. "She was there. She was present. I can't really ask more for that, as a parent, to have in your life." Belinda Cameron is described as a five feet, eight inches tall with a medium to large build, long, dark brown hair at the time of her disappearance, and dark brown eyes. She is also known as Belinda Ann Engen. Anonymous tips can be made online at Victoria Crime Stoppers. People who may have information about Cameron can contact 250-995-7654 and ask to speak to the Historical Case Review Unit or send an email.
