The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are investigating whether a knife attack in a restaurant on December 20 in Saguenay has a link to terrorism.
A few days before Christmas, the La Belle et La Boeuf restaurant in Saguenay was the scene of violent knife attacks.
Employees were injured in the attacks and another employee, Ahmed May, was arrested and faces several charges.
A selfie published moments after the attack.
The Saguenay Police Department received several calls from witnesses regarding this event starting at 2:20 p.m. on December 20.
Almost at the same time, at 2:22 p.m., a Facebook account associated with a person named Ahmed May, who identifies himself as an employee of the restaurant La Belle et La Boeuf, published a selfie of a man pointing his index finger upwards. .
In all likelihood, the person in the photo is behind the bar of the restaurant where the attacks occurred.
The comment “Free Palestine” accompanies the photo posted at 2:22 p.m.
The day before the attack, the Facebook profile associated with Ahmed May had repeatedly praised Hamas, which Canada considers a terrorist organization, as first reported in The Press.
RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier confirmed, in an email exchange, that the Integrated National Security Teams (INST) are “actively investigating the case to see if there is a link to national security (terrorism) or No “.
New evidence
Ahmed May, a 30-year-old resident of Saguenay, faces three counts of attempted murder.
He is also accused of aggravated assault against two peace officers, as well as two other counts of resisting and obstructing the work of police officers.
Ahmed May is due to appear in court on Friday for his release hearing on the charges relating to the police officers.
The lawyer representing him, Nicolas Gagnon, explained that he expects new evidence to be presented Friday against his client.
“These are documents, witness statements, camera recordings whose existence we knew from the start, it’s just that it takes a certain time to recover them,” he explained to La Presse Canadian.
The lawyer indicated that the accused “is perfectly lucid about the events that happened” and he is “aware of the seriousness of the accusations against him.”
According to Nicolas Gagnon, of Legal Aid, the accused was “involved in an altercation with work colleagues”.
Refusing to go into details, the lawyer argued that “it was an event that occurred after months of a work climate that worsened.”
La Belle et La Boeuf de Saguenay reopened its doors on January 4 after being closed for two weeks.
The Crime Victim Assistance Center (CAVAC) intervened to provide services to the restaurant employees.
“We have spent the last 2 weeks regaining our strength. With the help of CAVAC, we have offered and continue to offer all the necessary support to our entire team. Although we will never erase this day and it will take more than the last 15 days to recover from it, we must look forward and offer the La Belle et La Boeuf experience to our customers again,” he said. we read on the restaurant’s Facebook page.