RCMP charge Kingston, Ont., youth with terror-related offence after security probe

The RCMP's national security team has arrested and charged an Ontario youth with a terrorism-related offence, the police force said Friday following an investigation in Kingston, Ont.

Police have laid two charges against the young person,who is accusedof knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and counsellinganother person to "deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device ... against a place of public use with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury."

The identity of the accused has been withheld by policeas the person is a minor and protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

During a press conference Friday, the RCMP said it received a "credible" tip from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in late December 2018 that there were individuals in Kingston planning a terrorist attack, which led to the police raids at two homes in the area Thursday.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said the alleged terrorist activity involveda plan to use an explosive device; no specific target had yet been chosen. The accused had the intent, began acquiring the potential to create an improvised explosive device and formulated a plan, but were arrested before they had chosen a target, the source said.

"There was no specific target identified but there was an attack planned,"RCMP SuperintendentPeter Lambertuccitold reporters. While an attack was considered imminent, the officer said there was no credible threat to the people of Kingston.

"I want to reassure the citizens of the greater Kingston, Ont.,area and all Canadiansthat during the investigation, our primary focus was the safety and protection of the public," said MichaelLeSage, a chief superintendent with theRCMP's"O" Division.

After the arrests, the RCMP found "elements" and "trace elements" of homemade improvised explosive devices in an unspecified residence. The explosive substance was later neutralized, Lambertuccisaid.

A second individual, an adult male CBC News has identified as Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, was also arrested Thursday but has not been charged. Alzahabi's father told CBC News that police have now released his son.

Hussam's lawyer, Mohamed El Rashidy, told CBC News that his client maintains his innocence and will continue to co-operate with the security services as the investigation unfolds.

"He's exercising his legal rights and he cares about Canada's safety as much as the next person," said El Rashidy."He's here studying, he's doing everything that he can to be a contributing member to society and there is no reason to malign him or treat him differently than anybody else."

Lambertucci said the investigation is still ongoing. Police had24 hours to press charges againstAlzahabior release him from custody.

The officer would not comment on the ideological motivations of the people apprehended or say if they had any ties to foreign elements.

Police described the relationship betweenHussamEddinAlzahabiand the person charged as an "informal friendship."

Earlier Friday, the father of Hussam Eddin Alzahabi saidhe was astounded by the arrest of his 20-year-old son.

"They tell me they search about him aboutterrorists. I know my son, he didn't think about that. He like Canada. He like the safety in Canada. How could he think about that?"Amin Alzahabi, who has been in Canada since 2017,told CBC News' Philip Ling in an interviewfrom his home Friday morning.

"It's fake news about my son. I trust my son. I know he cannot do anything against any human, humanity.

"They inspected everything from my house. They didn't find anything. I think this is not good."

In carrying out the arrests, the RCMP were supported by both Kingston police andFBI officers with support fromthe Ontario Provincial Police, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

On Thursday, officers could be seen carrying bags of evidence out of the homes.

By Friday morning,the policepresence was contained to just one residence.

Alzahabisaid hisfamily, originally from Syria, has been living in Canada since July 2017, following time spent in Kuwait from 2008 to 2017.

According to a bulletin posted to the website of a Kingston-area Catholic church detailing the journey of the Alzahabi family, an ecumenical group of churches helped bring them toCanada through the private sponsorship refugee program in 2016-17.

The church group established a series of committees, including a hospitality and orientation committee composed of parishioners, and raised more than $30,000to help support the family's transition to life in Canada.

Alzahabisaid he and his family came to Canada to be "liberated" and to avoid being sent back toSyria which is still in the throes of a multi-year bloody civil war by the Kuwaiti government.

"I want to save my family from Assad regime in Syria," he said, referring to Syrian PresidentBasharal-Assad, who's accused of perpetrating war crimes against his own people.

"I wanted to come to Canadaand I [succeeded] in comingto Canada because I trust Canada. I trust this country is for the humanity ... freedom," Alzahabisaid.

To that end, Amin Alzahabi said his sonwas completing high school upgrades at LoyalistCollegiate & Vocational Institute with the hope he could then continue his studies at auniversity.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said police took action Thursday "based on credible information, to ensure public safety."

The minister said the operation has not changed the country's threat level. It remains at "medium," where it has hovered since late 2014.

However, the threat was considered serious enough to involve months of investigation, thousands of hours of police work and the use of a Pilatus PC-12 RCMP surveillance plane that hadbeen circling over Kingston in recent weeks for hours on end, creating a great deal of interest from residents due to the noise.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheercommended the work of the RCMP and local police while adding the continuing terrorist threat demands strong national security legislation to help law enforcement.

Scheer also said Canada's "refugee screening process needs to be seriously examined."

Goodale reacts to Scheer on Kingston arrests

6 years ago

Duration 0:43

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale dismisses Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's comments on refugee screening in wake of arrests, says police should be left alone to conduct investigation free of speculation

"We've recently learned of several examples of dangerous individuals entering the country due in part to lax screening procedures," Scheer said.

"In 2017, as an audit of the Canada Border Services Agency reported, 39 cases did not receive the necessary security screening and therefore, potential security threats may not have been identified prior to granting admissibility. This is completely unacceptable and must be immediately remedied."

Goodale, speaking to reporters after a meeting with provincial counterparts, said Scheer's commenton bolstering the security of the refugee screening process was premature.

"Somehow he already knows or is presuming the result of a police investigation. I think it's wiser in these circumstances, rather than leaping to conclusions, that the police do their job. Let's get the facts on the table and then we'll determine the appropriate course of action," Goodale said.

Charges laid in Kingston terrorism case | Jessica Davis & Pierre-Yves Bourduas

6 years ago

Duration 9:28

Former CSIS senior strategic analyst Jessica Davis and former RCMP deputy commissioner Pierre-Yves Bourduas joined Power & Politics to discuss the latest developments in the terrorism investigation in Kingston, Ontario.