Montreal defendant charged with hate-motivated flag burning shows up in court wearing Hamas shirt

Frédéric Biron Carmel, a 40-year-old resident of Villeray-St-Michel-Parc-Extension, is accused of traveling by bike to Hampstead and igniting the Israeli flag outside its municipal building on Aug. 22 and Aug. 25, 2025. He is charged with mischief motivated by hate, inciting hatred toward an identifiable group, flag burning on municipal property, and possession of incendiary materials. Police released surveillance footage showing a dark-clad individual attempting to spray the flagpole at 1:47 a.m. and succeeding at 3:06 a.m. on the second night.

A video titled “Manifesto of the flag burner” posted to his public Facebook account contains a voice-over justifying the act and denouncing Israel as an apartheid state. During his court appearance, Biron Carmel wore a shirt depicting Abu Obeida, a deceased Hamas spokesperson, and later bragged on Facebook about repeatedly doing so without judicial reprimand. Retired FBI special-agent and terrorism-research head Lara Burns warned that such actions reflect broader attempts by Hamas and affiliated groups to infiltrate North American institutions.