NEWMARKET - A Newmarket business owner has been found guilty of threatening death and property damage after he said he would "plant a bomb in every synagogue in Toronto.”
The judgment came down against Waisuddin Akbari in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket Nov. 1, concerning an incident on March 4, 2024. That day, Akbari visited a BMW dealership for an oil change, according to a ruling from Justice Edward Prutschi.
Akbari, who owns a shawarma restaurant, inquired about leasing or financing a new vehicle with dealership representative Cameron Ahmad, which led to a conversation about Israel and Palestine, the court transcript states.
According to testimony from Ahmad, while the two agreed about genocide being perpetuated against Palestinians, things took a dark turn when Akbari said the Israeli state and the Jewish people should have genocide committed against them in retaliation. As the conversation ended, Ahmad testified that Akbari made threatening remarks, of which he was found ultimately found guilty.
“I know when I'm going to die because I'm going to plant a bomb in every synagogue in Toronto and blow them up to kill as many Jews as possible,” Akbari is quoted as saying. “I’ll make sure those attacks are filmed and posted online so the world can see what I've done.”
The trial’s only witnesses were Ahmad and Akbari. While Akbari testified that he did not make those remarks, Prutschi said he found Ahmad to be a more credible witness and said that Akbari’s testimony was “brief, disjointed and vague.”
During the conversation, Ahmad testified that Akbari had also believed the Israeli government “controlled the entire world and that they were trying to exterminate anyone who was not Jewish." Ahmad said Akbari said that Israel "sought to turn the world into slaves and to poison the world … he went on to equate Israelis and Jewish people to roaches or insects who should be exterminated.”
According to the ruling, the comments shocked Ahmad and he did not know how to deal with the situation. Ahmad said he feared that Akbari was being serious based on his tone. The next day, Ahmad phoned both York Regional Police and the RCMP, with York Regional Police initiating an investigation that led to charges of threatening death and property damage March 5.
Akbari and his lawyer declined to comment for this story.
Akbari acknowledged the discussion about Israel but said he only raised it as a way to get Ahmad to stop pressuring him into purchasing a new vehicle. Akbari said he had lost about $500,000 due to gambling in the last four years and could not afford a new car, and joked about wanting to blow up a casino for the damage that gambling unleashed on his life. Akbari denied making any further claims regarding the Jewish people or Israel.
Ultimately, Justice Prutschi found Akbari’s testimony less credible and said it is “utterly bizarre” to claim to discuss Israel to deflect the advances of pushy salesmen when there would be far easier ways to do so. He found further inconsistencies in Akbari’s testimony that led to the ruling, such as denying that he had never heard about Jews, Judaism or synagogues before March 4 but later seeming to contradict that in cross-examination.
Justice Prutschi said that while Akbari’s comments were “false, despicable and odious,” it was only the threats made against Toronto synagogues that led to charges and caused him to be in court.
“The threats were delivered in a serious tone, and it does not matter whether Mr. Akbari intended to act on them or not,” Prutschi said. “They clearly meet the legal definition of an unlawful threat to damage personal property and harm an ascertained group.”
The ruling did not include sentencing, with Akbari next scheduled to appear in court May 8.