Man, woman arrested in B.C. terror plot involving provincial legislature
SURREY, B.C. — A man and a woman have been charged in a terror plot targeting Canada Day at the B.C. legislature in Victoria, RCMP said Tuesday.
John Stewart Nuttall, in his late 30s, and Amanda Marie Korody, in her late 20s or early 30s, both of Surrey, have each been charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and possession of an explosive substance.
Both are Canadian-born citizens.
“This self-radicalized behaviour was intended to create maximum impact and harm to Canadian citizens at the B.C. legislature on a national holiday,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout said at a media briefing into the arrests.
Police would not say if they are linked to terror groups, but that the attacks were inspired by “al-Qaida ideology.”
“This was a domestic threat without international linkages,” assistant commissioner James Malizia said.
The plot stretches back five months, police said.
A photo of “inert” explosive devices shown at the police conference show pressure cookers much like those used at the Boston Marathon bombing.
Police would not tip their hand into how the suspects were set up with the fake explosives, but said they collected them on Canada Day from spots around the outside of the legislature building and there was no danger to the public at any time.
Nuttall and Korody are in custody and were to appear in Surrey provincial court Tuesday morning.
In April, police charged two men with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation they say was backed by al-Qaida elements in Iran. U.S. authorities later announced visa fraud charges against a Tunisian man they said was linked to that plot.
Police also say Canadians took part in an attack by militants on a gas plant in Algeria in January.
CSIS has long expressed concern that disgruntled and radicalized Canadians could attack targets at home and abroad.
Canadian resident Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian citizen, tried to cross into the United States from British Columbia on a mission to blow up Los Angeles airport in 2000 and is serving 37 years in a U.S. prison.
- with files from Tyler Orton