A photo posted on Instagram by Hide and Stalk group member Raphaël Lagacé taken during a May 2023 weekend of tactical training at a hunting ground north of Quebec City. Mr. Lagacé and two other men were charged with facilitating a terrorist activity.Supplied
A tip from Canada’s spy agency in early 2023 triggered the investigation that led to last month’s terrorism charges against three Quebec City men with ties to the Armed Forces, newly released court documents reveal.
Police affidavits unsealed Thursday outline how the RCMP conducted covert surveillance for nine months on a group of current and former soldiers suspected of being right-wing extremists.
The documents also shed light on the reason the Mounties raided the suspects’ properties a year and a half before filing charges: The probe was disrupted in early 2024 when one suspect’s ex-girlfriend asked municipal police to confiscate his guns because he was suicidal.
The RCMP then quickly moved to seize the other men’s cellphones, firearms and equipment because of concerns that the initial search might spur them to destroy evidence.
When the RCMP announced criminal charges last month, the force alleged that three of the men had conspired to forcibly seize a plot of land.
That allegation doesn’t appear in the affidavits, which were drafted before investigators accessed the men’s cellphones. However, the documents say they held anti-government views.
While the men conducted shooting drills in forested areas, the RCMP watched from the air, sometimes with infrared cameras, the documents say.
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The Mounties followed the men, geolocated their cellphones and planted GPS trackers. Investigators relied on undercover agents and informants, and obtained records from banks, phone companies and Canada Post.
Those details are contained in seven court applications the RCMP used to obtain search warrants. The redacted affidavits, known as ITOs, were unsealed Thursday.
The ITOs indicate that up to 16 individuals took part in the group’s activities. Four were arrested on July 8, two of them members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Master Corporal Marc-Aurèle Chabot, Raphaël Lagacé, a former cadets civilian instructor, and Simon Angers-Audet, an ex-reservist, were charged with facilitating a terrorist activity.
They were also charged with illegal possession of firearms and military gear.
Corporal Matthew Forbes also faced weapons charges but wasn’t accused of terrorism.
Allegations in the affidavits have not been tested in court. Relatives of the men have told local media that the charges are exaggerated and that the accused are just outdoors and firearms enthusiasts.
According to the ITOs, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service verbally informed the RCMP on Feb. 22, 2023, followed by a March 2 letter classified Secret.
The letter reported that MCpl. Chabot used the Instagram account Hide_n_stalk, and led a group of former and current soldiers called Hide and Stalk (H&S).
A page of court documents containing images from Quebec City militia group’s Instagram account Hide_n_stalk.Supplied
The rest of the letter is redacted, except for a mention that details were also shared with the Quebec City police and the Sûreté du Québec.
The investigation by the RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) was code-named Project Supion.
According to the ITOs, the Instagram account showed men in tactical gear, wearing patches marked “HS” with a number. The documents say that MCpl. Chabot, who was HS1, wrote on Instagram: “Not gona let the elites keep us divided.”
The ITOs say that investigators identified from photos that some training took place at quarries owned by Mr. Lagacé’s family.
In late March, Special O, the RCMP’s physical surveillance unit, started following the four men.
The ITOs say that while checking Canada Post logs, the INSET members spotted a connection with a firearms case they had just investigated.
According to the documents, MCpl. Chabot and Mr. Lagacé received parcels from a Toronto address whose resident sold tactical gear. In 2022, a Quebec man, Jordan Madden, mailed to that address a prohibited rifle receiver. He later pleaded guilty to weapons trafficking.
Court documents contain photos of accused Raphaël Lagacé, some during tactical training.Supplied
The affidavits say that an informant told the RCMP that the group trained at ZEC Batiscan-Neilson, a hunting ground north of Quebec City.
On Friday May 26, the group drove to the ZEC, where the RCMP monitored them via aerial surveillance. Some videos were taken with an infrared device.
The RCMP watched 16 individuals shooting rifles and handguns, the ITOs say, noting that one man fired a 12-round burst – a sign that he used a prohibited high-capacity magazine.
In a photo taken at the ZEC, one of the men made a hand gesture associated with white supremacists, the court documents say.
The court documents say that the group’s views were expressed more explicitly on a June 14 episode of the Modern Canadian Shooter podcast.
The podcast guest wasn’t identified but he was called Hide & Stalk, and details he shared – his military rank, vehicle and backpack brand – matched those of MCpl. Chabot, the ITOs say.
The man expressed views linked to “accelerationist and/or extreme right-wing ideology,” the belief that violence can be used to hasten society’s collapse, the affidavits said.
According to the ITOs, the guest complained about government “overreach” and gun-control laws. He also alluded to the 1993 Waco raid, when four U.S. federal agents were shot dead by members of a cult. He warned against “coming after dudes that are prepared … you can’t. It’s gonna be another Waco.”
The documents add that, while talking about his truck, he remarked: “Let’s say we run a scenario where we acquire supply from some suburbs by unlawful means, you’re good to go.”
The RCMP alleges the man on the motorcycle is making a 'white power' hand sign.Supplied
The aerial videos recorded at the ZEC were analyzed by military police, who concluded that the group’s training emulated Canadian Armed Forces drills, the ITOs said.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada reported that the men’s bank transactions were “disproportionate to their apparent financial means,” the documents said.
In early August, Special O tailed MCpl. Chabot and Mr. Angers-Audet to a bungalow outside Rolphton, Ont., where about 15 men trained near the home of a former army member, the ITOs say.
The ITOs say that INSET flew a high-altitude surveillance plane to monitor the activities. At one point, the men hid alongside a road while a vehicle drove by.
The court documents say that during the fall, an RCMP undercover agent bought a night-vision device from Cpl. Forbes, who, in an apparent reference to survivalist beliefs, asked whether it was to prepare for when things got worse in society.
Then an unexpected twist happened on Jan. 2, 2024.
The ITOs say that Mr. Lagacé’s ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Belley, asked local police to take away his guns because he expressed suicidal thoughts.
According to the ITOs, in a preventive move, Quebec City police seized 50 firearms from Mr. Lagacé.
This led INSET to apply for search warrants.
If the men were to hear about the RCMP probe before the searches were executed, “people could potentially take steps to destroy evidence,” INSET’s affidavits said.
Several men mentioned in the court documents shared photos on social media. Those images are no longer public.
One exception has been Mr. Lagacé, whose Instagram account is still public.
In one picture, a man stands by a campfire, wearing night-vision goggles. The ITOs say it was taken during the ZEC training.
Next to the photo, Mr. Lagacé wrote: “Crazy weekend with the boys.”