OTTAWA-
Newly leaked documents show federal intelligence officials warned policymakers that the police dispersal of “Freedom Convoy” protesters in Ottawa last winter could spark an “opportunistic attack” on a politician or government symbol.
The Feb. 24 “threat highlight,” tagged Secret/Canadian Eyes Only, also indicated that extremist “influencers” would leverage the results of the protests to continue recruitment and propaganda, that pandemic-related restrictions COVID-19 whether or not they are relaxed.
Ideologically motivated extremists would likely use law enforcement “to encourage violent revenge or as further evidence of government ‘tyranny’,” the four-page assessment says.
The partially redacted memo, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, was part of several Integrated Terrorism Assessment Center analyzes produced before, during and after the protests that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks starting in late January.
The center, overseen by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, brings together security and intelligence professionals from various agencies to write terrorism threat assessments, based on classified and open source information, to share with partners across the country. country and abroad.
The goal is to provide high-level decision-makers with the most up-to-date and detailed information to assess the overall level of threat and risk.
Demonstrators, many with large trucks, took to the streets of central Ottawa to protest against COVID-19 health measures and the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. The influx, including some attendees who had roots in the far-right movement, prompted many businesses to close and aggravated residents with noise, diesel fumes and harassing behavior.
On February 14, the government invoked the Emergency Measures Act, which authorized temporary measures, including regulating and banning public gatherings, designating safe places, ordering banks to freeze assets and the prohibition to support the participants.
Authorities towed trucks, arrested more than 200 people and brought hundreds of charges.
Extremist ideologues have described the police response as ‘brutality’ and the use of the Emergency Measures Act as further evidence of federal ‘tyranny’, comparing government tactics to those of foreign dictatorships , notes the February 24 assessment. He added that several incitements to violence online had surfaced, with some suggesting that direct action against politicians, police and even their families was the only option left.
“It’s something that usually happens with these kinds of movements,” said Barbara Perry, director of the Center on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University.
“When you push them back, they use that as further proof that they are the ones being attacked, that their assessment is right, that they are being silenced, that they are the ones who are marginalized and threatened by this tyrannical state, as they like to call it.”
The “freedom convoy” and related protests at government buildings and border crossings have fueled anti-authority sentiments among followers of ideologically motivated violent extremism, or IMVE, according to the Feb. 24 assessment.
“The perceived notion that societal resilience is fragile, or that government/police response justifies violent resistance, could inspire a lone actor or small group inspired by IMVE to lead an opportunistic attack on a political figure or symbol of the government,” the analysts concluded. .
“IMVE supporters will continue to encourage and capitalize on anti-government sentiments and protest movements, whether related to the pandemic or other issues, in an effort to degrade public trust and cohesion. society, and to attract vulnerable people to their ideological cause.
The future easing of public health restrictions may calm the protest movement, but people who embrace violent extremism, especially those “wanting to hasten the demise of current social and political orders, are unlikely to be appeased”, according to the Evaluation.
“IMVE threats against political figures and government symbols will persist for the foreseeable future.”
The nation’s capital would see follow-up protests, including a procession in late June that included many prominent figures involved in the winter events.
“They really set the stage and drew more people around a broader mistrust of government, science, academics, the media — all of those institutions,” Perry said. “So I think they will continue to find ways to exploit those anxieties, to exploit those grievances that they helped create, or at least exacerbate.”
The Terrorism Assessment Center began tracking the convoy of trucks heading for Ottawa as early as January 26, producing a secret assessment that flagged the possibility of opportunistic violence on the fringes of the protest.
A Feb. 3 analysis found that a coordinated terrorist attack or planned storming of Parliament Hill or other federal locations was unlikely.
“The most likely IMVE-related scenario involves an inspired lone actor using available weapons and resources such as knives, guns, improvised explosives, and vehicles in public spaces against easy targets, including groups opposition or members of the public.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 17, 2022.