Two arrested in alleged terror plot targeting B.C. legislature on Canada Day
The arrest of two people in Victoria, B.C. helped avoid a Canada Day terrorist attack that could have seen the B.C. legislature targeted by an explosive device, RCMP said on Tuesday.
John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Korody have been charged with the knowing facilitation of a terrorist act, possession of an explosive device and conspiring to commit an indictable offence in connection to an alleged attack on the provincial legislature.
The charges were part of a “national security investigation” dubbed Project Souvenir, launched in February based on information received from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“These individuals were inspired by al Qaeda ideology,” Assistant Commissioner James Malitzia told a news conference, adding that it was a domestic threat without international affiliation.
“While the RCMP believes the threat was real, at no time was the security of the public at risk.
The suspects were scheduled to appear in a Surrey courtroom Tuesday morning.
The investigation was coordinated by the RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, a counter-terrorist force established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2011, terror attacks in the United States.
The arrests come little more than two months after RCMP in Ontario arrested two suspects they claim were plotting a terrorist attack on a passenger train outside of Toronto.