Groups of cowards as large as 20 have been brutally attacking people innocently walking in the neighbourhood around The Coast office---north and east of the Halifax Common.

The attacks began Friday evening, at 9:20pm, when a couple were attacked by six to eight young males on Maitland Street. Two hours later, a lone man was attacked by what seems to be the same group. In both attacks, the victims required hospital treatment. At 8:43pm Saturday night, another couple was attacked in the same area, again by seemingly the same group of males; the couple escaped without serious injury. Later that night, just after midnight, three men were attacked at the corner of Agricola and Charles Streets; two of the men were repeatedly punched, but all escaped without serious injury.

By Monday, the attacks became even more cowardly, with a group of 15-20 youth---both male and female---attacking a lone man walking at the corner of Gladstone and North Streets at 8:49pm. The man had has cell phone taken, and was cut on the ear and cheek; his head was swollen. Just five minutes later and two blocks away, a couple walking on Davison were attacked by six to eight young people, including two females. The man was cut in the hand by a metal object, and says he will not be able to work for several weeks as a result of the attack.

Police suspect these six attacks are related, as most, if not all of the attackers were black. But Tuesday night at 9:30pm a group of white males attacked and robbed two men at the skateboard park. The men suffered facial injuries from punching. These “swarmings” come after a lull of about two years in similar attacks. In response to those attacks, the city contracted with Dalhousie criminologist Don Clairmont, who convened the mayor’s Roundtable on Violence, which resulted in a report on violence that made several dozen explicit recommendations. Now, two years later, only a small number of those recommendations have been implemented. We interviewed Clairmont about race, violence, police response and the frustrations and successes of the Roundtable; that interview will be in this space soon.