ManitobaWinnipeg police are asking residents not to immediately cover up racist or antisemetic graffiti, no matter how upsetting or disturbing it may be, because they say without evidence it’s very difficult to investigate and bring people to justice.Winnipeg police are asking people not to cover up hateful graffiti until officers investigateDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2025 11:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoIn this photo from January 2025, Avrom Charach is pictured getting rid of graffiti he and other members of his community say is hateful. That includes a series of tags referencing a neo-Nazi group which started to crop up in Winnipeg’s Charleswood neighbourhood late last year. (Arturo Chang/CBC)Police in Winnipeg are asking residents not to immediately cover up racist or antisemetic graffiti, no matter how upsetting or disturbing it may be, because without evidence, it’s very difficult to investigate and bring people to justice.”Any graffiti, especially this type of graffiti, I completely understand how triggering and upsetting this could be for the community, and is for the community,” Winnipeg police Insp. Jennifer McKinnon with the major crimes unit said.”But it’s a challenge, because if it’s covered up right away or cleaned up and it’s not reported to us, we can’t do anything about it. We can’t investigate what we don’t know.”Insp. Jennifer McKinnon says police in Winnipeg are asking residents not to immediately cover up racist or antisemetic graffiti, no matter how upsetting or disturbing it may be, because they say without evidence it’s very difficult to investigate and bring people to justice. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)Tuesday marks the second anniversary of the deadly Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, where Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people in southern Israel, and took another 250 as hostages. Israel retaliated, launching a war in which more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed and about 170,000 more wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.The conflict has led to what many Jewish officials say has been a noticeable rise in hate crimes against the Jews and antisemitism in Canada, including here in Winnipeg. Between Sept. 28 and Dec. 31 of 2024, Winnipeg police were alerted to multiple reports of antisemitic graffiti in the Charleswood area of the city, including swastikas that were spray-painted on the back of Westdale Community Centre, according to a release on Jan. 14.In January, a 19-year-old Winnipeg man was arrested and charged with 26 counts of mischief under $5,000 in connection to the graffiti. His case remains before the courts. McKinnon said police can’t say for sure if there has been a rise in antisemetic graffiti in Winnipeg since the attacks, because she said in many cases people don’t report it, and often cover it up as quickly as possible. “It’s very difficult for us to quantify a rise in antisemitic graffiti,” she said. “And I’m hesitant to comment, because I don’t want to minimize the Jewish community and how they’re feeling and what they’re seeing, because that can be different than what we’re seeing. “It may not necessarily always get to us.”McKinnon is now asking any residents who discover racist or antisemetic graffiti to report it as soon as possible to police, and if possible not to cover it up until police can get to the scene. She added that if people feel they must cover up graffiti, they should take pictures of it so police can investigate. “If you do have to clean it up right away because there’s children, or the particular location is high visibility and it is very upsetting, then I totally understand,” McKinnon said. “But you need to document it.”We can’t deal with investigations when we don’t have the documented evidence, and we don’t know that it exists.”She is also asking residents to remember that graffiti is a crime that should be taken seriously. “I can’t emphasize enough that graffiti is a mischief charge, and I think sometimes people don’t give it the consideration that it’s due,” McKinnon said. “But incidents like this can lead to larger investigations. So even though it is graffiti, as the Winnipeg Police Service, we do take it very seriously, and if it is reported to us, we will investigate it.”Bernie Farber, the founding chair emeritus of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congree, told CBC’s Up to Speed host Faith Fundal on Tuesday that the rise in antisemetic incidents in Canada since the Oct. 7 attacks has been “astronomical.”Bernie Farber, founding chair emeritus of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said officials have been seeing a rise in antisemetic incidents in Canada. (Lisa Xing/CBC)He said he understands why people are often in a rush to remove graffiti or other antisemetic messaging that is out in the public, but said he hopes people do give police a chance to investigate before they cover it up. “When you see antisemitic graffiti it instigates fear, and your immediate reaction is, ‘lets get rid of it.'” Farber said. “I think you have to give the police all the opportunities that they need in order to investigate these crimes, so they can bring the perpetrators to justice.”Antisemitic graffiti was seen painted on the parking garage door of a condo building across from the Westdale Community Centre in Winnipeg’s Charleswood area on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Police in Winnipeg are asking residents not to immediately cover up racist or antisemetic graffiti, because they say without evidence it’s very difficult to investigate. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)He is also suggesting that police find other ways like tarps to cover up offensive graffiti if it is in highly-visible areas,Farber cautioned, however, there should also be some understanding from police that people often want the graffiti gone as soon as possible. “Police need to have a proper investigation, but on the other hand, police need to understand the fears and concerns,” he said. ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Meaghan Ketcheson and Faith Fundal
Covering up racist or antisemitic graffiti too fast can impede investigations, police warn
