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Videos shared on social media show an agitated man in a black T-shirt yelling threats and insults as he walks away from someone recording his angry diatribe.HO/The Canadian Press
Racial hatred appears to have motivated a recent assault and racist tirade inside a big box store in Halifax, police say.
Halifax Regional Police are asking for the public’s help as the search continues for the suspect, whose racial slurs and threats were captured on video and posted on social media.
Police say officers were dispatched Saturday to a Costco on Chain Lake Drive after receiving reports that a man was yelling at a family before he assaulted another shopper.
The suspect is described as a bald, white man between 30 and 40 years old who was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and black boots.
Videos shared on social media show an agitated man in a black T-shirt yelling threats and insults as he walks away from someone recording his angry diatribe.
Ahead of the man are three shoppers: a bearded man pushing a shopping cart, followed by two women wearing hijabs. All three move into another aisle as the man in the black T-shirt approaches.
He can be heard swearing and telling those in front of him to “get the…out of our country,” as he raises his arm and points upward.
At that point, the man is confronted by a woman who tells him to leave the store.
“Are you from … Nova Scotia because you’re going right with them,” he says before turning around and facing the person recording the video. As he walks closer, he lunges at the camera and the image goes black.
When the person behind the camera tells the man that a complaint will be filed, he replies, “You make a … complaint. We’re killing every one of you here. Every one of you.”
The video in question was posted online by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, which describes itself as a group dedicated to civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.
“We are deeply disturbed by the racist and Islamophobic attack targeting hijabi Muslim women, as well as the (alleged) physical assault and hateful slurs directed at a Muslim man at Halifax Costco this past weekend,” the group said in an online statement.
“No one should face hate or fear while simply grocery shopping with their family.”
In a statement Tuesday, Const. Martin Cromwell with Halifax Regional Police said the force takes crimes motivated by hatred very seriously.
“If someone finds themselves exposed to behaviour that is offensive, threatening or intimidating, they are encouraged to report it to police. Even if an investigation does not find criminal wrongdoing, it is important to have it on record.”