Terrorism & Radicalization

Former U.S. President Donald Trump used a December 1 speech to express support for the rioters who stormed the Capitol in January 2021. “People have been treated unconstitutionally in my opinion and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said in the virtual presentation to a group which assists families of those charged in the riot. He also bemoaned the “weaponization of the Department of Justice” and said the U.S. is “going communist.” [node:read-more:link]

Jeremy Mackenzie, leader of the right-wing Dioagolon movement, which also is said to include military personnel, was arrested September 27 by Halifax Regional Police on a Canada-wide warrant. His partner, also detained, said the couple “waited in the driveway for them and cooperated.” [node:read-more:link]

An RCMP threat advisory last February indicated that some members of the federal force sympathized with last winter’s disruptive “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa. “The potential exists for serious insider threats,” it stated. “Those who have not lost their jobs but are sympathetic to the movement and their former colleagues may be in a position to share law enforcement or military information to the convoy protests.” [node:read-more:link]

The RCMP feared that serving Mounties sympathetic to the convoy protest in Ottawa earlier this year might leak operational plans to protesters, says an internal threat advisory obtained by CBC News. "Those who […] are sympathetic to the movement […] may be in a position to share law enforcement or military information to the convoy protests." [node:read-more:link]

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s response to profanity-laden abuse during a visit to Alberta is that it was simply “wrong” and that “nobody, anywhere, should have to put up with threats and intimidation.” Ironically, her male attacker said the Alberta-born minister didn’t belong there. [node:read-more:link]

A 19-year-old resident Windsor resident has been charged by the RCMP with participation in a terrorism organization arising from alleged participation in a neo-Nazi group. Believed to be the first such charge laid under the auspices of the Anti-Terrorism Act passed by Parliament in the wake of the September 2001 attacks on the U.S., it carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. [node:read-more:link]

A parliamentary committee was told April 28 that more than 25 per cent of Canadians, some “with a sympathy toward violence”, evidently believe conspiracy theories. Université de Sherbrooke professor David Morin was explaining a report, based on the results of a national poll last summer, that he is preparing for the Quebec government. He also told the committee that there has been a 250 per cent increase in violent demonstrations in western countries over the past five years and that Canada saw a 25 per cent increase in hate crimes in 2020. [node:read-more:link]

A suicide bomber struck inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people, hospital officials said. An armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One police officer was killed and another wounded before the attacker ran inside the mosque and detonated his suicide vest. [node:read-more:link]

Loujain Alhathloul, a prominent women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia with strong Canadian ties who had already been incarcerated since 2018, has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison. She was prosecuted under a broadly-worded law aimed at combating terrorism. [node:read-more:link]

RCMP in Alberta today arrested 11 members of a “small organized group” of armed protesters participating in a blockade at the province’s border with Montana, a key crossing for trade in both directions. Executing a search warrant on three vehicles, officers found 13 long guns, several handguns, a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity magazines, body armour and a machete. “The group was said to have a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade,” the RCMP said. [node:read-more:link]

A former U.S. paratrooper who leads the far-right Oath Keepers militia has been charged with seditious conspiracy over the mob attack on Congress a year ago. Arrested at home in Texas, Stewart Rhodes is among 11 persons charged Jan. 13 and the Justice Department has accused him of military-style tactics in coordinating the attack. [node:read-more:link]

Terrorism peace bonds are used by Canadian authorities to deal with extremists who left Canada to join terror groups, and then came back. Kevin Omar Mohamed travelled to Syria and called for attacks in Canada. Upon his return, he was charged with terrorism, and served a prison term. After breaching parole, he was placed on a peace bond which requires him to wear a GPS monitoring device for four years and undergo de-radicalization. It also bans him from possessing a passport, terrorist literature, explosives, bomb-making materials, firearms and knives. [node:read-more:link]

A woman with dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship who is believed to have been involved with the Islamic State is being permitted to return to New Zealand with her two children after Australia refused to take her back. She had left for Syria on an Australian passport in 2014 and was caught entering Turkey from Syria with her children. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the decision was not “taken lightly” and she accused the Australian government of “abdicating its responsibilities.” [node:read-more:link]

Federal departments and agencies involved in national security have been wrestling with how to address growing right-wing extremism, according to redacted briefing notes prepared for deputy ministers last year but made public through the Access to Information Act. Among other things, the notes point out that hate crimes investigations are largely the remit of local law enforcement which, in many communities, is the RCMP. [node:read-more:link]

Having been officially designed a terrorist entity, right-wing Proud Boys Canada has dissolved while continuing to reject the government’s characterization. The decision was announced by its U.S. parent organization. [node:read-more:link]