Rocking The World

"This is gonna rock the world." 
"We are now proclaiming that we are al-Qaeda ... al-Qaeda Canada ... we're Mujahedeen ... We're sleepers who have been woken."
John Nuttall, Vancouver jihadist

Amanda Korody, on the right, and John Nuttall, on the left, have pleaded not guilty to knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, conspiracy and making or possessing an explosive device, after police seized pressure-cooker bombs outside the B.C. Legislature on Canada Day. (CBC)

"Two people can be a terrorist group. We do not say they are formally aligned [with] or members of al-Qaeda. We don't need to prove [that] to prove terrorism."
"He said he liked the Boston bombing plan because it was simple."
Crown prosecutor Peter Eccles, B.C. Supreme Court

John Nuttall and his common-law wife, Amanda Korody, 38 and 29 respectively, are accused of conspiring to kill and maim Canada Day celebrants in July of 2013, at the provincial legislature in Victoria, British Columbia. Their plan went awry because the RCMP was alerted with an undercover officer gaining their trust as an al-Qaeda sympathizer. They were arrested before they could carry out their plan, which was, in any event, thwarted by the under-cover officer.

They had researched and located effective bomb designs, readily made at home. They purchased materials to build two improvised explosive devices and planted them at the legislature, preparing to explode them at the right time. Which would have made little impact, since the "C-4" explosives they thought they had armed the bombs with to make "500-foot" blasts on the legislative grounds, blowing metal nails and bolts in all directions, just didn't materialize.

What are undercover agents for, after all, but to detect and disrupt these proposed events? The couple whose conceit was to be engaged in jihad had been watched and recorded for months by RCMP officers. One of whom had gained their trust, and was quite effective in portraying himself as a helpful sympathizer. Both accused have pleaded not guilty to four counts including conspiracy to place explosives in a public place with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury, and knowingly facilitating a terrorist act.

The Crown prosecutor sketched out the details of the plot, that the accused spoke of the harm they planned to inflict on anyone who didn't conform to their vision of Islam. They carefully planned the venue to exact maximum impact. The jury heard how the sting by the RCMP developed in February of 2013 when the principal undercover agent had his first encounter with Mr. Nuttall, eventually gaining his confidence, sufficiently so that the recent convert to Islam confided that he was a "jihadist behind enemy lines" who "needed money and guns" to translate his plan to action.

The pair had acquired the materials for their rudimentary bombs buying the supplies at hardware and department stores. Two bomb housings were assembled with explosives helpfully given them by the undercover agent, posing as a jihadist. Small amounts of C-4 explosives made their way into the interior of the bomb assemblies; an elaborate ruse to catch the two in the prosecution of their dearly held plan of mayhem and murder.

The trial has begun, and it is expected to last well into the spring. When two of Canada's finest will reveal for the information of the jury that they were just fooling around, play-acting at being jihadists, and suspected that the RCMP agents who had befriended them were really Islamist terrorists who they were preparing to report to the RCMP.

After all, as Mr. Nuttall's mother said, "They're the sweetest people you'll ever meet."