'Scary' Juvvie Pleads Guilty; Jews Breathe Sigh of Relief

Another scary griffito of doom artiste bites the dust, reported the Calgary Herald last Friday. Quel relief, eh?:

CALGARY - The Calgary Jewish Community Council is welcoming the city's first hate crime conviction after a teenager pleaded guilty to spraying anti-Semitic graffiti at a Holocaust memorial and synagogue last fall.

The plea was made in youth court July 19.

He will be sentenced Oct. 15.

"The conviction sends a really strong message that hate crime is actually a crime," said Adam Singer, president of the council.

"It sends a message that acts that are clearly intended to foment hatred against a minority group in Canada, such as the Jewish community, is a criminal act. It's not just something that people might say, 'you shouldn't do that.' It's a crime."

Last November, anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas appeared at the memorial, synagogue and other locations in Pump Hill and Woodbine. Surveillance video helped solve the case.

The culprit, who was 17 when he committed the offences, was arrested in Winnipeg in March.

Calgary police said it was the first time they had laid the charge of mischief to a place of religious worship motivated by hate. He was also charged with one count of mischief to property and one count of inciting public hatred.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the MP for Calgary Southwest, was among those who expressed concern shortly after it happened.

"I join all residents of Calgary Southwest in condemning this cowardly and hurtful act of vandalism. Anti-Semitism is a disease of the soul; its odious manifestations, in any form and however rare, can never be tolerated in Canada," he said in a statement in November.

Singer said the conviction was a reassurance to the Jewish community that they are not alone.

He also said it shows how tolerant Canadian society can be...

It does? Really? I don't think it shows anything of the sort. I think it shows how you can put a whole lot of stock in convicting a teen of a hate crime, and thinking that that's going to protect you, when there are a lot more important things to worry about. Like, say, how your security might be compromised by a crippling political correctness that is consumed by hurt "feelings" as exemplified by a body called the RCMP Diversity Liaison Office.