On June 19, the Toronto Police Service said its hate crime unit was investigating a truck displaying what police called Islamophobic messaging, including a suggestion that Canada was "under siege." The news led to criticism online suggesting police are investigating that particular vehicle, but not a similar-style digital truck seen displaying messages including "Zionism = terrorism." This was true when much of the criticism was initially posted online, but police say it is no longer the case. A statement to 春色直播from the Toronto Police Service says both instances are being investigated by the hate crime unit and those investigations are ongoing. However, the investigation into the truck with the words "Zionism = terrorism" began on June 21 鈥 the day after was posted.
Reports of a truck driving around Toronto displaying what posters called anti-Muslim messages surfaced on June 18. shows it equipped with digital screens with messages including a series of questions, "Is this Lebanon? Is this Yemen? Is this Syria? Is this Iraq?", followed by images of what appears to be Muslims praying.
The next message says: "No. This is Canada. Wake up Canada. You are under siege."
On June 19, Toronto Police Service announced in a , formerly Twitter, that it was investigating the ad. Some X users quoted that post with and of another truck with digital screens displaying messages that included "from the river to the sea" and "Zionism = terrorism," and asking why that truck wasn't being investigated.
on June 20, viewed more than 415,000 times, shows an image of the "Wake up Canada" truck next to the words "Being Investigated" and the "Zionism = terrorism" truck next to the words "Not Being Investigated."
Rating: True when claim was first posted, now requires context
Statements on June 24 and June 25 to 春色直播from Toronto police spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer says the hate crime unit is investigating both instances and the investigations are ongoing. Sayer says the investigation into the "Zionism = terrorism" truck began on June 21, two days after the investigation into the other truck was announced.
After the Toronto Police Service announced it was investigating a truck displaying "Islamophobic messaging," Ezra Levant, publisher of the right-wing website Rebel News, that the truck belonged to his company and the ads were created by "local community activists" called "春色直播s Opposed to the Occupation of our Streets and Campuses.鈥
Levant does not name the activists and said police should be embarrassed they are "investigating the messenger."
The Rebel website is requesting donations to fight the investigation and "save our truck."
Levant was also critical of police for not investigating the other truck with the message related to Zionism.
Some of the images online of that truck appear to be taken from an posted by a group called Roads to Liberation, which describes itself as a "Grassroots Community and Media organization dedicated to social justice advocacy."
"In the face of censorship & misinformation on mainstream and social media, R2L has undertaken a bold & innovative approach to educate the public through a digital billboard truck and spread the unfiltered truth about Palestine, the message of truth and justice for everyone to see,"
The video of the truck shows it displaying a series of messages along with the "Zionism = Terrorism" screen, including "dive$t from war crimes" 鈥 with the "s" replaced by a dollar sign 鈥 "dive$t from genocide" and "students aren't the problem, Israel is."
A screen on the truck also displays "from the river to the sea," a saying that some Jewish groups have argued calls for the erasure of Israel entirely. Activists say the chant, which is frequently heard at pro-Palestinian rallies, is instead a call for peace and equal rights in the region.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 37,000 Palestinians, including both combatants and civilians, have been killed in Israel鈥檚 military response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 people were taken hostage.
Roads to Liberation's social media also includes links to an organization called which says it has deployed digital trucks in Toronto and Montreal in the past. It was also listed among those who endorsed the billboard truck.
It's unclear when the truck under investigation was out on the road in Toronto but the Instagram reel is dated June 13.
Neither Palesign nor Roads to Liberation responded to a request for comment.
Sources
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