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A 26-year-old man from Toronto has been arrested on terrorism charges, police announced on Friday, as well as charges for two attempted kidnappings in the Greater Toronto Area.
The charges are in relation to offences targeting Jewish women and members of the Jewish community, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) said in a news release on Friday.
Waleed Khan is accused of providing funds and property to terrorist group ISIS, aiding terrorist activity and conspiracy to commit murder for a terrorist group, according to an RCMP release.
RCMP said Khan’s crimes allegedly took place between June 17 and Aug. 17 this year.
Khan, along with two other men from Toronto, is also accused of two attempted kidnappings in the Greater Toronto Area in May and June, which prompted an investigation into the three men, according to the Toronto police release.
Osman Azizov, 18, and Fahad Sadaat, 19, were arrested in connection with the attacks, police said.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow posted about the arrests on social media on Friday, commending police for uncovering “potential threats to public safety motivated by hate.”
“I thank these police services for their continued vigilance to keep us safe,” Chow said in the post.
Attempted kidnappings spurred larger investigation, police say
The first alleged kidnapping attempt by the three accused is said to have happened on May 31 near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue E., according to a June Toronto police release.
Four men held a woman at gunpoint and told her to get into a vehicle, the release says, and then drove away after the woman refused and screamed for help, per the release.
“During the investigation, officers were able to confirm that only three suspects attempted to kidnap the victim,” it says.
The second attempt was in Mississauga on June 24, when three men allegedly chased and tried to kidnap two women walking near Britannia Road W. and Queen Street S., Peel Regional Police said in a release in August.
One of them “may have had a gun and another a knife,” Peel police said. Police say a bystander intervened and the men drove away in an Audi SUV.
Khan, Azizov and Sadaat were arrested in August in relation to the incident in June, according to the release from Peel police.
“PRP connected the two occurrences and with TPS assistance identified and arrested the suspects,” Toronto police said in the Friday release.
Police allegedly found firearms and ammunition, and collected other evidence while searching the accused’s homes in Toronto, according to the TPS release.
“The evidence gathered expanded the scope of the investigation to include additional offences motivated by hate – particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community,” the release reads.
Police say 79 charges have been laid in total. The three men are each facing 14 charges, including attempted kidnapping with a firearm, sexual assault with a weapon and hate crimes.
Khan is also facing additional charges, including firearm offences and probation breaches.