Canadian police arrested two at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Quebec after they killed six people and injured dozens more.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack:
“It was with tremendous shock, sadness and anger that I heard of this evening’s tragic and fatal shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec located in the Ste-Foy neighborhood of the city of Quebec,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Muslim-Canadians are an important part of our national fabric, and these senseless acts have no place in our communities, cities and country.”
Philippe Couillard, the premier of Quebec, called it a terrorist attack.
Translation: Quebec categorically rejects this barabaric violence. We stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, the injured, and their families.
From The New York Times:
Christine Colombe, a spokeswoman for the Quebec Provincial Police, said the victims ranged in age from 35 to 70 and said that 39 people who were in the mosque were not hurt.The police had not yet identified a motive in the shootings, saying the investigation was just beginning. Ms. Colombe said that one of the two suspects was arrested at the scene of the shooting, while another was apprehended nearby on Île d’Orleans.The police said that some of those wounded in the shooting were seriously hurt.
Sources told Radio Canada that the shooters attended Laval University and one is Moroccan. Police have not confirmed this information, though. The university said if there is a connection, then its officials will help as much as possible.
Police have said that one of the suspects phoned 911 “indicating he wanted to co-operate with authorities.”
Turns out immediate media reports identified the wrong man. White nationalist Alexandre Bissonette attacked the mosque. Media reported that a Moroccan Muslim also attacked, but it turns out he called 911 for help.
From The Intercept:
The actual shooting suspect is 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, a white French Canadian who is, by all appearances, a rabid anti-immigrant nationalist. A leader of a local immigration rights groups, François Deschamps, told a local paper he recognized his photo as an anti-immigrant far-right “troll” who has been hostile to the group online.The Globe and Mail added that he “was known in the city’s activist circles as a right-wing troll who frequently took anti-foreigner and anti-feminist positions and stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump.” And Bisonnette’s Facebook page – now taken down but still archived – lists among its “likes” the far right French nationalist Marine Le Pen, Islam critics Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the Israeli Defense Forces, and Donald J. Trump (he also “likes” the liberal Canadian Party NDP along with more neutral “likes” such as Tom Hanks, the Sopranos and Katy Perry).
The shooting occurred at 8PM on Sunday night “when between 50 and 200 worshippers were in the building” for evening prayers.
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