Four of the 11 people accused of defacing a downtown Toronto bookstore and targeting its founder made their first court appearance Monday — marking the start of legal proceedings for a case that has become a flashpoint in the city amid a spate of anti-Israel activism.
Nisha Toomey, Clement Cheng, Stuart Schussler and Karl Gardner appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice via Zoom on Monday afternoon. The other seven accused are scheduled to make their first appearance in court later this month.
The latter two represented themselves in court, while Toomey and Cheng were represented by Jocelyn Rempel of Addario Law Group. It was not stated who the crown attorney in the case will be.
The 11 accused allegedly vandalized an Indigo bookstore in downtown Toronto on Nov. 10. Police said the store near the intersection of Bay and Bloor streets was splashed with red paint and plastered with posters featuring the company’s chief executive officer and founder, Heather Reisman.
Police said the 11 face charges of criminal harassment, mischief over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison.
In the wake of their arrests, a legal-defence fund was set up by activist group Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Toronto to “support everyone criminalized for protest and direct action in solidarity with Palestine in Toronto,” specifically the Indigo 11.
It raised more than $76,500 as of Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Indigo 11 did not return a request for comment on why Schussler and Gardner did not have lawyers.
Schussler and Gardner will return to court Feb. 30. Toomey and Cheng will appear again April 2.
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Among the 11 arrested are well-known activists and educators, students and professors.
Schussler, 39, is a doctoral student at York, according to his website. Gardner, 33, is a lecturer at University of Waterloo, where he teaches Social Inequality, Social Justice and Social Action.
Toomey, 41, has a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto and is a post-doctoral visitor at York, according to her website. Cheng, meanwhile, is 26.
Lesley Wood, 56, is an associate professor in the department of sociology at York. Sharmeen Khan, 45, is a union staff member at York. Ian Doty, 43, is an elementary and middle school music teacher currently employed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Suzanne Narain, 38, is a former primary school teacher at the TDSB.
Also charged are Mercedes Lee, 44, Sarom Rho, 29 and MacDonald Scott, 56.
Indigo, founded by chief executive officer Heather Reisman and her husband, Gerry Schwartz, has been subject to a boycott campaign for more than a decade centred around the founders’ charity, the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers. The foundation provides scholarships to former “lone soldiers” — those without family in Israel, who served in the Israel Defense Forces. These scholarships cover living expenses and tuition for ex-soldiers who wish to remain and study in Israel after their service.
The 11 have not returned interview requests from the Star with the exception of Wood. In a statement, Wood described her terror at having been arrested at her home before dawn by Toronto police. She said her door was smashed and she and her partner, who records show was also charged in connection to the vandalism, were taken from bed and handcuffed by seven police officers.
Supporters of the accused have said they were all arrested in similar circumstances.
Reid Rusonik, a criminal defence lawyer and managing partner of Rusonik, O’Connor, Robbins, Ross & Angelini, LLP, told the Star in November it is standard practice for police to execute no-knock warrants in the early morning, which he said police believe is safer than other times of day.
Jacob Roth, associate counsel at Robichaud's Criminal Defence Litigation in Toronto, told the Star he hasn't seen police break down doors or take people from their beds in connection with a mischief or criminal harassment investigation. Usually, he said, police will call suspects and ask them to come down to the station.
Next in the group of accused to appear in court are Narain and Rho next Monday.
