A lesbian couple was brutally attacked by a group of nearly ten Middle Eastern men in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 22, leaving her with severe injuries.
In a Facebook post shared last Monday, Emma Maclean explained that the men, assumed to be Syrian, made homophobic comments before beating her and her partner, Tori, while the two were having a birthday celebration.
“As some may know, myself and my partner Tori were attacked on Saturday night by a group of 7-10+ Middle Eastern men, believed to be from Syria, aged 18-25 on Argyle Street in downtown Halifax,” begins the post.
Continuing, Maclean explains that one of the men, who was wearing a red shirt and a medical walking boot, got into a verbal altercation with her partner and began spewing “several disgusting slurs” at them, some of which were homophobic.
“Following this, the 7-10 men attacked me and my partner, throwing several punches and kicks to our faces, ribs, etc.,” she added, sharing images of their injuries which including a broken nose, chipped tooth, several bruises, and lumps on their heads and faces.
“We are extremely thankful that things were not worse. If anyone has any further information or had witnessed this event, or has personal video footage, I would be extremely grateful if you could share it,” concludes Maclean, advising people to stay safe and have a happy Pride Month.
News of the attack sparked outrage online from many who were shocked to see that mainstream media outlets weren’t reporting on the incident.
“Why is this not on the news? If it was the other way around it would be all over the news and treated as a hate crime. This makes my blood boil. Our Canada as the way we know it will never be the same. Hope you guys are ok,” commented a woman from New Brunswick on Maclean’s post.
“That is the problem of immigrating these people that do not respect women in their countries and come here thinking they can do [the] same thing,” added another Facebook user.
Screenshots of the post also made their rounds on X, formerly Twitter, with many pointing to the consequences of mass immigration in Canada.
“[Two] women attacked on Saturday night on Argyle Street ( a main restaurant/pub & club area) in Halifax by 7-10 Syrian men ages 18-25. Is this Canada now? The local news did not report it,” wrote Peoples Party of Canada candidate Michelle Lindsay, tagging mainstream news outlets.
While CTV News did publish a report on the assault, they did not include any description of the assailants.
Lindsay’s post was hit by a sensitivity warning by X, blocking it from being embedded in this article.
The Publica reached out to Maclean for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. Halifax police have confirmed they are investigating the case, but no arrests have been made at this time.
The province where the assault took place, Nova Scotia, has been aggressively inviting migrants, citing a decline native population as justification. In 2022, the small province announced it had settled over 9,000 immigrants, beating its previous record for migrant landings. Around that time, the province announced its intention to try and double its population, with a goal to “attract 25,000 newcomers” per year.
