On Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, the Niagara Regional Police Service contacted the EPS regarding concerning social media posts that threatened harm against the Jewish community. The posts appeared to have originated from Edmonton and investigators quickly identified the suspect, issued warrants for his arrest and attempted to locate him.
On Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, officers located and arrested Amjad Jaradat, 31, who has since been charged with uttering threats. Jaradat remained in custody following his arrest and will now be residing in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with several conditions, including:
- Shall not attend within 100 meters of:
- any Jewish place of worship, community centre, or known community event.
- any vigil, protest, or demonstration organized by either side of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
- Shall remain in your residence 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week for the entirety of the order, with the exception of:
- Employment that is pre-approved by your supervisor
- medical or dental emergencies for yourself or a dependent, provided you return as soon as possible and inform your supervisor.
- Will not be in the possession of any electronic devices that can connect to the internet, with the exception of use for employment purposes as approved by your supervisor.
- Will not make any social media posts or comment on other people’s social media posts.
- Shall not possess any weapons as defined by the Criminal Code, including knives or other edged items (except when it is actively being used for eating a meal), anything used, designed to be used or intended for use in causing death or injury to any person or for the purpose of threatening and intimidating any person.
- Shall not possess any firearm, firearms licence, authorization or registration certificate related to the possession of firearms, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition, or explosive substance, as defined in the Criminal Code.
The EPS Hate Crimes Unit is also recommending that Section 718.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada be applied in this case, allowing the courts to consider increased sentencing when there is evidence the offence may have been motivated by hatred.
“Following recent events in Australia, as well as ongoing conflicts taking place in various countries across the globe, we want to assure our local faith communities that, regardless of denomination, your safety is our priority,” says EPS Chief Warren Driechel. “This investigation is an example of how police across Canada continuously work together to combat hatred and violence.
“Whether online or in person, hate has no place in our society, and we will continue to investigate these incidents to the fullest extent.”
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The EPS takes hate-motivated incidents and crimes very seriously. These events hurt not only the victim, but the vicarious trauma has an impact on entire communities. Hate incidents can now be reported online. Hate crimes should be reported to police at 911 if it’s an emergency, or 780-423-4567 if it is not an emergency.
For more information about the difference between hate-motivated incidents and hate-motivated crime, visit the EPS website.