The Ottawa Police Service said a man had been arrested and charged in relation to a hate-motivated incident where a Muslim woman was assaulted on an OC Transpo bus last week.
Police had said on Aug. 12 that the woman in her late teens was assaulted and had threats directed at her by a white man while riding a bus in Kanata the day before.
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, police said officers had arrested a man, but did not identify him publicly “due to mental health being a contributing factor.”
Described as a 30-year-old man from Ottawa, he was charged with:
- Three counts of criminal harassment
- Assault
- Uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm
- Inciting hate in a public place
He appeared in court on Wednesday, police said.
In a statement on BlueSky, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was “encouraged” to hear that police had made an arrest in connection with the incident.
“There is absolutely no place for hate, racism, or violence in Ottawa. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,”
Sutcliffe’s post said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously posted on X that “hate and violence have no place in our city, or our country.”
