Halifax police investigating man who allegedly yelled ‘racially offensive language’ at Costco

Halifax police are looking for a man who allegedly yelled racially offensive language and assaulted a customer in Costco. (Source: Halifax Regional Police)

Halifax police are looking for a man who allegedly attacked a customer inside Costco while shouting “racially offensive language” over the weekend.

Police say they responded to a reported assault that happened at the Costco on Chain Lake Drive around 1 p.m. on Saturday.

They learned a man yelled at a family and then assaulted another customer while continuing to shout.

The hate crime unit with the Halifax Regional Police is involved in the investigation.

The suspect is described as a white man between 30 and 40 years old. He is bald and was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and black boots during the incident.

Anyone with information on the suspect’s identity is asked to call police at 902-490-5020, or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.

Mahmoud Omar, an imam with the Ummah Masjid & Community Centre in Halifax, said the video of the incident was “disturbing.”

“It’s another misinformed person about Islam,” he said. “Islamophobia, unfortunately, it is on the rise. There’s a lack of education and misinformation online.

“It is better to talk about what’s going on rather than brushing it under the carpet.”

Steven Zhou, media and communications lead at National Council of Canadian Muslims, said they have received similar reports of attacks and threats in the last month.

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