Canadian youth facing terrorism charges for alleged plot against Jewish people

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s national police force said Saturday that a youth was arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses that allegedly targeted Jewish people.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the young person arrested Friday was charged with facilitating terrorist activity by communicating instructional material related to an explosive substance.

The youth is further charged with knowingly instructing a person to carry out terrorist activity against “Jewish persons.”

Police did not release further details about the alleged offenses. Officials also said no further information about the youth could be released due to the suspect’s age.

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In a news release, the national police force said it is seeing a concerning trend of violent extremism and terrorist use of the internet, including among young people.

The RCMP urged adults in authority positions to watch for early warning signs of radicalization. Those include dehumanization of others, extreme anti-government attitudes and clear statements of intention to carry out violent acts.

Many officials have been raising the alarm about a reported rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in Israel, prompting that country’s military offensive in Gaza.

“I was shocked to learn the details of a planned attack against Ottawa’s Jewish community,” Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There has been a rise in antisemitism in Ottawa in recent weeks.”

He added he was grateful that strong investigative work by the RCMP and Ottawa police was able to avert an attack. He said police would continue to patrol synagogues and other Jewish institutions.