BRAMPTON, Ont. - A young man might initially not have known he was part of a terrorist conspiracy but must surely have come to realize the group was hell-bent on bloodshed, an Ontario court heard Thursday.
In closing submissions at the first trial of an alleged member of the so-called "Toronto 18,'' Crown lawyer John Neander argued it would be an "insult to reason'' to think the man didn't know what the group was about.
"(The leader's) mouth was a river of ugly criminal rhetoric -- a Mississippi overflowing at flood time -- a torrent of bile and hatred and indeed incitement of explicit criminal acts,'' Neander told Superior Court Justice John Sproat.
"(The accused) was there, he couldn't avoid the flood, he wilfully joined in it and was carried along by it.''
There was a "sheer superabundance of evidence'' the leaders, who also cannot be named publicly, were planning terrorism and the others involved knew, he said.
"The link they shared, the bond they had, was to do evil.''
A key Crown witness had testified during the trial that the youth was naive and the leaders kept him in the dark about their murderous aims.
Still, Neander argued, the overall intent was obvious and called suggestions the accused didn't know what was going on an "exercise in sentimentality,'' Neander said.
The group's leaders were "indiscriminate'' in talking about what they wanted to do. They discussed fighting Americans "wherever you find them,'' they showed videos containing extremist Islamic imagery, and they praised al Qaida and jihad, court heard.
The leaders justified their plans to attack Canadian targets on the basis that Canada supported the oppression of Muslims in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, court also heard.
The accused, now 20, cannot be named because he was underage at the time of his alleged offences. He was arrested along with 17 others in the Toronto area two summers ago in a sweep that made headlines around the world.
Police alleged they had thwarted a homegrown terrorist conspiracy that planned to attack Parliament Hill, take politicians hostage and behead them, and truck-bomb targets such as the RCMP headquarters and a nuclear power plant.
Neander said the accused, a convert to Islam, might initially have thought a 12-day camp he attended north of Toronto in December 2005 was simply a Muslim religious retreat.
Both witness and wiretap evidence showed the dozen participants fired a handgun, wore camouflage, marched and played paintball games in what the Crown says was combat-style terrorist training.
Also, the alleged leader gave a lecture at the camp in which he said "Rome must be defeated'' -- a reference to the United States and western society.
"In the midst of the camp, it would have been apparent what was going on -- it was a terrorist group,'' Neander said. "That speech is clear enough in itself.''
The accused also attended a second camp in May 2006 near Guelph, Ont., at which an al Qaida-style propaganda video was allegedly made.
Court has heard the youth was alienated from his Hindu family and looked up to the group's leader as a mentor.
"It's a choice he made -- to follow the dogmas of (the leader),'' Neander said.
"(He) is an unqualified, unthinking follower of his emir, even when what the emir preaches is poison, even when what the emir preaches is criminal.''
The accused, who has pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges, is the first of the remaining 11 to stand trial. Charges have since been stayed or withdrawn against seven of those arrested.
To attain a conviction, the Crown has to prove the terrorist group existed, and that the accused knew its aim was to commit violence and participated in its activities.
Among other things, the prosecution says camping supplies and walkie-talkies he shoplifted were to help the group.
The defence will begin its closing arguments Aug. 7.
