Ottawa hospital says poured gasoline, antisemitic messages found in clinical area
The Ottawa Hospital says Ottawa police are investigating after someone found poured gasoline and what the hospital described as antisemitic messages at its General campus.
But police said later Friday that they aren't investigating a hate-motivated crime.
"Messaging left at the scene was not hate-related and spoke to the ongoing conflict in Gaza," a police spokesperson wrote in an email.
"Police will not provide further comments so as not to jeopardize the integrity of the ongoing investigation."
In an email, a hospital spokesperson said they were found in a clinical area overnight on Thursday. Ottawa police said in an email officers were called around 11:15 p.m.
The area is being cleaned, the hospital said, and some appointments had to be rescheduled. Security measures have also been increased.
Hospital leadership "condemns this deplorable act," according to the statement, which comes about a week after Ottawa's police chief condemned several recent hate-motivated crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim people.
After that, a 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with various hate-motivated offences. He allegedly made a threatening phone call to an Ottawa rabbi, who said hate toward Jewish people has "skyrocketed" after the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas that set off the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called out what he describes as a "terrifying" rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia across the country.
The General campus hospital just had a major fire late last month that led to its emergency room being closed and forced the relocation of dozens of patients.
