A man from British Columbia has been sentenced to eight months in jail for defacing a historic synagogue in Victoria with hateful messages. Arthur Roberts admitted to the vandalism at the Congregation Emanu-El synagogue, the oldest continuously operating synagogue on the west coast of North America, founded in 1859. The graffiti, which included derogatory terms towards Jewish people, was discovered by a congregant in August of 2025.
The B.C. provincial court Judge Micah Rankin found Roberts guilty of committing a hate crime by targeting Jewish individuals with his offensive messages inside their place of worship. Roberts also faced charges for threatening the police in a text message sent to his mother in 2026.
Arrested by Victoria officers after being identified through CCTV footage, Roberts expressed remorse for his actions during the court proceedings. The judge noted that Roberts, a 54-year-old man with mental health issues, may have been influenced by events in Gaza but clarified that criticism of the State of Israel is not inherently antisemitic.
The ruling emphasized the significant impact of the vandalism on the synagogue’s community, particularly during a bar mitzvah event that took place shortly after the incident. This act of defacement, coupled with antisemitic hate speech, was described as highly aggravating in the context of rising antisemitic incidents in Canada.
