Accused planned to kill at gay parades, trial told

Politicians were to be targets in alleged terror plot

• An accused terrorist plotter told an undercover FBI agent in 2012 that he could assassinate Canadian leaders at a gay pride parade, his trial heard Wednesday.

In a recording played in court, a man identified as Raed Jaser said he wanted to use a sniper rifle to target Canadian politicians.

“God almighty says fight their leaders,” he allegedly said. “So fight the leaders of this people.”

In the recording, Mr. Jaser had been allegedly discussing a plan to derail a train with his co-accused, Chiheb Esseghaier, and the agent, who was posing as a fellow jihadi sympathizer.

“I would rather begin with a sniper,” he allegedly said. Canadian leaders, he continued, are easy to access. They make speeches and public appearances.

“There’s a gay parade,” he said, according to the transcript. “They come to the gay parade ... That’s when we hit them. This is the plan.”

The recording comes from a walk the three men took in September 2012 after a dinner in Toronto. There Mr. Jaser and Mr. Esseghaier allegedly let the agent in on their plans, although, unbeknownst to Mr. Jaser, Mr. Esseghaier had already informed the agent of the train plot.

According to the transcript, the three men took elaborate steps to avoid detection. Mr. Jaser had earlier told the agent: “We are being watched. The government knows who we are and where we are at all times.”

On the walk, they left their cellphones in the car then strolled in the middle of the road, allegedly to stay away from prying ears.

The men identified as Mr. Esseghaier and Mr. Jaser appeared to bicker for a time over the best way to target Canadians. After Mr. Jaser brought up the idea of killing politicians with a sniper rifle, Mr. Esseghaier interjected: “How can we reach them?”

“Easily,” Mr. Jaser countered, according to the transcript. “Canada is not the U.S.”

Politicians here, he allegedly said, “don’t have those protection services.” They go to church. They attend “gay parades.” The mayor of Toronto even “takes the subway,” he allegedly said.

“They feel safe,” the man identified as Mr. Jaser said. “We’re gonna change that.”

According to the transcript, Mr. Jaser added that the mayor — at the time Rob Ford — was “useless,” although it remains unclear whether he meant useless as a mayor or useless as a target.

The two men are on trial for allegedly planning to cut a hole in a railway bridge be-

They come to the gay parade ... That’s when we hit them

tween Toronto and New York state. After causing a crash, they then planned to post a video online taking responsibility and warning western countries to leave Muslim lands, court has heard this week.

“Get out. Get out before we kill you all,” the man identified as Mr. Jaser said in reference to the video’s message. “We want this whole city, the whole country to burn. I could care less who dies. Everyone is a target.”

Mr. Jaser has appeared in court this week in a modest grey suit. His hair and beard are short and neat. But when the undercover FBI agent first met him — the day before that walk — he looked completely different. He wore traditional Islamic robes and had a “very long” beard,” the agent said. In their first meeting, Mr. Jaser spoke of Sharia law and an Islamic state. ‘We may be viewed as too extreme, too radical,” he said, according to the agent. “The thing is, we are.”

Mr. Esseghaier, his co-accused, has a long beard and tangled, curly hair. For much of the morning Wednesday, he appeared to be asleep.