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The Vancouver home of Charlotte Kates, founder of terrorist entity Samidoun, was reportedly raided by police on Thursday.
Neighbours told Global News they heard loud sounds around 9 a.m. near 1st Avenue and Victoria Drive and saw Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Response Team outside a home in the area. The publication identified the location as a residence of Kates, although it was not confirmed by authorities.
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Through a Corporations Canada database search, The Canadian Press said it found that the address of Samidoun was in the same block searched by police. Kates was named as the terrorist group’s director and her address was listed as its office, per CP.
Police said a search warrant was being executed in relation to a hate crimes investigation, per Global News. One person was arrested and later released without charges. The person was not identified.
During the raid, a neighbour told Global News that a flash-bang grenade, an explosive device that produces a blinding flash of light and a loud noise, was used and windows of the home were broken.
Some residents called the police presence and use of the flash-bang grenade excessive. However, Vancouver police spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison told Global News its emergency response team is “often used in the execution of search warrants when we believe there could be a risk to the public or a risk to the officers.”
Last month, on Oct. 15, Samidoun was listed as a terrorist group under Canada’s criminal code. Samidoun, also known as Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, “claims to be campaigning for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails,” per its description by the federal government.
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“Many Palestinian prisoners for which Samidoun advocates for release have ties to terrorism, assassinations and countless attacks against Israel. Samidoun’s ideology revolves exclusively around the worldview that Israel and Zionism are the greatest danger to the Middle East and the world,” according to Public Safety Canada.
Kates was previously arrested for praising the October 7 attack in Israel, when Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis. At a rally in Vancouver in April, she chanted, “Long live October 7.”
In August, she travelled to Iran to receive a human rights award.
No charges have been laid against Kates. In October, the B.C. Prosecution Service told the Vancouver Sun it was still reviewing a police report.
The Vancouver Police Department did not immediately respond to the National Post’s request for comment.
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