Calgary man who searched 'killing of gay persons,' posted ISIS propaganda to TikTok, pleads to terror charge
A Calgary man who purported to be a member of ISIS appeared to be planning to kill gay people participating in local pride events earlier this year, a judge heard during a guilty plea to a terrorism charge Friday.
Zakarya Hussein, 20, admitted to facilitating terrorist activity during the plea which took place before Justice Harry Van Harten in the Alberta Court of Justice.
From March to June of this year, Hussein posted concerning videos, photos, messages and instructions on how to make explosive devices to various messaging and social media accounts like Telegram, TikTok and Snapchat, court heard.
When police searched Hussein's house in mid-June, investigators seized an ISIS flag, a notebook with handwritten, step-by-step instructions on how to make an improvised explosive device, according to an agreed statement of facts (ASF) read aloud by prosecutor Kent Brown.
In a June 1 post to Snapchat, Hussein wrote: "tomorrow my mission begins. It's pride month. I've been waiting."
He then referenced two different types of explosive devices, one of which matched what was described in the hand- written instructions seized from his bedroom.
Hussein searched: 'The killing of gay persons'
Hussein's Google history included searches for "Gay pride month," "pride month Calgary," and "the killing of gay persons."
He also searched "suicide attacks."
Later that month, Hussein sent video to a group chat. The video showed men being thrown off buildings.
"The video contained extremist ideological interpretations that encouraged killing gay men," reads the ASF.
Investigators also determined Hussein searched articles related to Calgary residents who left the city to join ISIS as well as articles related to the court proceedings of a Calgarian who was sentenced on terrorism charges.
ISIS recruitment video
Hussein posted several ISIS videos to Snapchat of mass executions and beheadings.
On the same social media platform, Hussein had several conversations with users where he discussed being a member of ISIS or travelling to Iraq or Syria to engage in war.
At the end of the conversations, he'd state he was joking, according to the ASF.
The handwritten explosive instructions came from an ISIS video which he also shared online.
On May 14, Hussein posted an ISIS recruitment video to TikTok.
"Bro gave me motivation to commit a massive istishadi (martyrdom) operation," wrote one user in response.
UCP messages
In March and April, Hussein received several automated messages from the United Conservative Party.
"Fuck y'all. I'm going to do a terrorist attack on you guys," he wrote back on March 2.
In later texts Hussein wrote: "I'll kill each and every one of you liberals" and "I'll blow you guys up with explosive."
On June 5, one of the people in Hussein's group chat messaged that he'd been visited by police. He told the group to delete anything in the chat related to ISIS.
"I'm not involved I swear, only a few inihari (suicide) missions," Hussein responded.
Youths also arrested in terrorism investigation
A risk assessment report was requested by defence lawyer Alain Hepner.
In the new year, Justice Van Harten will hear sentencing arguments once that's completed.
Two others, both youths, were charged as part of the same national security investigation.
Both are heading to terrorism peace bond hearings.
A peace bond is an acknowledgement that there are reasonable grounds to fear that a person may commit a terrorism offence.
