Surrey couple, John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Korody, have been charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, possession of an explosive substance and conspiring to commit an indictable offence in what appears to be a foiled terrorist attack.
While not a lot is known about the couple accused of plotting to bomb B.C’s legislature in Victoria, it has been revealed that the couple is married and were living in a basement suite in Surrey. Nuttall is known to police, has a criminal record with previous convictions for robbery, mischief, possessing weapon for a dangerous purpose and breaching probation conditions; old news articles describe him as a drug addict.
The couple, who lived on welfare, were kicked out of a local mosque and listened to radical Islamist tapes, according to their landlady, Shanti Thaman. According to Thaman, when he first moved in, Nuttall was not a practising Muslim, but converted to Islam about two years ago and began attending a nearby mosque with Korody, who would wear a burka.
Thaman describes Nuttall and Korody as a simple couple with minimal furniture in the basement apartment who used social assistance money to pay their rent on time. Friends of Nuttall and Korody say they cannot settle the allegations with the accused and claim the couple always seemed more immersed in heavy-metal rock-and-roll, even after they began identifying themselves as Muslims a few years ago.
Police sources have said that the couple were involved with numerous anti-social ideologies before more recently identifying themselves as Muslim. Their conversion to Islam is not thought to be a major element to their story or actions. In general, federal counter-terrorism authorities say radicalization is very rare and highly “idiosyncratic.” A 2011 government study called “The Making of Islamist Extremists in Canada Today” points out that most of Canada’s criminal terrorists have been citizens rather than people reared in Islamic countries. It is yet to be determined if the couple are actually terrorists or criminals trying to engage in violence as they have done in the past.
RCMP Asst. Commissioner Wayne Rideout says both Nuttall and Korody were self-radicalized and that police believe they acted alone but were inspired by al-Qaida. Despite the similarities between the B.C. pressure cooker bombs and those used in the Boston Marathon bombings in April, the RCMP said there was no connection between the two cases.
Rideout added the couple “intended to create maximum impact and harm to Canadian citizens at the B.C. legislature on a national holiday by taking steps to educate themselves and produced explosive devices designed to cause injury and death.” No details have been provided on how the couple did their research or specifics on how RCMP was monitoring them throughout their conspiracy.
Although Canada has not been home to major terrorist acts like the US, some notable cases involving Canada and terrorism, or alleged terrorism are:
In 1983 a group of self-styled urban guerrillas called Direct Action, the Squamish Five and were often referred to as the Vancouver Five, were arrested after detonating a bomb that injured ten people at Litton Industries, a missile manufacturing plant, in Toronto. The attack was part of a larger series of bombings aimed at mining companies and video stores specializing in pornography. Unlike other groups, they were not motivated by a political ideology, but were activists who had become disenchanted and frustrated with traditional methods of activism.
In 1985 Air India Flight 182 originating in Toronto exploded over the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace, killing all 329 people on board. The incident was the largest mass murder in Canadian history and the deadliest aviation disaster to occur over a body of water. Two Canadians were tried for the bombing, but were acquitted. Only one conviction has been obtained in the case, Inderjit Singh Reyat pled guilty to manslaughter and in 2010 was also convicted of perjury. Investigation and prosecution lasting almost 20 years made this the most expensive trial in Canadian history, costing nearly $130 million.
In 2006 a group named Toronto 18 were accused of a plot to bomb targets like the Toronto Stock Exchange, CSIS headquarters, Canadian Broadcasting Centre, and a military base. Allegedly Prime Minister Stephen Harper was a target for kidnapping and beheading. 11 of the 18 were ultimately convicted of terrorist offences. The 18 members were found to have ties to an Al-Qaeda terrorist cell.
In 2009 Mohammad Momin Khawaja became the first person charged and convicted under Canada’s post 9-11 anti terror law. He was found guilty in 2009 and sentenced to 10.5 years in prison, and in 2010 his sentence was increased to a life sentence without parole eligibility for 10 years. The former software engineer from Ottawa, who under the premise of finding a wife in Pakistan trained with the Taliban, was found guilty in a plot to plant fertilizer bombs in the United Kingdom.
In 2010, police in Ontario made three arrests in what they described as a bid to foil an international plot. Three Canadians – Havi Alizadeh, Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurram Sher – were arrested on allegations that they conspired to build bomb components in Canada and finance terrorism overseas. Alizadeh and Ahmed are slated to go to trial in Ontario court next April, while Sher is to be tried separately beginning in February.
In 2013, Tahawwur Rana was convicted in Chicago of providing support for the Pakistani group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Canadian citizen, who ran a Toronto-based travel business, was also found guilty of allegedly plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. He was ultimately cleared of involvement in 2008 Mumbai attacks and in 2013 was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In 2013, a group of militants, including two Canadians, stormed a gas plant in Algeria. After a four-day seige, 37 hostages and all 29 militants were found dead in the plant. Ali Medlej and Xris Katsiroubas of London, Ontario were among the attackers killed in the siege. Aaron Yoon, one of their former schoolmates who did not accompany them to Algeria, is being held in a Mauritanian prison and accused of having links to Al-Qaida in northern Africa. Yoon has denied being involved in terrorist activities.
In April 2013, police arrested two men in Canada and charged them with plotting to attack a Via Rail passenger train travelling between New York and Toronto. Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser are charged with numerous offenses, including conspiracy to murder for the benefit of a terrorist group, participating in a terrorist group and conspiring to interfere with transportation facilities for the benefit of a terrorist group. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
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