Man charged after hateful graffiti found on London school property

A 41-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly spray painting hateful graffiti outside of a school in northwest London.

Police said they arrested the 41-year-old on Saturday around noon after neighbours of Emily Carr Public School called in a report of property damage. Officers charged the man with mischief and causing a disturbance by fighting, shouting or swearing.

The damage included "hate-related phrases and messaging" on the school building and surrounding sidewalk, London Police Services said in a statement.

"You see a swastika on the sidewalk, it grabs your attention fairly quickly," said Carmi Levy, who saw the graffiti while walking his dog on Sunday night. "I stopped and ruminated over it for a little while and felt the heat rising in my ears."

Levy, who is Jewish, said he saw three instances of hateful graffiti on the school property. He said all three mentioned the Jewish community, two had drawings of swastikas and one also used a slur targeting the Black community. 

"It's especially upsetting because it happened on school grounds," Levy said. "The location was clearly deliberate and was designed to get the maximum possible visibility [by] an audience that, quite frankly, shouldn't be seeing any of that."

Crews from Goodbye Graffiti cleaned up the spray paint Tuesday morning.

Increase in hate, not hate-filled graffiti

Hate crimes have "risen significantly" in London over the past five years, according to a report before the London Police Services board in May. 

The report found there has been a "notable connection" between the rise in hate crimes toward the Jewish community following the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. An increase was also found in hate crimes toward the Muslim community.

Brent Murdoch, the general manager of Goodbye Graffiti in London, said despite that, there is not a specific increase in hate-related graffiti in the city. 

"You really have to put yourself out there to write that on a wall," said Murdoch. "If you're to get caught, it's quite a statement about yourself, so I think most people hide."

He said he often sees "gang graffiti," which refers to an "old school" type of graffiti that a group of people will write together.

Murdoch said spray painted messages, like the one his team removed from Emily Carr Public School, fall under the category of "protest graffiti," which attempts to share an opinion and create impact "whether it's right or wrong." He said he doesn't see it often. 

Still, those who did see the graffiti won't quickly forget it. 

"It's an incredibly jarring thing to have happen when you realize that such hatred is on full display right in your backyard," Levy said. 

The accused is expected to appear in London court in September.