Toronto man facing mischief charges after John A. Macdonald statue takedown in Hamilton
Hamilton police say investigation is ongoing and anticipate laying more charges
A Toronto man has been arrested by Hamilton police in connection to the takedown of a Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Hamilton.
Hundreds of people attended a rally at Hamilton City Hall on the weekend to protest city council's decision last month not to remove it.
Attendees marched through downtown ending at the site of the statue in Gore Park, located in the city's core.
A person climbed on top of the statue and tied a rope around the statue's neck before a handful of people pulled it down.
The statue was spit on, spray-painted and its nose was sawed off.
Officers monitored the event but didn't make arrests at the scene.
Miguel Martin Avila-Valarde, 56, is now charged with mischief over $5,000.
Police say he was released with conditions and will appear in court at a later date.
"The investigation is ongoing and Hamilton Police anticipate laying further charges," read a statement from police.
The service previously said officers were looking to identify three other suspects.
The events occurred just over a month after council's decision not to remove the statue, despite more than 1,000 public correspondences in favour of its removal and suggestions from some councillors to move it while the city conducts a review of landmarks and monuments. (The review also includes parks and street names.)
Macdonald is considered an architect of Canada's residential school system, which snatched Indigenous children from their families and tried to assimilate them. The last school closed in the mid-1990s and in past months, hundreds of unmarked graves have been detected at the sites of former residential schools in Canada.
The mayor condemned the incident, while an organizer of the rally said the event and statue's subsequent removal is just the "tip of the iceberg" toward Indigenous reconciliation.