Former UW student Kevin Omar Mohamed is being released from prison after admitting to attempting to join a terrorist organization with intentions of attacking Western countries. The Parole Board says he has not done anything towards rehabilitating or served even half of his sentence. They are “concerned that [he] may continue to commit terrorist-related offences.” They recently labelled him as a “high risk to public safety.” Corrections Services decides who is released regardless of the Board’s decisions, although they do take the board’s decisions into account. When wanted by the police for terrorist activity in 2017, Mohamad fled and hid in Waterloo where he was eventually detained in possession of a large hunting knife, lots of cash, and plans for terrorist activity involving explosives and guns.
He has been given restrictive conditions for his release, including limited access to the internet. He must also live in approved living arrangements and his devices may be inspected by his parole officer. Also, he is to participate in “religious counselling” that is not specified. “The Board remains very concerned that the serious nature of [his] offences alone, coupled with [his] dangerous radical religious beliefs, would impede [his] reintegration and continue to present significant risk to the community as a whole.” In 2014, Mohamad attempted to join an Al-Qaeda affiliation in Syria but was convinced by his mom to come home to Canada. Back home, he tried to spread hate against others and incite violence on non-Muslims, suggesting publicly that “non-believers” should be burned alive. The Parole Board stated, “As [he has] engaged in interventions and there is little in the way of evidence of progress to assess [his] level of commitment to change versus [his] degree of adherence to extremist ideological beliefs. As such, the Board finds [he] continue[s] to present at least a moderate risk to re-offend violently.”
If he breaches conditions or endangers public safety, he will be returned to prison. The government will be watching Mohamed very closely; Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have many procedures in place to protect Canadians from people that are known to be capable of and desiring to hurt others.
