The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) dispatched specialized investigators to Saguenay to determine whether terrorism charges should be laid against a cook who allegedly attempted to kill three employees of the La Belle et La Bœuf restaurant before Christmas, we learned. The Press. The day before the attack, the suspect had announced online that something would happen soon at the establishment, while celebrating Hamas and its leaders.
What there is to know
A restaurant employee caused panic on December 20 by attacking his colleagues with a knife.
The man is accused of attempted murder and remains detained.
The accused praised Hamas just before committing the act and the police are checking whether there is a link with his motivations.
“We are investigating with the Saguenay police to see if there is grounds for accusations of terrorism,” confirmed Sergeant Charles Poirier, spokesperson for the RCMP, specifying that the file had been entrusted to the Integrated Team of National Security (EISN), responsible for anti-terrorism investigations.
PHOTO ROCKET LAVOIE, LE QUOTIDIEN ARCHIVES
The attack occurred at the restaurant La Belle et La Bœuf, in Chicoutimi.
The police were urgently called to the restaurant on December 20 because a kitchen employee suddenly attacked his colleagues with a knife, inflicting bloody wounds and causing panic in the establishment.
Ahmed May was arrested on site and charged with three counts of attempted murder “using a knife”, as well as assault on two police officers and obstructing the work of peace officers. The 30-year-old man has been detained since, and is due back in court on Friday for a bail hearing.
References to Hamas on social networks
The local newspaper The Daily cited several sources according to which the employee attacked a manager and a waitress, who were seriously injured in the head, neck and hands. The newspaper also reported that the cook was in conflict with a boss of the establishment who allegedly asked him to clean the toilets.
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
Ahmed May is charged with three counts of attempted murder, as well as assaulting two police officers and obstructing the work of peace officers.
But RCMP investigators are now trying to determine whether his conflict with management could have been mixed with other, more ideological motives.
” The case is still ongoing. When we have major events of this nature, it is normal that we collaborate with other police forces such as the RCMP,” explains Officer Andréanne Nolin, spokesperson for the Saguenay Police Department.
The day before the attack, on his Facebook page, Ahmed May had several times praised Hamas, an organization declared a terrorist group banned in Canada since 2002 and currently involved in a war against Israel which makes headlines every day everywhere on the planet.
On December 19, Ahmed May notably published hearts alongside a video of Sheikh Ahmed Yassine, one of the founders of the radical Islamist group which had been one of the promoters of the strategy of suicide attacks.
The same day, Mr. May also published on his page a portrait of Yahya Sinwar, considered the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as a graphic montage referring to Abou Obaïda, the spokesperson for the Izz brigades al-Din al-Qassam, military wing of Hamas. The montage featured the downward-pointing red triangle used in Hamas combat videos to mark Israeli military targets.
Also on December 19, the cook published a new red triangle pointing downward, in a message which announced something “soon soon soon” in connection with “la Belle team Bœuf”, an apparent reference to the restaurant where he worked.
The day before, he had written on his page: “it is a jihad of victory or martyrdom”.
Caution in the analysis
“There are still a lot of people who use these symbols. The red triangle, many people will use it, it is seen as a symbol of resistance by many, and we do not always understand the full implication and how it can be received by others. But in the case that interests us, it seems quite deliberate and provocative,” observes Louis Audet Gosselin, scientific and strategic director of the Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence.
However, we must be careful before making a link between the acts accused of the cook and the movement he seemed to be promoting online, underlines Mr. Audet Gosselin.
La Belle et La Bœuf in Chicoutimi does not seem to be one of the most obvious supporters of Israel.
Louis Audet Gosselin, scientific and strategic director of the Center for Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence
“We understand the reasons why the RCMP investigated this subject, but I, personally, do not see any terrorist motive in this matter. It appears purely as a work conflict which has degenerated,” says M.e Nicolas Gagnon, Ahmed May’s lawyer.
Louis Audet Gosselin emphasizes that we will have to wait for the continuation of the investigation to understand what could have caused the action in this case. When people consume a lot of violent and hateful material online, the line between personal motives and ideological motives is sometimes blurred, he says.
“There is always a dynamic in radicalization to give meaning to personal issues through major, broader causes,” he explains.
“Without commenting on this specific case, we see people who have a life mainly online fueled by violent and hateful content, which feeds distress which can be broader, more diffuse. There are cases that are on the border between what is ideological and what is not, and it is not necessarily the ideology that pushes the attack. It becomes quite difficult to prevent extremism in these cases, because potentially there would also have been violence without that,” he notes.
With the collaboration of Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press