Mosque shooter wished he had killed more, court told
Bissonnette obsessed with Trump, sought ‘glory’ As mass murderer
QUEBEC In the hours after he shot and killed six men at a Quebec City mosque, Alexander Bissonnette appeared delusional, telling police his goal had been to save people from terrorist attacks.
Then, in a statement he read in court three weeks ago, Bissonnette said he regretted his actions and still did not know why he had done “something so senseless.”
On Monday, a very different portrait of Bissonnette emerged — that of an unrepentant killer who had carefully planned his attack over weeks as he scoured the internet to feed his resentment of immigrants and his fascination with firearms and mass murderers.
The Crown presented a report Monday written by a prison social worker who said Bissonnette told her in September that he regretted not having killed more people at the mosque, that he was seeking “glory ” that night, and that he had thought about committing a mass killing since he was a teenager.
Earlier, prosecutor Thomas Jacques laid out what was found on Bissonnette’s laptop.
In the month before the Jan. 29, 2017 shooting, Bissonnette had immersed himself in websites, Facebook pages and YouTube videos related to firearms, Muslims, immigrants and serial killers, with an emphasis on Dylann Roof, who murdered nine black parishioners in a South Carolina church in 2015.
He was also obsessively following Twitter postings of Donald Trump, with a particular interest in a travel ban the U.S. president had just imposed on seven Muslim-majority countries.
Bissonnette, 28, pleaded guilty last month to six counts of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder. At the time, he read a letter aloud to the court in which he said he wasn’t a terrorist or an Islamophobe and asking the Muslim community for forgiveness.
On Monday, wearing a baggy, grey sweatshirt bearing the word “Obey” on the front, Bissonnette sat impassively in the prisoner’s dock during the daylong hearing.
On Sept. 20, 2017, Bissonnette met with prison social worker Guylaine Cayouette.
“I could have killed anybody, I wasn’t targeting Muslims — I wanted glory,” Cayouette said Bissonnette told her, according to her report. Later, he added: “I regret not having killed more people. The victims are in heaven and I’m living in hell.” He told the social worker he should have killed himself after the shooting.
Bissonnette told her it’s not true he didn’t remember what happened the night of the attack. That contradicts a police interrogation video shown last week, in which Bissonnette said he did not remember many details.
In his meeting with Cayouette, Bissonnette described part of the attack in detail. He told her that when his gun jammed, he smiled and shrugged at some worshippers as if it was all a joke, then took out his handgun and shot and killed them. He also described the scene inside the mosque when Azzedine Soufiane tried to stop him from continuing his rampage. Bissonnette shot him five times, killing him.
Cayouette described Bissonnette as calm, articulate and coherent, though she said he cried at some points.
Earlier Monday, the prosecution presented a 45-page report detailing the contents of the killer’s computer.
“The same themes come up repeatedly (on the computer): firearms, mass shootings, the question of Islam and feminism, and the mosque” where the attack occurred, prosecutor Jacques said.
In the month before the shooting, Bissonnette was checking Trump’s Twitter feed every day and reading news about Trump on a daily basis. Also on Bissonnette’s laptop was a selfie of Bissonnette wearing a hat with a “Make America Great Again” logo.
During his interrogation, Bissonnette told police he snapped the day of the shooting when he heard Canada was going to accept refugees being turned away by the U.S.
A day before the attack, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had tweeted: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.” That tweet was in response to Trump’s decision on Jan. 27, 2017, to impose travel restrictions on seven countries.
In the weeks before the attack, Bissonnette also checked the Twitter feeds of right-wing American commentators, as well as conspiracy theorists, and alt-right and white supremacist/neo-Nazi leaders.
Also on Bissonnette’s computer were images of the interior and exterior of the mosque he attacked. He had repeatedly checked the Facebook page of the mosque and its website.
He researched statistics showing the percentage of people from different religions around the world and the number of immigrants in various countries. He also did research on Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. Cartoons targeting Muslims were also found, as well as many photos of Trump and two selfies showing Bissonnette with a rifle.
On the day of the attack, Bissonnette watched YouTube videos about Glock handguns, the type of firearm he used at the mosque. He fired 48 rounds in the rampage, which lasted about two minutes.
The contents of the computer reveal that in the days before the attack, Bissonnette was almost daily watching videos and reading about mass murders.
The prosecution presented a statement from a longtime friend of Bissonnette, Jean-François Doherty, who said he had heard Bissonnette disparage Muslims.
In addition, the Crown screened a security video Monday that showed Bissonnette buying a Smirnoff Ice malt alcoholic drink from a Couche-Tard dépanneur 500 metres away from the mosque.
Jacques asked Judge François Huot to pay particular attention to Bissonnette’s demeanour. About 20 minutes before the shooting, the video shows Bissonnette calmly showing his ID to the cashier and paying, before walking out.
The maximum sentence Bissonnette could face is 150 years — consecutive 25-year sentences for each of the six first-degree murder convictions. Bissonnette’s lawyer has said he will recommend a sentence of 25 years.
The same themes come up repeatedly (on the computer): firearms, mass shootings, the question of Islam and feminism, and the mosque.