Misunderstander of Islam in Toronto pleads guilty to plotting mass murder for his god. “Toronto 18 ringleader pleads guilty in terror trial,” by Isabel Teotonio for the Toronto Star, May 10 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
In a surprise about-turn, Fahim Ahmad, the ringleader of the so-called Toronto 18 has pleaded guilty.
The reversal of his plea was revealed Monday morning to jurors in what is a landmark trial — the first terrorism case in Canada to be decided by a jury.
Ahmad, described both as a “time bomb waiting to go off” and a “fantasist,” wanted to attack nuclear stations and storm Parliament, taking politicians hostage until they gave into his demands to pull troops from Afghanistan….
Ahmad was charged with contributing to a terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out an act of terror; importing firearms for a terrorist group, and instructing co-accused to carry out an activity for a terrorist group….
The Brampton court was told that in August 2005 Ahmad rented a car for two men, who were stopped at the U.S. border trying to re-enter Canada with three loaded semi-automatic guns….
He got the initial phase of his plan underway in late December 2005, when he organized a training camp in the woods near Washago, Ont. Attendees, as young as 15, listened to jihadi lectures and participated in military-style exercises and firearms training, led by Shaikh, who was then working for the RCMP….
But Ahmad’s intents would have been clear to most after he delivered an impassioned speech, exhorting attendees by saying, “We’re here to kick it off. . . Victory is near . . . Our mission is great, whether we get arrested, tortured or killed. . . Rome has to be defeated.”
Hoping to show off how serious they were to potential recruits, local imams and jihadi leaders overseas, they captured their exploits on camera.
Videos, later seized by police, contain Ahmad’s fiery speech and shows them training with a 9-mm handgun and playing paintball war games.
In early February 2006, Ahmad turned his attention to securing a safe house and court was told he drove with Chand, Shaikh and another man to Opasatika, near Kapuskasing. Ahmad said he also planned to use the house for storage of a mass shipment of weapons he claimed to have ordered.
During the trip, a car probe captures Ahmad asking, “Hey, wanna be part of the group that goes up to Parliament, man, cut off some heads?”
When asked what happens there, Ahmad replies, “We go and kill everybody.”…