Ottawa Police are investigating a potential hate crime at a west end mosque.
They received the call around 7 a.m. just as worshippers at the Jami Omar mosque arrived for morning prayers, only to discover hateful messages stuck to walls and the doors.
Sometime overnight, posters featuring photos of Hitler and messages that read ‘White Power’ were pasted to the mosque on Old Richmond Road.
The mosque is across from Seyton Drive, the same street where earlier this month, a teenage pedestrian was struck and killed. A week later, a shooting happened just blocks away.
College ward Councillor Rick Chiarelli tweeted that he was disappointed to see the posters and renewed his call for a new neighbourhood watch program.
Disappointed to see racist posters on our mosque in Bells Corners.This is unacceptable and we all condemn it.Hopefully another thing that can be prevented if we establish a strong Neighbourhood Watch Monday Feb 5 at 7pm Franco Ouest. Please come out
— Rick Chiarelli (@RickChiarelli) January 30, 2018
The investigation at the mosque also comes just one day after Canadians reflected on the one-year anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting. Six men were killed, more than a dozen injured when a lone gunman stormed the Islamic Cultural Centre one year ago.