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Kevin Omar Mohammed

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Kevin Omar Mohammed
Born1992 (age 31–32)
Canada
Other names
  • Abu Khalid
  • Abu Jayyid
Occupationstudent
Known forcharged, tried and imprisoned for trying to join ISIS

Kevin Omar Mohammed (born 1992) is a Canadian citizen who was convicted for trying to join ISIS.[1]

According to counter-terrorism expert Mubin Sheikh, who had been in touch with Mohammed on social media dating back to 2014,[1] Mohammed's background was West Indian-Canadian, not South Asian-Canadian, and he had considered joining both an al Qaeda affiliated group and the more radical ISIS.

In 2014, Mohammed traveled to Turkey and was smuggled across the border into Syria by members of Jabhat al-Nusra.[2] There is no evidence that Mohammed committed any offenses while in Syria for which he could face charges. Family members, concerned for his welfare, followed him and convinced him to return to Canada.

Terrorist threat

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Mohammed tweeted a request for a copy of the version of the video game Call of Duty where terrorists massacre unarmed civilians at an airport, two days after terrorist massacred civilians at an airport.[3] He attached to his tweet a screenshot showing terrorists massacring civilians. Security officials monitoring his social media picked him up the same day.

After his return to Canada, Mohammed's social media activity triggered scrutiny.[3]

In 2015, analysts noticed that he stopped making tweets that supported the activities of ISIS in favour of the less radical al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra;[3] however, an online request he made two days after radical jihadists attacked an airport in Brussels triggered his arrest.[4] Mohammed requested a customized scenario of the video game Call of Duty set in the Brussels airport that had just been attacked, which would allow him to play the role of one of the attackers. Attached to the tweet in which he made this request, Mohammed placed an image, from the perspective of a shooter, of unarmed civilian airport patrons being slaughtered.

Commenting on the image attached to that tweet, counter-terrorism expert Mubin Sheikh told the CBC:[3]

"All kinds of kids play those kind of games every day. That in itself is not a problem. But the day after a terrorist attack in a Belgian airport, and you show a screenshot of an airport being shot up — that's so closely linked. Anybody saying something that shows sympathy for that attack is going to (get a) visit from the government."[3]

Trial and parole hearings

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Mohammed initially faced a weapons charge when a search of his home found a large knife.[5] That charge was dropped and he was later tried for "participating in or contributing to, directly or indirectly, any activity of a terrorist group for the purpose of enhancing the ability of any terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity." He pled guilty in June 2017, and was convicted on October 31, 2017.[6] The maximum sentence he could have received was ten years, but Mohammed received a sentence of 4+1⁄2 years after agreeing to plead guilty. Taking into account the time he was in custody, prior to his conviction, he will serve just two years. His sentence includes a requirement that he participate in a de-radicalization program while in custody, that he be monitored for a further three years after his release, and that he not access the internet for three years. However, when the parole board considered his case in February 2019, it noted he had not participated in a de-radicalization program.[1]

Details of Mohammed's activities and of security officials investigation into him weren't made public until he was sentenced on October 31, 2017.[7][6][5][8][9][10]

In May 2018, Toronto Sun columnist Anthony Furey claimed that there are approximately 60 individuals who had returned to Canada from Daesh, but described Mohammed as the only notable conviction.[11] In July 2018, Rebecca Louis, writing in the Western Journal of Legal Studies, recognized other notable convictions of individuals returning from Daesh.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Stewart Bell, Andrew Russell (2019-02-21). "Canadian who tried to join terror group in Syria set for release from prison despite being 'high risk to public safety'". Global News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-26. Although the former University of Waterloo student was sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment as recently as October 2017, when the time he served awaiting trial is taken into consideration, his statutory release date is March 1.
  2. ^ Shanifa Nasser (2019-02-22). "Ontario man dubbed 'high risk to public safety' after trying to join terror group set for release". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-26. Kevin Omar Mohamed, now 26, pleaded guilty in June 2017 to participating in the activity of a terror group. He was later sentenced to four and a half years behind bars, receiving two and a half years credit for time served. He had no prior criminal history.
  3. ^ a b c d e Shanifa Nasser (2016-03-28). "Kevin Mohamed linked to Twitter persona that underwent 'dramatic change'". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-26. Kevin Omar Mohamed, now 26, pleaded guilty in June 2017 to participating in the activity of a terror group. He was later sentenced to four and a half years behind bars, receiving two and a half years credit for time served. He had no prior criminal history.
  4. ^ Stewart Bell, Andrew Russell (2017-02-22). "Canadian who tried to join terror group in Syria set for release from prison despite being 'high risk to public safety'". Global News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  5. ^ a b Paolo Loriggio (2017-10-31). "Ont. man who pleaded guilty to terror charge sentenced to 4.5 years in prison: lawyer". CTV News. Archived from the original on 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2019-02-26. He pleaded guilty in early June to one count of participating in or contributing to, directly or indirectly, any activity of a terrorist group for the purpose of enhancing the ability of any terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity.
  6. ^ a b Stewart Bell, Andrew Russell (2017-10-31). "Canadian who tried to join terror group in Syria sentenced to 4.5 years". Global News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-26. The Crown and defence both agreed on the 4-1/2-year term. Federal lawyer Sarah Shaikh said while his crime was serious he had pleaded guilty and agreed to participate in de-radicalization.
  7. ^ "How police tracked Ontario terror suspect Kevin Omar Mohamed". Global News. 2017-10-31. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-02-27. An in-depth look at how the RCMP and other police agencies managed to find Kevin Omar Mohamed through anonymous online posts.
  8. ^ Greg Mercer (2017-11-01). "Former UW student jailed in terrorism case". Kitchener-Waterloo Record. Waterloo Ontario. Retrieved 2019-02-27. His lawyer Paul Slansky said Mohamed's extremist views have been softened since his arrest, and he no longer supports violence against others.
  9. ^ Greg Mercer (2017-11-01). "Jihadis like jailed ex-Waterloo student dodge reality, says former Islamic militant 'They want to be Muslim Rambo'". Kitchener-Waterloo Record. Waterloo, Ontario. Archived from the original on 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2019-02-27. He describes Mohamed as more of a scholarly type who liked to quote religious passages but wasn't really as hardcore as other Westerners who have joined extremist groups.
  10. ^ Paola Loriggio (2017-10-31). "Ontario man who pleaded guilty to terror charge sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison, lawyer says". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-02-27. Details of the case were made public for the first time Monday at Mohamed's sentencing hearing.
  11. ^ Anthony Furey (2018-05-14). "FUREY: Toronto ISIS returnee is laughing at us - something must be done". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-02-27. While there are at least 60 returning foreign fighters in Canada, there have only been a handful of charges and only one notable conviction. Last year, Kevin Omar Mohamed was sentenced to four-and-a-half years for travelling to Syria in 2014 to join the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusrah.
  12. ^ Rebecca L. Louis (July 2018). "Straddling the Liminal Space Section 810.01(3), Recognizance: Preventative Justice or Preventing Justice". 8 (2). Western Journal of Legal Studies. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-02-27. Thus, only two of the eight men—Kevin Omar Mohammed and Ismael Habib—were subsequently convicted of terrorism-related offences. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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