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Toronto police say a man has been arrested for making online threats targeting a mass rally held Saturday against Iran’s crackdown on widespread protests in that country.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the rally on Saturday, draped in red, white and green flags emblazoned with a golden lion — the flag Iran used before the Islamic Republic came to power in 1979.
It was one of many rallies that took place in major cities around the world, with 350,000 participating in the local event, according to Toronto police estimates. In Vancouver, the police chief said about 50,000 people marched.
According to Toronto police, the service became aware on Friday of a social media threat targeting the rally.
They allege the man making the threat stated he planned to bring a firearm to the protest with the intent of stopping the event.
Before the rally took place, Toronto police’s 32 Division intelligence services and the emergency task force executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home in Burlington.
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They subsequently arrested a 56-year-old Burlington man and charged him with uttering threats of death or bodily harm.
The man was scheduled to appear in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police at 416-808-3200 or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously.
Iran has been gripped by countrywide protests since late December, sparked by an ongoing economic crisis. Though the economy was the initial focus, demonstrators have since pivoted to calling for an end to the Islamic Republic, with some even supporting the return of the ousted monarchy.
Iran’s government has cracked down on protests and implemented an internet blackout in the country. More than 3,000 people have been killed since protests broke out.
Saturday’s rally in Toronto was one of many happening worldwide as part of what has been labelled as a Global Day of Action.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced recently that Canada was imposing additional sanctions on seven people under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations.
According to a news release from Global Affairs Canada, the people being sanctions have ties to Iranian state organizations responsible for “intimidation, violence and transnational repression targeting Iranian dissidents and human rights defenders.”
Canada has now sanctioned 222 Iranian people and 256 Iranian entities, the news release said.
—with files from The Canadian Press and Associated Press
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