The masked vandals who caused up to $100,000 in damage in Hamilton on Saturday night were organized and likely planned their actions ahead of time, police said Monday.
Around 30 people assembled in a city park before marching down a busy street, hurling rocks through shop windows and at people’s homes, police said.
“We know this is not a spontaneous act committed by these people,” Insp. Paul Hamilton said. “This was very well planned, very well executed.”
Members of the group carried a banner with them that read, “We are the ungovernables.”
“I can’t give you a name for this group and we haven’t identified anybody yet,” Hamilton told reporters on Monday.
Vandals wore multiple layers of clothing that took off to change their appearance as they fled the scene — a common tactic at major demonstrations, he said.
An event billed as the Southern Ontario Anarchist Bookfair took place in downtown Hamilton over the weekend, the inspector said.
“I’m not connecting this to the bookfare specifically, but like-minded people attended that event from right across the province, so we are investigating the possibility that there are people from outside this community that committed these acts,” he added.