http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070331.ATHEIST31/TPStory/?query=atheist
Man says he was assaulted at Ryerson
EDUCATION REPORTER
An atheist group leader says he is the victim of a religious hate crime.
Freethought Association of Canada president Justin Trottier said he was assaulted at Ryerson University earlier this week while he and a colleague were hanging posters for a coming lecture.
“Their motives were clearly premised on the fact that we were atheists [publicizing] an atheist event and that was seen as unacceptable to them,” Mr. Trottier said in an interview yesterday.
“They mocked the nature of the event.”
Mr. Trottier, 24, and his colleague were hanging posters Tuesday night announcing a lecture by Victor Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis, when they were approached by two men. The men asked for a copy of the poster, mumbled under their breath and tossed it to the ground. Mr. Trottier said he yelled after them, “You could have recycled that.”
Fifteen minutes later, when Mr. Trottier and his colleague were in a more secluded area of the university, he said the two men reappeared and started a verbal argument. One of the men hit him in the face twice, and butted him on his face, causing his nose to bleed, Mr. Trottier said.
He said the two men looked like they were in their early 20s. He didn’t know if they attended the university. “If the incident had been reversed and it had been an atheist that had physically assaulted a theist for postering for a theist event . . . that would easily be considered a hate crime — and it frequently is. This is the exact reverse scenario,” Mr. Trottier said.
“This assault should be taken just as seriously.”
Janet Mowat, a spokeswoman for Ryerson, said security has gone through its files and “they are treating it not as a hate crime, but as a dispute that arose and led to an altercation.”
Toronto police say they are investigating the incident. But Detective Dave Alexander was also hesitant to call it hate-motivated.
“We don’t have anything that suggests that as far as I’m aware of. I know [Mr. Trottier] was talking about that, but certainly from what I see it doesn’t look like it falls within what our policies and procedures define as a hate crime,” Det. Alexander said. “But we’re still looking at that as well to cover all the bases.”
The Freethought Association of Canada grew out of the Toronto Secular Alliance, and its members include student groups such as the University of Toronto Secular Alliance and the Freethinker’s Association of Ryerson. It serves as the youth voice for secularists, playing host to events and engaging in political advocacy.
