A security guard alleged to have fired shots and thrown Molotov cocktails in Edmonton city hall in January is now facing terrorism-related charges, RCMP announced Monday.
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, now faces a total of 11 terrorism-related charges
Paige Parsons · CBC News
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A security guard alleged to have fired shots and thrown Molotov cocktails in Edmonton city hall in January is now facing several terrorism-related charges.
In a news release Monday, the RCMP said its Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) has charged Bezhani Sarvar, 28, with counselling commission of a terrorism offence and possession of property for terrorist purposes.
Sarvar is also facing nine criminal charges in connection with the Jan. 23 attack at city hall that led to a lockdown.
In its news release, the RCMP say the following criminal charges laid against Sarvar also constitute terrorism offences:
- Intentionally or recklessly cause damage by fire or explosion to property, knowing the property was inhabited.
- Intentionally possess incendiary material while committing an indictable offence.
- Use of a firearm while committing an indictable offence.
- Intentional discharge of a firearm while being reckless as to the life and safety of another person.
- Possession of a prohibited device (two counts).
- Mischief.
- Carrying a concealed weapon.
- Possession of weapon for the purpose of committing an offence.
No one was injured during the attack. The RCMP news release say the criminal investigation is ongoing.
Sarvar is being held at the Calgary Remand Centre.
He is scheduled for a bail hearing on Tuesday, according to court records.
Sarvar had worked for security company Corps of Commissionaires since 2019. He was assigned to a variety of locations across Edmonton but never worked as part of the security detail in city hall, the company said in a news release last month.
Temitope Oriola, a University of Alberta criminology and sociology professor, said he wasn’t surprised to see terrorism charges laid against Sarvar.
Oriola, who researches terrorism, said that the evidentiary bar for getting a conviction for terrorism is quite high, and that in the past Canadian authorities have often been reluctant to pursue prosecution for terrorism, but that’s starting to change.
Oriola said that, generally, police and prosecutors must feel confident about their evidence in order to proceed with terrorism charges.
“The likelihood of a suspect in an incident such as this being charged with terrorism is higher depending on the kinds of tactics that they use,” he said, explaining that an attack on a public institution or on elected officials could hold more weight in a terrorism case than an attack on a random apartment building or person.
A four-minute video of Sarvar that circulated on social media may also be playing a part in the evidence, Oriola said.
In the wide-ranging and sometimes sporadic video, Sarvar lists a long list of concerns with society, and says he wants to make the world better. His critique includes inflation, unaffordable housing, multiculturalism, “wokeism,” the fighting in Gaza, immigration, bullying, racism and genocide. It’s not clear when or where it was recorded.
Oriola described the contents of the video as a seemingly unrelated and borderline non-rational tapestry of grievances. and said video suggests Sarvar might have mental health issues.
In the wake of Sarvar’s arrest, neighbours at his north-side apartment complex described him as quiet, and said he has a wife and children.
City hall has remained closed to the public and a security review has been underway since the shots were fired inside the building in late January. City staff have since been allowed to return to the building.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paige Parsons reports on justice issues, courts and crime, with a special focus on public safety. Send Paige a story tip at paige.parsons@cbc.ca.
