Nearly a month after a London MP's downtown constituency office was vandalized during a protest, a London doctor has been charged.
Tarek Loubani, 42, was arrested Wednesday night in relation to the October 22 incident outside London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos' office on Hyman Street. Ketchup was sprayed across the front door during a pro-Palestinian march.
London police said on Thursday that investigators determined a group of individuals not affiliated with the original demonstration stopped at Fragiskatos' office. One then pulled a bottle of ketchup from his backpack and proceeded to squirt the condiment on the building. The man then took additional bottles of ketchup out of his backpack and handed them to three other men who were with them. He encouraged the other men to join in defacing the building, police said.
No one was inside the office at the time.
Video surveillance of the incident was provided to police, who were able to identify suspects.
Loubani has been charged with one count of mischief. He was scheduled to appear in court in relation to the charge on Thursday.
"The London Police Service recognizes every person’s right to freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly and are committed to protecting these rights," London police said in a statement. "We will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure that citizens within our community feel safe and secure. Acts in violation of the law in the name of any cause will not be tolerated. All such acts will be investigated, and charges will be laid where appropriate."
The other three individuals alleged to have been involved in the vandalism have entered into a pre-charge diversion program, an alternative to criminal charges for minor offences that sees the accused enter into a rehabilitative program. If they fail to complete the required restorative measures charges can still be brought against them.
Fragiskatos believes the ketchup, which was cleaned up in about an hour, was meant to symbolize the blood of civilians caught in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Fragiskatos and the Canadian government has been criticized by members of the Palestinian community for not calling for a ceasefire in the conflict. Hamas, which is listed as a "terrorist entity" by Canada, sparked the current conflict by attacking Israel, killing over 1,400 people on October 7. That prompted Israel to launch airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza that has left more than 10,000 people, including thousands of children, dead.
Fragiskatos has argued that Canada has little influence over Israel and Hamas, and would be better off focusing on providing humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict.
His office was vandalized a second time last Thursday. Red paint was splashed across an outer wall to the building.
Loubani was one of two Canadians who were detained for 50 days in Egypt while making their way to Gaza on a medical mission in 2013. His detention made international headlines. In 2018, he suffered a gunshot wound to the leg while treating injured Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border
In a thread posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Loubani has vowed he will not stop protesting against Fragiskatos refusal to call for a ceasefire.
