Media seeking details in mosque search warrants
The Sûreté du Québec says disclosing details contained in the search warrants it used in its investigation of the Quebec City mosque shooting could put the public at risk.
Some of the information contains elements related to “national security and could jeopardize ongoing investigations.” Releasing the material “could (also) result in a threat to public safety.”
The warning is included in nine warrants the SQ issued in the days after the Jan. 29 shooting rampage in which six men were killed.
Redacted versions of the warrants were made public Friday in response to a request from media outlets, including the Montreal Gazette.
Most of the information in the 242 pages was removed, including what police were looking for and what they seized. Lawyers representing news organizations are to be in court later this month arguing that more of the details should be released.
The documents indicate police twice searched the home of the parents of Alexandre Bissonnette, who has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder with a restricted weapon.
Police also seized evidence at the mosque, at the hospital where shooting victims were taken and at SQ and RCMP offices in Quebec City. The locations of the other locations searched was not disclosed.
Last month, media outlets were given another search warrant, which had been used by police to seize a computer at Bissonnette’s family home a day after the shooting.
The warrants all describe the bloody scene police found when they arrived minutes after the shooting.
Bissonnette’s case returns to court on May 29.