Latest news with #MohammedAbdullahWarsame
Toronto Sun
07-07-2025
- Toronto Sun
Charge upgraded against man with al-Qaida ties as punishment for alleged threats
Published Jul 07, 2025 • 2 minute read Mohammed Abdullah Warsame's booking photo taken by U.S. Marshals in 2003. Photo by Source: Former FBI Special Agent Harry Samit MONTREAL — A federal prosecutor has announced he will invoke a little-used provision on terrorism in the Criminal Code that would allow a man with al-Qaida ties to be sentenced to life in prison for allegedly uttering threats. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. 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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Prosecutor Samuel Monfette-Tessier told a Montreal courtroom on Monday that he's upgrading the charge against Mohamed Abdullah Warsame using Section 83.27 of the code. The maximum sentence for uttering threats is usually five years, the prosecutor said, but now if the accused is convicted he could spend life in prison. 'This also means the charge of uttering threats is now considered a terrorism offence,' Monfette-Tessier told the court. Warsame, 51, was charged last month with uttering threats after allegedly telling an employee at a Montreal homeless shelter on May 27 that he wanted to build bombs and detonate them on public transit. The Old Brewery Mission, which runs several homeless shelters in Montreal, contacted police. RCMP took charge of the investigation and announced Warsame's arrest on June 5. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More The Criminal Code article states that a person who is convicted of an offence that normally carries a lesser term of imprisonment can be given a life sentence 'where the act or omission constituting the offence also constitutes a terrorist activity.' Monfette-Tessier says he thinks the case marks the first time in Quebec that the Criminal Code section has been used. 'What this means is that the act that he is alleged to have committed would also be a terrorist activity under the Criminal Code, which means for a greater punishment,' he told reporters outside the courtroom. Warsame was psychologically evaluated after his June arrest, and the results have been sealed at the defence's request. Warsame's lawyer told the court that his client had declined to attend Monday's hearing. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The RCMP have said Warsame pleaded guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to providing material support to the terrorist organization al-Qaida. According to his 2009 plea agreement, the Somali-born Canadian travelled to Afghanistan in 2000 to attend al-Qaida training camps, where he met the organization's founder, Osama bin Laden. He later sent money to one of bin Laden's training camp commanders. Warsame then relocated to Minneapolis, where he continued to provide information to al-Qaida associates throughout 2002 and 2003. He was arrested in December 2003. He spent 5 1/2 years in solitary before pleading guilty. And in 2009, Warsame was sentenced to 92 months in federal prison with credit for time served. He was deported to Canada in 2010, and had no fixed address at the time of his latest arrest. The case returns to court July 14. — With files from The Associated Press. Toronto Blue Jays Canada Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls World
CTV News
07-07-2025
- CTV News
Prosecution seeks life sentence on terrorism grounds for alleged mass killing threat in Montreal
Mohammed Abdullah Warsame's booking photo taken by U.S. Marshals in 2003. (Source: Former FBI Special Agent Harry Samit/LinkedIn) A Crown prosecutor is now treating a man's alleged threat of a mass killing in Montreal in May as a terrorist act and wants to secure a life sentence for the accused. Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 51, was arrested by the RCMP last month and charged with one count of uttering threats. According to the Mounties, he allegedly told an employee at a local homeless shelter in late May that he wanted to 'commit an attack with the goal of killing a large number of people.' Uttering threats carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, however, the prosecutor told the court Monday that the Attorney General believes the threat Warsame allegedly made constituted terrorist activity and filed notice to upgrade the punishment to a life sentence, if he's found guilty. Federal Crown prosecutor Samuel Monfette-Tessier told CTV News that he believes this is the first time this notice, under section 83.27 of Criminal Code, has been filed in Quebec. He said it was filed following 'further assessment of the evidence by the RCMP' in the case. Warsame, who is homeless, is not facing any new charges since his arrest on June 4. The accused was assessed at Philippe-Pinel psychiatric hospital in Montreal to determine his criminal responsibility for the offence he is accused of. The results of the assessment are kept under seal and not yet public at the request of the defence. Warsame remains in custody and is scheduled to return to court next week. Warsame was a former associate of Osama bin Laden after meeting him when he received training at the al Faruq training camp in 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. officials said Warsame described bin Laden as 'very inspirational' and was trained to use weapons, such as AK-47 rifles. According to an affidavit sworn by an FBI special agent in 2004, the accused said he saw bin Laden on several occasions, attended his lectures, and sat next to him at a meal. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis on May 20, 2009, to one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. After serving his sentence in prison in the U.S., Warsame, a Canadian citizen of Somali descent, was deported back to Canada in 2010.
