Calgary man wanted to 'kill gays' posted ISIS propaganda on TikTok, charged with terrorism

A Calgary man believed to be a member of ISIS apparently planned to kill gay men attending local pride events earlier this year, a court heard Friday as he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.

Zakarya Hussain, 20, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a terrorist act in an Alberta court appearance before Judge Harry Van Harten.

Between March and June of this year, Hussain posted videos, photos, messages and instructions on how to make explosive devices on various messages and social media accounts including Telegram, TikTok and Snapchat.

In mid-June, when police searched Hussein's home, investigators seized an ISIS flag and a handwritten notebook with step-by-step instructions on how to make an improvised explosive device, according to an agreed statement of facts (ASF) read aloud by a prosecutor. Kent Brown.

In a post on Snapchat on June 1, Hussain wrote: “Tomorrow my mission begins. It's Pride Month. I've been waiting for a long time.”

He then referred to two different types of explosive devices, one of which matched what was described in a handwritten manual found in the bedroom.

Hussain Searched: “Killing Gays”

Hussain's Google history included searches for “gay pride month,” “Calgary pride month,” and “gay murder.”

He also looked for “suicide attacks”.

Later that month, Hussain sent a video to a group chat. The video shows men being thrown from buildings.

“The video contains extremist ideological interpretations that call for the killing of gays,” writes ASF.

Investigators also discovered Hussain sought articles related to Calgarians who left the city to join ISIS, as well as articles related to the trials of a Calgarian convicted of terrorism charges.

ISIS recruitment video

Hussein posted several ISIS mass execution and beheading videos on Snapchat.

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On the same social media platform, Hussein had several conversations with users where he discussed joining ISIS or going to Iraq or Syria to fight.

At the end of the conversation, he said he was joking, ASF reports.

The handwritten instructions for the explosive were taken from a video shared online by ISIS.

On May 14, Hussein posted a video on TikTok about ISIS recruitment.

“Brother motivated me to do a big istishadi (martyrdom) operation,” wrote one user in response.

UCP messages

In March and April, Hussain received several automated messages from the United Conservative Party.

On March 2, he wrote, “Blyatsa. I will make a terrorist attack on you.”

In later texts, Hussein wrote: “I will kill every one of you liberals” and “I will blow you up with explosives.”

On June 5, one of the people in Hussain's group chat informed him that the police had arrived. He told the group to delete anything related to ISIS in the chat.

“I swear I'm not involved in just a few inihari (suicide) missions,” Hussain replied.

Young people were also arrested during the terrorism investigation

The risk assessment report was requested by defense attorney Alain Hepner.

Judge Van Harten will hear sentencing arguments after the New Year.

Two other men, both juveniles, were charged as part of the same national security investigation.

Both will attend hearings on an anti-terrorism peace accord.

A peace deal is an acknowledgment that there are reasonable grounds to fear that a person may commit a terrorist offence.