BREAKING: Terrorism charges laid by RCMP following Edmonton City Hall shooting
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, is accused of counselling commission of a terrorism offence and possession of property for terrorist purposes.
A pair of terrorism charges have been laid against the suspect accused of firing shots and throwing a Molotov cocktail inside Edmonton City Hall in January. In a Monday news release, the RCMP announced Bezhani Sarvar, 28, is accused of counselling commission of a terrorism offence and possession of property for terrorist purposes.
Sarvar already faces six previous charges stemming the January 23 incident.
Surveillance video, originally posted on Global News, shows a man armed with a gun shooting inside Edmonton City Hall. pic.twitter.com/fKBazT6wlI
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 24, 2024
While there were no physical injuries during the attack, police said a man entered the city hall through the building's parkade before firing several shots, most of which were on the second floor, and throwing a Molotov cocktail.
City councillors, staff, media members and elementary school students were inside the building when the shooting occurred around 10:20 a.m.
Previous charges issued to Sarvar include: incendiary material, careless use of a firearm, use of firearm while committing an offence and throwing explosives with the intent to cause harm.
BREAKING NEWS:
— Adam Soos ⳩ (@ATSoos) January 24, 2024
Alleged video of Edmonton City Hall shooter emerges citing the situation in Gaza, inflation, immigration and political corruption among the motivations for his "mission".
Full story coming soon at https://t.co/kSnIPysVFB. pic.twitter.com/jU7ydatS2h
A former security guard, CBC reports Sarvar had worked for Corps of Commissionaires since 2019.
Rebel News, meanwhile, previously reported on a video appearing to show Sarvar, dressed in a security jacket, revealing a potential motivation for the attack.
In the video, the individual lays out a number of grievances including the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The speaker called on Canadians “to fight our tax money going into this genocide, that's going into all these wars [and] weapons that's destroying all these countries,” before concluding, “Inshallah, I shall succeed with my mission. If I don't succeed, I know somebody else will succeed for me.”
Shortly after the attack, Rebel's Adam Soos speculated on whether the incident was terrorism related, and the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington joined The Ezra Levant Show to look at the legacy media's lack of coverage of the incident.
“The issue is how the political class and also the media chose to find another way of describing it at best and in some cases covering it up at worst,” Warmington said on January 26.
According to the RCMP, Sarvar remains detained at the Calgary Remand Centre and will appear in court for a bail hearing on Tuesday.
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