Toronto Police officers work around the scene of a shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto, on March 10.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
When two gunmen got out of a white Honda CRV at 4:30 a.m. on March 10 and opened fire on the exterior of the U.S consulate in downtown Toronto, their attack on a symbol of American power led to heightened embassy security and questions about who was behind it.
On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed documents in New York that allege this was the work of a mastermind who has inspired similar violence in other cities worldwide.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi national, set up an online terrorist organization with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, U.S. prosecutors allege in court documents.
The Americans accuse Mr. Al-Saadi, who is now in the custody of U.S. authorities, of plotting attacks in New York, California and Arizona that have not been executed, while helping co-ordinate several that were carried out in Europe in March and April.
He is charged with six terrorism-related offences in the U.S., including conspiring to provide material support to terrorist groups, conspiring to provide material support for acts of terrorism and conspiring to murder nationals of the United States. He also faces several conspiracy charges related to bombing and arson.
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As part of the probe, the FBI says it obtained a March 20 audio recording where Mr. Al-Saadi boasted that his “people” were responsible for attacks in Canada against “the consulate and the Knesset.”
In an affidavit filed in court, FBI special agent Kathryn McDonald said she believes Mr. Al-Saadi was referring to the March 10 consulate attack in Toronto, in which no one was injured, and that his use of the word “Knesset” refers to an attack on a synagogue. The affidavit does not specify which synagogue she believes was attacked.
There has been a spate of attacks on Toronto-area synagogues in the past several months. Earlier this month, Toronto Police announced they had arrested a 18-year-old with no fixed address; he faces firearms charges for shooting a Vaughan synagogue on March 6 and a Toronto synagogue on March 7.
FBI director Kash Patel said in statement that Mr. Al-Saadi was transferred into U.S. custody from a foreign country. Mr. Patel did not identify the country, but thanked U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack for being “instrumental” in the mission. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Toronto Police declined to comment on the allegations in the U.S. case. “We have no information to share at this time,” said Shannon Eames, a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service in an e-mail Sunday. The force has not publicly identified the suspected gunmen or made arrests in relation to the consulate shooting.
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The criminal complaint against Mr. Al-Saadi alleges he responded to American and Israeli strikes on Iran this year by helping set up a new online terrorist group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. Also known as HAYI, this group has gained global notoriety for hiring or inspiring people in the West, including teenagers, to unleash small-scale violent attacks on Iran’s behalf, the FBI alleges.
U.S. authorities allege his organization was behind an explosion at the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam; an arson at a synagogue in Skopje, North Macedonia; and an April stabbing attack against two Jewish men in Britain.
Like the March 10 consulate attack in Toronto, these events took place in the weeks following the launch of the U.S. war in Iran in late February.
This violence was intended to threaten U.S. organizations and to spread fear in Jewish diaspora communities, U.S. prosecutors allege. The United States alleges that Mr. Al-Saadi helped spin HAYI out of Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iraq-based extremist group in which he allegedly serves as a commander. Mr. Al-Saadi and his associates have planned, co-ordinated and claimed responsibility for at least 18 attacks in Europe, the FBI alleges.
Mr. Al-Saadi said he was running “multiple teams” and was seeking to launch more violence in Canada, special agent McDonald alleges in her affidavit.
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The FBI alleges Mr. Al-Saadi was a prolific user of social media and chat groups and that he used such tools to recruit people. But these techniques also exposed him to undercover operatives, and the FBI says it engaged in online communications with him in recent weeks that were recorded to buttress the new prosecution.
“In Canada, we have our guys,” Mr. Al-Saadi allegedly said at one point without identifying anyone in particular.
An official with a Canadian Jewish group said his organization will follow the U.S. prosecution closely. “This is a chilling reminder of the real and growing threat of foreign-backed terrorism,” said Noah Shack, chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
The RCMP did not comment on the U.S. charges. In the hours after the March 10 shooting, Chief Superintendent Chris Leather, officer in charge of the Ontario RCMP’s criminal operations, said “this is a national security incident” and that Mounties were “working with Toronto Police and others to understand the motivations.”
He also said that federal security officials were investigating similar incidents across Canada.