Calgary's Jewish community welcomes guilty plea connected to hate crimes

A hate crimes case that saw several sites in Calgary being spray painted with anti-Semitic slogans has reportedly ended with a guilty plea.

Several reports say a young man has pleaded guilty to mischief against a religious facility and incitement of hatred against an identifiable group.

Anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas were spray painted on three sites in the city's southwest in November of 2009, including Calgary's Holocaust Memorial.

When police arrested a youth in connection with the incidents, they laid hate crime charges, the first filed in our city.

Adam Singer, president of the Calgary Jewish Community Council tells 660News, the Jewish community is relieved over news of a guilty plea.

He says that a crime of this nature is a shock to everyone targeted and when these types of activities occur, it's frightening and almost unbelievable that these types of feelings can still exist.

Singer credits Calgary police with treating the incidents with the seriousness they deserve and he believes investigators did a spectacular job with the case.

Singer says the conviction sends the message that this sort of the thing will not be tolerated and that a hate crime is a crime.