Victoria police have released surveillance video of two suspects and two witnesses concerned in the vandalism of St. Andrew’s Cathedral on September 12 and subsequent investigation.
Hate Crime Investigation | We need your help identifying 2 suspects & 2 witnesses captured on video when St. Andrew's Cathedral was damaged Sept. 12, 2021. We're releasing 4 pieces of video. (1/6) #yyj | https://t.co/1QsbBDKezk
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) September 23, 2021
According to Police, one suspect was witnessed damaging the Cathedral with spray paint while the other suspect acted as a lookout.
Police are saying that the crime constitutes a hate crime.
According to Police, the nature of the targeting and some vandalism meets the standard for a hate crime investigation, as do the other church vandalisms, which occurred earlier this year in response to the Residential School protests.
“Just after 11 p.m. on Sunday, September 12, 2021, two people were caught on surveillance video damaging St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which is located at the corner of Blanshard and View streets,” Police said in a press release.
“Two cameras located outside the church captured both the suspects in the act of damaging the church and witnesses who directly observed the damage taking place. In one of the pieces of footage, a male witness is observed speaking with one of the suspects,” Police continued.
Here, 2 suspects – 1 damaging the church & the other acting as a lookout – are recorded while damaging the View Street side of the church. Do you recognize them? A man walks by & interacts w the suspects (2/6) #yyj pic.twitter.com/bxYKLCuSkM
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) September 23, 2021
Police are also looking for any information regarding the two witnesses seen in the video. However, neither are currently being investigated for hate crime charges.
