Amid a wave of antisemitic attacks in the wake of October 7, a Vaughan, Ont., man who spat at a group of Jewish congregants leaving a local synagogue has been found guilty of assault.

“The proximity has shattered the illusion that you’re safe in your home, you’re safe in your neighbourhood, you’re safe on Shabbath. It’s shattered and destroyed,” Tilda Roll told National Post on Monday. “It was a wake-up call. I do things differently now than I did prior to January 6. That January 6 was my October 7 on a much smaller scale. I think of things pre-January 6 and post-January 6.”