Incel terror charge laid in murderous attack
Including misogynist online subculture as violent and extremist marks new milestone
TORONTO — The teenager accused of murder in 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 allege.
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 17 at the time of the killing in 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 right-wing 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. He has not been charged with terrorist offences.