Man charged with assault with a weapon, mischief after alleged Montreal mosque attack

A 32-year-old man is facing new charges following an investigation by the Montreal police hate crime squad into an alleged assault last weekend at a downtown mosque. However, members of the Al-Omah Al-Islamiah Mosque are concerned that police have not yet classified the incident as a hate crime.

A 32-year-old man is facing new charges following an investigation by the Montreal police hate crime squad into an alleged assault last weekend at a downtown mosque.

However, worshippers of the Al-Omah Al-Islamiah Mosque are concerned that police have not yet classified the incident as a hate crime. 

Cory Anderson is now facing charges of assault with a weapon and forcible confinement after he was arrested for a second time on Wednesday, police announced in a news release. The accused was arrested shortly after the April 9 incident and initially charged with mischief, according to police.

Anderson appeared in court Wednesday on the new counts and was remanded into custody pending his next appearance on Thursday.

In an interview with CTV News on Monday, one member of the mosque said the alleged perpetrator came to the building last Sunday with a shovel around 5 a.m. while people were praying and smashed the glass door with a concrete block.

Mohamad Jundi said that a young member of the mosque was verbally assaulted and threatened by the man outside the building on Saint-Dominique Street. Jundi added that the suspect threw the shovel on the ground, chased the young man and tried to hit him with another object.

"He entered the main hall and started screaming," he said. "He was screaming in French, but we didn't get what he was screaming about."