Jihad Watch reported on an attack in Toronto on February 26; charges against 30-year-old Saad Akhtar were changed from murder to “murder-terrorist activity.” Akhtar gave himself up to police after his brutal, random hammer attack against 64-year-old Hang-Kam Annie Chiuto. Akhtar’s mother reported that “he walked an hour every day to a mosque and back but did not return home on Friday night as usual.” Police attempted to reassure the public by saying that the attack appeared to be “an isolated incident and there is no further known threat to the public associated to the accused at this time,” a hasty conclusion given the nature of the attack, and so soon in the investigation. I also noted in the Jihad Watch report that the Global News article ended with a truth that is rarely stated in the mainstream media:
The so-called Islamic State has since 2014 been urging followers to conduct attacks using readily-available weapons such as knives and vehicles.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s latest annual report said extremists inspired by ISIS and Al Qaeda were “the number one national security threat to public safety in this country. Investigating these threats remains a top priority for CSIS.”
As it turns out, Global News was correct in implying a possible link to the Islamic State:
Police have not explained why they suspect the killing was terrorism-related, but Global News has learned the decision stemmed from Akhtar’s statements concerning the so-called Islamic State….Toronto hammer killing was consistent with recent international attacks in which ISIS supporters have acted alone and used everyday objects such as knives as weapons. Police are also investigating written materials they found.
In 2018, Breitbart News reported:
Leaked documents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) show that the intelligence service is far more concerned with Islamic terrorism behind closed doors than the left-wing Trudeau government will admit in public.
And last September, an Israeli-Arab man who lives in Halifax stated that he has helped CSIS track ISIS supporters in Canada, and instead of them being brought to justice, he was the one who was deported. But “neither CSIS or the office of the Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale would comment.”
In an interview with Global News, he said fears for his safety if returned to the Middle East and wants the government to halt his removal, citing the work he said he did to keep Canadians safe from terrorism.
“The people I provided info on will stay here, they will get citizenship,” he said. “I will be removed.”
Speaking on the condition that Global News not reveal his identity, the man provided compelling evidence that he worked for CSIS for several years, helping with cases involving ISIS, Iran and Hezbollah.
“ISIS supporters have plotted and carried out a handful of attacks in Canadian cities over the past six years,” but the brutal attack on Hang-Kam Annie Chiuto “would be the first to claim a life (other than that of the attacker) since October 2014.”
“Suspect’s alleged statements about ISIS led to terrorism charge over Toronto hammer attack: sources,” by Stewart Bell, Global News, March 16, 2020:
Every morning, Hang-Kam Annie Chiu left her basement suite in Scarborough and walked to the local Tim Hortons, where she ordered a large coffee with two creams.
She would sit by the window with a group of seniors who met daily, helping them with their English, holding the door for them and making sure they got to their buses on time.
“She helped people,” an employee said. “She was amazing.”
At 64, Chiu was looking forward to retirement in September. But three weeks ago, she allegedly became Canada’s latest victim of terrorism.
On the evening of Friday, Feb. 21, she was on a sidewalk between the rice pasta factory where she worked and her home when a man armed with a hammer took her life.
Three hours later, Saad Akhtar, a 30-year-old software developer, walked into the Toronto police 42 Division precinct and turned himself in.
The police station was partially evacuated over a suspicious package he allegedly left at the front desk. A bomb disposal team was called in, said Meaghan Gray, a Toronto police spokesperson.
“The package was rendered safe and members were allowed to return to normal operations,” she said.
Akhtar was initially arrested for first-degree murder, but Toronto police then came across undisclosed evidence suggesting the killing might have been an act of terrorism.
They contacted the RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Toronto, and on Feb. 25, the charge was changed to “murder-terrorist activity.”
Police have not explained why they suspect the killing was terrorism-related, but Global News has learned the decision stemmed from Akhtar’s statements concerning the so-called Islamic State.
Police are also investigating written materials they found.
ISIS supporters have plotted and carried out a handful of attacks in Canadian cities over the past six years, but this would be the first to claim a life (other than that of the attacker) since October 2014.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for Chiu’s killing, but an expert said ISIS had historically tended to do so only when the attacker was killed.
“I would be very curious to find out what exactly he said about the Islamic State,” said Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam, a Queen’s University terrorism expert who researches ISIS.
He would like to know whether the suspect pledged allegiance to ISIS, or said he was responding to western military attacks on the group. He said the choice of target made little sense, being neither military, police or infrastructure.
“It signals, though, that the Islamic State, even with thousands of its fighters behind bars and holding no territory, still continues to inspire individuals to engage in low-level attacks,” Amarasingam said….