Man arrested for antisemitic graffiti incidents now faces terrorism charges

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This article was published 18/03/2025 (233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four terrorism-related charges have been slapped on a 19-year-old man who was accused of defacing walls and fences with antisemitic graffiti last year.

Nevin Thunder Young was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of commission of an offence for a terrorist group, and single counts of participation in the activity of a terrorist group and facilitating terrorist activity.

That’s in addition to 26 counts of mischief under $5,000. He was arrested in the Westdale neighbourhood on Jan. 12 for the graffiti incidents, which happened in Charleswood between Sept. 28 and Dec. 31.

Young remains in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

Manitoba RCMP said Tuesday its national security program began an investigation in February after the case was referred to it by the Winnipeg Police Service.

The program “works in collaboration with intelligence and law enforcement partners to protect Canada, its people and its interests against the greatest domestic and international criminal threats,” the RCMP website states.

It is unclear what led investigators to press charges against Young, what terrorist group he is believed to be associated with and the level of communication he may have had with such an organization.

RCMP did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday.

Under the Criminal Code, a person can be charged with facilitating a terrorist activity regardless of whether they understood they were doing so or whether terrorist activity was actually carried out.

Participating in the activities of a terrorist group can include: providing, receiving or recruiting a person to receive training from a terrorist organization; or using a name, word or symbol associated with the terrorist group, the law states.

Gustavo Zentner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ vice-president of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said he was pleased police had pursued further charges against the accused.

“We look to government and law enforcement to act decisively to the fullest extent of the law… as a deterrent for these kinds of activity, and also to drive awareness across all communities in Manitoba and in Canada that there is no place for hate,” Zentner said.

“Clearly, what starts with the Jewish community as a minority group does not end with the Jewish community. Manitobans should recognize that if we stay silent or do not actively denounce all kinds of concerns and acts of antisemitism and hate, those will grow rapidly across society.”

Young was first charged after swastikas and the initials “M.K.Y.” were spray-painted onto Westdale Community Centre and nearby buildings in the final days of Hanukkah.

“Manitobans should recognize that if we stay silent or do not actively denounce all kinds of concerns and acts of antisemitism and hate, those will grow rapidly across society.”–Gustavo Zentner

“M.K.Y.” is an international neo-Nazi group that promotes violence, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network’s website states.

Most, if not all, of the graffiti had been removed or covered by mid-January.

Premier Wab Kinew had condemned the graffiti and called it an “act of hatred.”

Winnipeg police said in mid-January the graffiti spree did not meet the Criminal Code criteria for hate crimes. The mischief charges were deemed “most appropriate” after consultation with the Crown, a police spokeswoman said at the time.

“There was no intent to target a specific individual or location,” she said.

People who live in a Manitoba Housing complex on Westgrove Way in Charleswood said the suspect lives in a unit with family members.

No one answered when a Free Press reporter went to the family’s townhouse Tuesday.

A resident of the complex said they saw police officers removing items from the townhouse Sunday.

“They brought out two bags of stuff,” the person said.

The resident was aware of the earlier charges against Young, but did not know why police were at the site Sunday.

“That’s scary,” the person said, after being told about the terrorism charges.

The person said some of the earlier graffiti was sprayed at the housing complex.

“I couldn’t believe that stuff,” the person said. “It was so sad.”

Zentner noted representatives from the provincial government and local law enforcement, including Manitoba RCMP and Winnipeg police, attended a forum on combating antisemitism in Ottawa this month.

The forum, hosted by the federal government, discussed strengthening enforcement and prosecution of antisemitic acts.

Young was scheduled to appear in provincial court Tuesday, RCMP said.

The charges haven’t been proven in court.

— with files from Chris Kitching

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca