Reporter Robert Evans chronicles an online anti-immigration campaign that he argues led to the October 2nd arson attack at the Radisson Hotel Toronto East. At the time of the attack the hotel was hosting 577 refugees.
On October 2, a lone arsonist entered the Radisson Hotel Toronto East and ignited a can of gasoline. It was left burning in a hallway on the third floor, but was found by an employee and kicked down a stairwell before the fire could spread very far. The arson attempt terrified the 577 refugees and asylum-seekers housed at the Radisson by the Canadian government.
The Toronto Police have not yet found any particular motivation behind the crime. Media Relations Officer Caroline de Cloet told Bellingcat that the department had “no reason” to believe the arson attempt was linked to anti-refugee sentiment. “We don’t speculate on our investigations,” she added.
This has not stopped many others from speculating that the arson attempt was the end result of what The Star dubbed an “online anti-refugee campaign.” Reporting on this campaign has tended to focus on a single 5 minute 51 second video entitled “Trudeau’s Refugee Hotel Exposed.”
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Since the five minute version of the video received more than 200,000 views, some have suggested it sparked the arson attack. But ProperGander’s video was actually just one small piece of an ongoing digital assault on refugees housed in hotels by the Canadian government. This article will piece together the evolution of this anti-refugee campaign and document the eventual violent threats it provoked.