generalspeaking: RCMP foil alleged ‘al-Qaeda inspired’ terror plot to bomb B.C. Canada Day celebrations

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

RCMP foil alleged ‘al-Qaeda inspired’ terror plot to bomb B.C. Canada Day celebrations

Josh Visser | 13/07/02 | Last Updated: 13/07/02 4:18 PM ET

On July 1, 2013 the RCMP arrested two individuals and charged them with conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack. The two accused John Stuart Nuttall and Amanda Korody, who live in Surrey, British Columbia, according to the RCMP took steps to build explosive devices and place them at the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria where crowds were expected to gather on Canada Day. Image released by the RCMP showing three pressure cookers to be used as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

RCMP On July 1, 2013 the RCMP arrested two individuals and charged them with conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack. The two accused John Stuart Nuttall and Amanda Korody, who live in Surrey, British Columbia, according to the RCMP took steps to build explosive devices and place them at the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria where crowds were expected to gather on Canada Day. Image released by the RCMP showing three pressure cookers to be used as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

A British Columbia man and woman are facing three terror charges after they allegedly left devices similar to those used in the Boston Marathon bombing intended to “cause death” during Canada Day celebrations at the B.C. Parliament Buildings.

John Stewart Nuttall, 38, and Amanda Marie Korody, 28, have been charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and making or possessing an explosive device.

RCMP Image released by the RCMP showing improvised explosive device (IED) created with a pressure cooker filled with rusted nails.

RCMP said the pair took steps to build explosives device — using pressure cookers, which were used in the Boston attack — to cause “death and injuries” during Canada Day celebrations in Victoria and they were inspired by “Al Qaeda ideology.”

Pictures provided by the RCMP showed rusted nails inside the pressure cookers.

“These individuals were inspired by al-Qaeda ideology. Our investigation demonstrated that this was a domestic threat, without international linkages,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said in a statement.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck RCMP Chief Supt. Wayne Rideout during a news conference to announce terrorism charges in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday.

The devices were left outside the B.C legislature where crowds were going to gather for Canada Day celebrations, the RCMP said.

RCMP Image released by the RCMP showing contents (nuts, bolts, nails and washers) and other materials for the improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Police said the investigation has been ongoing since February but at no time was the public safety at risk and that the devices were “under RCMP control.”

The accused are Canadian-born, police said, and said they had no contact with international terrorist organizations but were “inspired by Al-Qaeda.”

Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout described the pair as “self-radicalized.”
The pair live in Surrey, B.C. and we arrested in nearby Abbotsford.

Nutall has a 2010 conviction for possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, among other criminal convictions, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The RCMP said the arrests have been made in relation to project SOUVENIR, a national security investigation co-ordinated by a RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.

Alexandra Stephanson for National Post Thousands of tourists visit Victoria every year to see the downtown Legislature building. Featured here on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, it is surrounded by hotels to the right and in the forefront some of The Victoria Clipper’s maintenance area.

Premier Christy Clark said “the very symbol of our values as British Columbians and Canadians” was targeted.
“Let me say this to those who resort to terror: You will not succeed in damaging our democratic institutions but just as importantly, you will not succeed in tearing down the values that made this country strong,” she said. “What do they want? They want us to be governed by fear. They want us to view each other with suspicion. They want us to be seized by anger. They want this because they hate the things that make us Canadian.”

Clark said she was informed of the plot on Monday morning.
The national security team consists of members of the RCMP, CSIS, the Canada Border Service Agency and other agencies.

Labels: Canada, Crime, Terrorism