Victim of alleged hate attack in London, Ont. still afraid walking downtown but ready to fight in court
"There are so many hate crimes that don't come to court but mine did so I need to stand up"
A London, Ont. man who was punched repeatedly and called racial slurs outside the city's farmers' market less than a year ago is working to rebuild his life, hopeful the courts will consider the attack a hate crime.
Mohammad Sharifi suffered a concussion in the May 2016 assault but admits the psychological trauma of being targeted for "looking like a foreigner" has been the hardest part of recovery.
"I've been doing councilling because there are a lot of times I don't feel safe walking in London," the 31-year-old Western University PhD student said. "I've had my heart racing and feelings that I can't continue but I know I have to keep fighting."
Two 24-year old men were charged with assault, one of whom has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The other has not entered a plea.
Sharifi has written a victim impact statement, and though he's an English grad, he says the words were hard to find.
"There are so many hate crimes that don't come to court but mine did so I need to stand up. I hope the courts will prove basic human rights can be protected."
Sharifi explained he and his girlfriend were studying at a picnic table in the market square on a Saturday evening when the men approached, allegedly unprovoked, and started calling Sharifi an Arab and telling him to go back to where he came from.
Having just taken the oath to become a permanent Canadian resident, the Iranian man said he can't understand why someone living in this country would feel such hatred.
"I definitely think that racial hate was the first motivation of this assault and I'm hoping the justice system shows it is capable of protecting people like me," Sharifi said sitting inside the market looking out the window at the place where the attack happened.
"It's like they wanted to provoke and hurt me for looking different. I haven't been able to wrap my head around it."
Hate crimes on the rise in London, Ont.
Sharifi's case is one of several recent high profile investigations officers believe were motivated by hate, including a black actor who was verbally assaulted and a local politician who has his election signs vandalized with Islamophobic graffiti.
Statistics obtained by the police service show a 35 per cent increase over 2 yrs in the number of reported hate crimes.
In 2015, London police received:
- 46 reports of hate motivated crimes
- 6 resulted in charges
- 3 were cleared
It will up to a judge to decide at sentencing whether the alleged assault should be punished as a hate crime, though London police did investigate the case with that motive in mind.
