The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are remaining tight-lipped but have arrested and charged a person from the Greater Toronto Area accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.
According to an RCMP news release, the suspect was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group to enhance the ability of the terrorist group to carry out terrorist activity and counselling another person to commit a terrorism offence.
A representative from the RCMP told True North that police arrested the suspect on Aug. 19 but were informed by the FBI that the suspect was living in Toronto at the time of the alleged offence in late 2021.
The offences were related to creating and distributing terrorist propaganda online, though police wouldn’t say which terrorist entity the suspect was allegedly working with.
Police have said the Youth Criminal Justice Act prevents them from releasing more information on the suspect as the alleged offences occurred when the suspect was a youth.
The RCMP continues to investigate and assess possible impacts of the alleged activity but says there are no known associated risks to the public at this time.
“The RCMP continues to be concerned with the growing trend of violent extremism. Radicalization to violence is a phenomenon that is not driven by any particular background, culture or religion,” the news release said.
It said that the Public Safety’s “Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence” leads the government’s counter-radicalization to violence through programs designed to prevent and intervene with individuals and groups “at risk of radicalization to violence” and those trying to escape it.
When asked what groups it considers to be the most likely to be radicalized to violence, a spokesperson for True North said radicalization to violence is “not driven by any particular background, culture or religion.
“The Government of Canada is concerned with violent extremism in all forms, including ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), religiously motivated violent extremism (RMVE), and politically motivated violent extremism (PMVE),” the spokesperson said. “The focus is on addressing the destructive behaviours associated with violent extremism, including their impacts on Canadians and communities.”
The spokesperson noted that the Canadian government’s approach and key priorities for countering and preventing radicalization to violence are outlined in its National Strategy.
“As part of our core values, the employees of the RCMP are committed to working with our partners to protect our communities,” Superintendent James Parr, the officer in charge of the investigation, said in a statement. “We would like to acknowledge the Toronto Police Service, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, the Ministry of the Attorney General, the Provincial Anti-Terrorist Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for their cooperation and collaboration during the course of this investigation.”
The accused will appear remotely via video link for a court appearance on August 27.
