In the aftermath of the Yonge St. van rampage, Toronto responded to hate and “toxic misogyny” with compassion, beginning with the first responders who descended on the chaos to save lives, Mayor John Tory said one month later. At council Thursday, Tory acknowledged police officers, firefighters, paramedics, special transit constables and city staff for their response to the attack April 23 that killed eight women and two men, and injured 16 others. “I offer our thanks for your response that demonstrated absolutely without exception professionalism, courage and compassion for our residents,” Tory said. Councillors stood and gave a long, loud round of applause to the 50 or so uniformed men and women in attendance. On the floor and in the audience, people cried. What happened between Finch and Sheppard Aves., Tory said, was “mostly, tragically, an attack aimed at women.” Alek Minassian, the 25-year-old man facing 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder, allegedly posted to his Facebook account shortly before the van attack a reference to the misogynist “incel” movement. The lead homicide investigator, Det.-Sgt. Graham Gibson, previously told the Star there’s no evidence the driver expressly aimed the van at women.“Such hatred directed at women, the misogyny, particularly some of the toxic misogyny we’ve seen spreading online, is absolutely unacceptable in Toronto,” Tory said on Thursday. “As elected officials we have a responsibility to speak out about it.” In the days that followed the van attack, faith leaders, city staff and elected officials planned the interfaith vigil for Sunday. About 30,000 people attended, Tory said. Thousands of others watched it on TV.Councillor Joe Mihevc was part of that planning team, and said that while the vigil was a success, they missed something: “the misogynist terror at the root of this tragedy. This was a terror ...
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