07-06-2025
Man once convicted in Minnesota of supporting al-Qaida is now charged in Canada for alleged threats
MONTREAL -- A man who was once convicted in the United States of supporting al-Qaida has been charged in Canada after allegedly threatening an attack. Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 51, allegedly told a homeless shelter employee in Montreal that he wanted to build bombs to detonate on public transit. He was charged with uttering threats. He was ordered at a court appearance in Montreal on Friday to undergo a 30-day psychological assessment and return to court July 7, according to the newspaper La Presse. 'Both parties have reason to believe that Mr. Warsame's criminal responsibility is in question in this case,' Vincent Petit, who represents Warsame, told the court. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that he is the same Mohammed Warsame who spent 5½ years in solitary confinement before pleading guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida, which the U.S. calls a terrorist organization that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Warsame was sentenced to seven years and eight months in federal prison with credit for time served. He was deported to Canada in 2010 and had no fixed address at the time of the latest alleged incident. The Old Mission Brewery, which runs several homeless shelters in Montreal, contacted police after Warsame allegedly said on May 27 that he wanted to carry out an attack that would kill a large number of people. Warsame was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, and he was formally arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Wednesday. The Somali-born Canadian citizen admitted in his 2009 plea agreement that he traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 to attend al-Qaida training camps, where he dined with the organization's founder, Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors say he later sent money to one of his training camp commanders and went to the Taliban's front line. Warsame later settled in Minneapolis, where he continued to provide information to al-Qaida associates. Prosecutors painted him as a jihadist who called his time in one training camp 'one of the greatest experiences' of his life. They said that even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he passed along information to al-Qaida operatives about border entries and whereabouts of jihadists — and only stopped when he was arrested in December 2003. But his attorneys depicted him as a bumbling idealist whom other fighters in the camps in Afghanistan viewed as ineffective and awkward. Warsame's case took unusually long to work through the U.S. court system partly because everyone — including the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors — needed security clearances. Retired agent Harry Samit, who was the lead FBI investigator on the case and is now director of special investigations for the professional assessment company Pearson VUE in Bloomington, recalled in an interview Friday that Warsame's case was the second major al-Qaida case to break in Minnesota. It came after that of Zacarias Moussaoui, who took flight simulator training in Minnesota and remains the only person to stand trial in a U.S. court in the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui was jailed on an immigration violation when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Samit, whose books on the Minnesota cases will be published starting this summer, said the FBI got word as it was preparing for Moussaoui to stand trial that another al-Qaida operative was in Minneapolis. He said he is certain that Warsame was a sleeper agent who was waiting for instructions from his commanders before he was found. While Warsame was 'kind of a goofy, not very threatening guy,' Samit said, he and other agents who questioned him also concluded that he was 'pure of heart and he was dedicated to the cause.' He said that was apparently enough for al-Qaida leaders who sent him Minnesota, where at a minimum they used him to raise money. When Warsame was deported, the retired agent said, the FBI gave Canadian authorities a 'full accounting' of what it knew and why the bureau still considered him a threat. So he said wasn't surprised to learn this week, after all these years, that Warsame might still remain a danger to society.
Vancouver Sun
07-06-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Canadian man once convicted in U.S. of supporting al-Qaida charged in Montreal over alleged bomb threats
MONTREAL — A man who was once convicted in the United States of supporting al-Qaida has been charged in Canada after allegedly threatening an attack. Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 51, allegedly told a homeless shelter employee in Montreal that he wanted to build bombs to detonate on public transit. He was charged with uttering threats. He was ordered at a court appearance in Montreal on Friday to undergo a 30-day psychological assessment and return to court July 7, according to the newspaper La Presse. 'Both parties have reason to believe that Mr. Warsame's criminal responsibility is in question in this case,' Vincent Petit, who represents Warsame, told the court. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that he is the same Mohammed Warsame who spent 5 1/2 years in solitary confinement before pleading guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida, which the U.S. calls a terrorist organization that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Warsame was sentenced to seven years and eight months in federal prison with credit for time served. He was deported to Canada in 2010 and had no fixed address at the time of the latest alleged incident. The Old Mission Brewery, which runs several homeless shelters in Montreal, contacted police after Warsame allegedly said on May 27 that he wanted to carry out an attack that would kill a large number of people. Warsame was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, and he was formally arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Wednesday. The Somali-born Canadian citizen admitted in his 2009 plea agreement that he traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 to attend al-Qaida training camps, where he dined with the organization's founder, Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors say he later sent money to one of his training camp commanders and went to the Taliban's front line. Warsame later settled in Minneapolis, where he continued to provide information to al-Qaida associates. Prosecutors painted him as a jihadist who called his time in one training