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Vancouver home of Samidoun founder reportedly raided by police
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Vancouver home of Samidoun founder reportedly raided by police

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The Vancouver House of Charlotte Katesfounder of the terrorist entity Samidoun, was reportedly searched by police on Thursday.

Neighbors told Global News They heard loud noises around 9 a.m. near 1st Avenue and Victoria Drive and saw the Vancouver Police Department’s emergency response team outside a home in the area. The publication identified the location as Kates’ residence, although this has not been confirmed by authorities.

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Through a search of the Corporations Canada database, The Canadian Press said it discovered Samidoun’s address was on the same block searched by police. Kates was named director of the terrorist group and her office address was listed, according to CP.

Police said a search warrant was being executed as part of a hate crime investigation, according to Global News. One person was arrested and released without charge. The person has not been identified.

During the raid, a neighbor 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 the home’s windows were broken.

Some residents described the police presence and use of flash-bang grenades as excessive. However, Vancouver police spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison told Global News that his emergency response team is “often used to execute search warrants when we believe there might be a risk to the public or a risk to officers.”

Last month, on October 15, Samidoun has been listed as a terrorist group under the Criminal Code of Canada. Samidoun, also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, “claims to campaign for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons,” according to its description by the federal government.

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“Many of the Palestinian prisoners for whom 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 pose the greatest danger to the Middle East and the world,” according to Public Safety Canada.

Kates has already been 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 traveled to Iran to receive a human rights award.

No charges have been filed against Kates. In October, the B.C. Prosecution Service told the Vancouver Sun he 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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