MACHETE ATTACK TIED TO ‘INCEL’
TERROR CHARGES STEMMING FROM TORONTO RAMPAGE IN FEBRUARY MARK FIRST FOR CANADA
The teenaged accused murderer who went on a stabbing rampage at a massage parlour in northwest Toronto in February was motivated by the terrorist ideology known as incel, or “involuntary celibate,” a woman-hating online subculture, police claim.
Two people were injured in the machete attack, found by police outside the building in the early afternoon, and one woman was found murdered inside, Ashley Noell Arzaga, 24, who was the mother of a five-year-old girl.
Arzaga’s alleged killer, who was aged 17 at the time of the killing in late February, cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. He was arrested at the scene, and remains in custody. He appeared in court on Tuesday to hear the charges upgraded from first degree murder and attempted murder to the same charges, but with terrorist inspiration.
The significance to the accused young person is comparatively minor, as he already faced the most serious charge in the Criminal Code. For Canada, however, the news is a milestone in terrorist prosecution, which largely began after 9/11 with a new set of criminal laws, but has never before been applied outside the context of Islamist extremism, even when strong candidates arose. Alexandre Bissonnette, for example, was never charged with terrorism for his murderous shooting rampage at a mosque in Quebec in 2017.
A terrorist charge for incel-motivated murder marks an expansion of terrorism law into new areas of extremism that have long been flagged for concern, including incel, but also rightwing nationalism.
Incel ideology has primarily spread through internet forums where men discuss misogynistic sexual fantasies and their own sexual failure, their resentments of sexually successful men, and their own self-loathing, even to the point of suicidal schemes for revenge.
Citing a police source, Global News reported the suspect said he wanted to kill as many women as possible.
“Shortly after the incident occurred, the Toronto Police Service contacted the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) after uncovering evidence that this crime was potentially a “terrorist activity” as defined in section 83.01(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada. RCMP INSET worked in conjunction with the Toronto Police Service, the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG) and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) and determined that this crime was in fact one in which the accused was inspired by the Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE) movement commonly known as INCEL (involuntary celibate)
Attorneys general for both Canada and Ontario consented to the updating of the charges, as required by law, designed to put a political mark of responsibility on the decision.
The police news release said this crime appeared to be an “isolated incident” and that “there is no further known threat to the public associated to the accused at this time.”
Incels in general, however, are another matter, and newly recognized as a major novel security threat.
Incel, which is typically used as a noun to describe adherents, is not a listed terrorist entity under Canadian law, but is recognized as an Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism movement, or IMVE.
It came to greatest Canadian exposure after Toronto’s van attack in 2018, in which Alek Minassian killed 10 and injured 16 by driving over them on a busy stretch of Yonge Street.
In interrogation videos released under court order in advance of a judge-alone trial, which has been postponed by the pandemic, Minassian said he was doing this “mission” as part of the “incel rebellion.”
“I feel like I accomplished my mission,” he told a police officer.
The main issue at trial will be his criminal responsibility for the atrocity, given a possible mental disorder. His identity as the driver of the van is not in dispute.
He has not been charged with terrorist offences, and the reasons why this latest case should be treated differently are sure to be hotly debated, as they seem to mark a national shift in prosecutorial strategy.
A terrorist charge increases the burden on prosecutors by requiring they prove more than just the crime, but also that it was committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose, with the aim of intimidating public security.
It is a high bar, and one reason why there have been so few terrorist prosecutions in Canada, 55 as of 2019. Since 2013, Canada has also prosecuted people for travelling for the purpose of terrorism offences, mainly involving allegiance to Islamic State.
First degree murder is already the most serious conviction possible in Canada, with a mandatory life sentence and no parole for at least 25 years. Terrorism can be an aggravated factor on sentencing, but does not necessarily increase the penalty.
The terrorist aspect hinges on this element of incitement to others through shared extremist ideology.
Minassian also referred in his interrogation to Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in California in 2014, and Chris Harper-mercer, who killed nine people in Oregon in 2015. Minassian even claimed to have had advance knowledge of Rodger’s attack.
After the shock of the van attack, the incel movement quickly became a frightening novelty that attracted much commentary and speculation, with other malicious actors latching on to its new publicity. For example, it figured in the prosecution of a Toronto man convicted criminally last year for wilfully promoting hatred against Jews and women through a self-published newspaper.
James Sears wrote about Minassian, as a judge described it in his reasons for finding Sears guilty, not a terrorist “but a victim of toxic vaccines, and a misandrous, feminist ideology.”
“Canada and the rest of the western world is about to enter the “Incel Fight Club” era, where formerly “Lonewolf” Incels begin forming cells which will ultimately morph from vandalism and sophomoric havoc, to mass violence,” Sears wrote. “The sooner women start treating young white men with respect, and we stop damaging our children with vaccines, the better. I am confident we can turn this situation around in one generation with minimal bloodshed. But ladies, it has to start NOW with YOU! Begin submitting to the natural Patriarchal order, and stop being so shallow and materialistic…”
Police described the new charges as a major success.
“On behalf of the Homicide detectives tasked with bringing justice to the victims of these crimes, I would like to thank our partners at the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team for their efforts on this case,” said Inspector Hank Idsinga, Unit Commander of Homicide, Toronto Police Service. “We will continue to work together, joined in our shared goal of reaching a successful outcome for all involved.”