camp 'one of the greatest experiences' of his life. They said that even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he passed along information to al-Qaida operatives about border entries and whereabouts of jihadists — and only stopped when he was arrested in December 2003. But his attorneys depicted him as a bumbling idealist whom other fighters in the camps in Afghanistan viewed as ineffective and awkward. Warsame's case took unusually long to work through the U.S. court system partly because everyone — including the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors — needed security clearances. Retired agent Harry Samit, who was the lead FBI investigator on the case and is now director of special investigations for the professional assessment company Pearson VUE in Bloomington, recalled in an interview Friday that Warsame's case was the second major al-Qaida case to break in Minnesota. It came after that of Zacarias Moussaoui, who took flight simulator training in Minnesota and remains the only person to stand trial in a U.S. court in the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui was jailed on an immigration violation when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Samit, whose books on the Minnesota cases will be published starting this summer, said the FBI got word as it was preparing for Moussaoui to stand trial that another al-Qaida operative was in Minneapolis. He said he is certain that Warsame was a sleeper agent who was waiting for instructions from his commanders before he was found. While Warsame was 'kind of a goofy, not very threatening guy,' Samit said, he and other agents who questioned him also concluded that he was 'pure of heart and he was dedicated to the cause.' He said that was apparently enough for al-Qaida leaders who sent him Minnesota, where at a minimum they used him to raise money. When Warsame was deported, the retired agent said, the FBI gave Canadian authorities a 'full accounting' of what it knew and why the bureau still considered him a threat. So he said wasn't surprised to learn this week, after all these years, that Warsame might still remain a danger to society. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
San Francisco Chronicle
06-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man once convicted in Minnesota of supporting al-Qaida is now charged in Canada for alleged threats
MONTREAL (AP) — A man who was once convicted in the United States of supporting al-Qaida has been charged in Canada after allegedly threatening an attack. Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 51, allegedly told a homeless shelter employee in Montreal that he wanted to build bombs to detonate on public transit. He was charged with uttering threats. He was ordered at a court appearance in Montreal on Friday to undergo a 30-day psychological assessment and return to court July 7, according to the newspaper La Presse. 'Both parties have reason to believe that Mr. Warsame's criminal responsibility is in question in this case,' Vincent Petit, who represents Warsame, told the court. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that he is the same Mohammed Warsame who spent 5½ years in solitary confinement before pleading guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida, which the U.S. calls a terrorist organization that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Warsame was sentenced to seven years and eight months in federal prison with credit for time served. He was deported to Canada in 2010 and had no fixed address at the time of the latest alleged incident. The Old Mission Brewery, which runs several homeless shelters in Montreal, contacted police after Warsame allegedly said on May 27 that he wanted to carry out an attack that would kill a large number of people. Warsame was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, and he was formally arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Wednesday. The Somali-born Canadian citizen admitted in his 2009 plea agreement that he traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 to attend al-Qaida training camps, where he dined with the organization's founder, Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors say he later sent money to one of his training camp commanders and went to the Taliban's front line. Warsame later settled in Minneapolis, where he continued to provide information to al-Qaida associates. Prosecutors painted him as a jihadist who called his time in one training camp 'one of the greatest experiences' of his life. They said that even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he passed along information to al-Qaida operatives about border entries and whereabouts of jihadists — and only stopped when he was arrested in December 2003. But his attorneys depicted him as a bumbling idealist whom other fighters in the camps in Afghanistan viewed as ineffective and awkward. Warsame's case took unusually long to work through the U.S. court system partly because everyone — including the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors — needed security clearances. Retired agent Harry Samit, who was the lead FBI investigator on the case and is now director of special investigations for the professional assessment company Pearson VUE in Bloomington, recalled in an interview Friday that Warsame's case was the second major al-Qaida case to break in Minnesota. It came after that of Zacarias Moussaoui, who took flight simulator training in Minnesota and remains the only person to stand trial in a U.S. court in the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui was jailed on an immigration violation when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Samit, whose books on the Minnesota cases will be published starting this summer, said the FBI got word as it was preparing for Moussaoui to stand trial that another al-Qaida operative was in Minneapolis. He said he is certain that Warsame was a sleeper agent who was waiting for instructions from his commanders before he was found. While Warsame was 'kind of a goofy, not very threatening guy,' Samit said, he and other agents who questioned him also concluded that he was 'pure of heart and he was dedicated to the cause.' He said that was apparently enough for al-Qaida leaders who sent him Minnesota, where at a minimum they used him to raise money. When Warsame was deported, the retired agent said, the FBI gave Canadian authorities a 'full accounting' of what it knew and why the bureau still considered him a threat. So he said wasn't surprised to learn this week, after all these years, that Warsame might still remain a danger to society.
