Canada was warned before protests that violent extremists infiltrated convoy
Source: The Guardian
Canada was warned before protests that violent extremists infiltrated convoy
Exclusive: intelligence assessments warned in late January that it was ‘likely’ extremists were involved in protests
Justin Ling in Ottawa
Thu 17 Feb 2022 17.52 GMT
Days before the so-called Freedom Convoy reached Ottawa, starting a weeks-long occupation of Canada’s capital and triggering a string of copy-cat blockades, the federal government was warned that violent extremist groups were deeply involved in the protest movement.
Intelligence assessments – prepared by Canada’s Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (Itac) and seen by the Guardian – warned in late January that it was “likely” that extremists were involved and said that the scale of the protests could yet pose a “trigger point and opportunity for potential lone actor attackers to conduct a terrorism attack”.
The assessments offer the first real glimpse into how federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have assessed the threat of Canada’s anti-vaccine and conspiracy theory movement.
“We knew these people were coming,” said a federal government source, who indicated that the Security Intelligence Service Canada – Canada’s main intelligence service, of which Itac is a part – had flagged the involvement of extremist groups and individuals in official briefings.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/17/ottawa-protests-anti-terror-agency-warned-violent-extremists
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Related:
• 5G and QAnon: how conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest (The Guardian)
• Ottawa protests: ‘strong ties’ between some occupiers and far-right extremists, minister says (The Guardian)
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