The 2006 Toronto terrorism case refers to a series of June 2, 2006, counter-terrorism raids in the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 18 people (dubbed the "Toronto 18") alleged to be members of an Islamic terrorist cell plotting a series of attacks against targets in Ontario, Canada.

They were accused of planning to detonate truck bombs, to open fire in a crowded area, and to storm the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the Canadian Parliament building, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) headquarters, and the parliamentary Peace Tower, to take hostages and to behead the Prime Minister and other leaders.

Following the end of the jury trial in June 2010, a comprehensive presentation of the case and the evidence obtained from court exhibits previously restricted was presented by Isabel Teotonio of the Toronto Star.[1] It contains the details on guilty pleas and convictions.

The Ontario Court of Appeal released their decision on Dec 17, 2010, upholding three of the sentences and increasing the length of sentence for two conspirators. [2]

 

Pre-arrest events

Infiltration

On November 27, 2005, Mubin Shaikh (a police agent) met at a banquet hall with members of the terrorist group at an information meeting regarding the use of security certificates in Canada, and began his infiltration of the group.[3] He was told that they had planned a training camp in Orillia. They asked Shaikh if he would join them and teach them how to use a gun, since he had mentioned his military and martial arts training, and shown them his Possession and Acquisition Licence.[3][4]

 

Orillia training camp

The trip by the group, ages 15–42, classified by the authorities as terrorist training, was to a wooded area near Orillia, Ontario, from December 18–31, 2005.[4][5] It was monitored by more than 200 police officers.[6][7]

Authorities say that "the internet played a large role in the suspects' planning".[8] The group listened to a video over the internet of Anwar al Awlaki, the imam who has been connected to three of the 9/11 hijackers, and since to Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood shooting, and to the alleged bomber in the Christmas Day 2009 bombing attempt on Northwest Flight 253, preaching about the need for jihad in the name of religion now, because the "world is united in fighting Islam."[9]

The ringleader gave sermons comparing the Canadian countryside to Chechnya, and calling for victory over "Rome", which prosecutors alleged was a reference to Canada.[10] "Whether we get arrested, killed, or tortured, our mission is greater than just individuals," he said.[11] He also said: "We're not officially al-Qaida but we share their principles and methods" around a campfire.[12]

In 2008, a video made at the camp documenting their actions were made public, after the media obtained them through the British trial of Aabid Khan (who was himself convicted of being a terrorist propagandist), thus working around the publication ban that forbade them from showing evidence from the Canadian trials. The home video showed masked men in winter camouflage marching through the snow in an Ontario forest, carrying out activities alleged to be terrorist training exercises, shouting "Allahu Akbar"--or "God is Great"--while waving a black flag.[13] The video was obtained by the NEFA Foundation (Nine-Eleven Finding Answers Foundation).[14]

The video also showed the men daring each other to jump over campfires, and driving in a Canadian Tire parking lot late at night, alternatively described as "evasive driving maneuvers" or simply having fun driving doughnuts on the slippery ice. The film had been dubbed with Nasheed music,[15][16] and the informant admitted that he had "choreographed" some of the scenes, arranging the campers to perform for the camera in a militant fashion upon the instruction of Zakaria Amara who did the filming.[17] The youths frequented the local coffee shop, still dressed in their fatigues.[18]

Shaikh, the police agent, was accused by the defence of having played a "key role" in setting up and running the trip,[19] and purchased many of the supplies used.[6] and being the "military trainer" at the camp.[4][18][20] Shaikh gave firearms lessons to the accused, but at their request purchased a rifle and ammunition for the group.[17] Shaikh showed the "campers" how to fire an illegal 9 mm handgun and ammunition which belonged to Faheem Ahmad.[6][20][21] He also gave "exhortational sermons on Jihad",[22] but described the camp itself as hapless.[18]

 

Rockwood training camp

Held over two days in May 2006 at the Rockwood Conservation Area,[20] the second camping trip, consisting of 10 people, came after members complained about fearing that police would arrest them for having known two Americans who had just been arrested.[23]

A youth who cannot be named appeared in videos with the rest of the group, meant to mimic Jihadist beheading videos coming out of the Invasion of Iraq, sitting in front of a flag, and flanked by two hunting knives.[12] During the filming, the leader kept trying to effect giggles from the adolescents, who were trying "to look tough" for the "mock" video.[24]

 

Targets

The group was preparing a large-scale terrorist attack in southern Ontario. They planned to detonate truck bombs at least three locations, and open fire in a crowded area. They also made plans to storm various buildings such as the Canadian Broadcasting Centre and the Canadian Parliament building, and take hostages. Law enforcement authorities identified other targets, including the CSIS, the Parliamentary Buildings' Peace Tower, and power grids.[25][26]

According to one of the suspect's lawyers, they were also accused of planning to "behead the Prime Minister", Stephen Harper, and other leaders.[27][28]

Members of the group are also accused of ordering fertilizer to build the truck bombs, constructing a remote-control detonator, and scouting a safe house to store weapons, practice military drills, and harbor terrorists.[29][30]

 

Arrests, reaction, and court proceedings

 

Arrests

The U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force had become involved in the investigation by March 2005.[31] The raids were carried out by a Canadian inter-agency task force, the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), which coordinated the activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the CSIS, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and other police forces, as the operation was spread across several different jurisdictions in southern Ontario, in the area north of Toronto.

The police state that one of the arrested men, ordered three metric tonnes (6,600 pounds) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a potentially powerful ingredient often used as quarry and mining explosives. This weight has widely been compared to the amount of ammonium nitrate used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the United States. The official account actually estimates the ammonium nitrate in the Oklahoma City bomb at 2,000 pounds, or about 0.9 metric tons. There was never any serious chance of danger or harm as a harmless substance was substituted for the ordered ammonium nitrate and delivered to the men by INSET officers in a sting operation; however, that the accused wanted to inflict so much damage and casualties is what disturbed the public.

The RCMP said that the CSIS had been monitoring the individuals since 2004, later joined by the RCMP.[32] The suspects, all adherents to a radical form of Islam, were alleged by CSIS to have been inspired by Al-Qaeda.[33] A direct connection seems unlikely.[34]

The investigation started with intelligence officials monitoring Internet chat sites. The suspects were charged under the anti-terrorism legislation[35] passed by Canadian parliament in December 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks in the US.

Two men, Yasim Mohamed and Ali Dirie, were already serving a two-year prison sentence for trying to smuggle a pair of handguns across the Peace Bridge a year earlier, for "personal protection" for themselves since they had worked as designer clothing re-sellers in seedy neighborhoods. They had their charges upgraded to "importing weapons for terrorist purposes" after it was revealed that their third handgun had been meant to repay Ahmad who had used his credit card to pay for their rental car.[36][37]

 

Suspects

The identities of the five minors were legally protected by Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Six of the 17 men arrested have ties to the Al Rahman Islamic Center near Toronto, a Sunni mosque.[38] Another two of those arrested were already serving time in a Kingston, Ontario, prison on weapons possession charges.[41] According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) two other men, Syed Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee, who were arrested in Georgia in the US on terrorism charges, are connected to the case as well.[42]

John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, a Toronto think tank, summarized the young suspects stating "These are kids at a transition, between Islamic society and Western society. A lot of people will get militarized if they're unsure of their own identity. They're just young and stupid. If you're 17, bored, restless, you want to meet girls – hey, be a radical."[8] "The cops have a nickname for it – the jihad generation," says Thompson.