Prevention key as terror threats develop fast

Community help needed to spot who’s radicalized

Terrorist attacks have become fast-moving and harder to anticipate, underscoring the need to prevent Canadians from falling into violent extremism in the first place, the RCMP’s top counter-terrorism officer said Tuesday.

While terrorist plots used to evolve over months of planning, giving police opportunities to detect them and make arrests, recent attacks have unfolded quickly and made use of vehicles, knives and guns as weapons.

“If you’re looking at trying to prevent somebody from jumping in their car and running somebody over, well there’s not much you can do there,” said Assistant Commissioner James Malizia, who oversees national security criminal investigations.

The key is to step in before someone becomes deeply radicalized: “There may be an opportunity to actually intervene to try and disengage that individual from heading down the path of violence,” Malizia said.

Families and friends are often aware that someone is radicalizing but are reluctant to come forward, he said. “They know that something’s up. They might not know exactly what’s going on, but certainly they’re starting to see indicators and changes in behaviour.

“If we could get in then — and I say ‘we’ because it’s not necessarily a police issue. It’s a social issue where families, social networks, need to get involved,” he said. “It’s just about getting early identification so we can see if there’s an opportunity there.”

On Tuesday, a Toronto woman appeared in court accused of an attack at a Canadian Tire store. Police said Rehab Dughmosh walked in and started swinging a golf club.

The 32-year-old, who had allegedly expressed support for ISIL, pulled a knife from under her clothes. Employees and customers restrained her and pried the knife from her hands, police said. One employee was injured.

The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team is investigating whether terrorism charges are warranted. Meanwhile, Dughmosh faces assault and threatening charges. She remains in custody.

In the interview with the Post, Malizia outlined what he said the RCMP was doing to lessen the chances that Canada will see more attacks like those in the U.K.

He said a national security joint operations centre that includes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada Border Services Agency, Global Affairs Canada and other agencies was created after the number of foreign fighters “increased significantly.”

The centre gathers information on extremists leaving, arriving and transiting through Canada. “Within minutes we start getting a picture of who this person is, whether they have a Canadian passport … what’s the travel history.”

Returning foreign fighters are assessed to decide whether they pose a risk. Upon their return, RCMP investigators will interview them and those around them, although Malizia said proving what they did outside Canada can be challenging. “And we certainly keep an eye on higher-risk individuals.”

Another concern is that extremists prevented from travelling to places like Syria could instead strike in Canada. The deadly October 2014 attacks in Saint-Jeansur-Richelieu, Que., and on Parliament Hill were carried out by extremists unable to leave Canada.

RCMP intervention teams now work side-by-side with national security investigators so that when lower-level extremists are identified, police can take steps to steer them away from violence, the assistant commissioner said.

“As we’re investigating, we’re identifying people that are already radicalized to violence, people that may be on the fringes and others that could be influential in radicalizing either youth or other people,” he said.

While hardcore extremists may be beyond redemption, “there are others on the fringes, they may be younger, it may be still early in the radicalization process where they’ve not radicalized to violence,” he said.

Those who might benefit from intervention are directed to local programs, such as community hubs in Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary, where social service agencies try to address underlying problems that may have left them vulnerable to extremism.

IT’S A SOCIAL ISSUE WHERE FAMILIES, SOCIAL NETWORKS, NEED TO GET INVOLVED.