Montreal shooting: Why Canadian police fear copycat attacks

What did the bulletin say? 

Canada’s federal police sent a bulletin to police agencies across the nation after the shooting concluded. The manifesto encouraged citizens to shoot police officers, and an alert was sent across, warning police officers to practice extreme caution and remain vigilant.

The report further said that the 104-page manifesto was published online by Rebel News shortly after the attack. It blames feminism, liberalism, and capitalism as the root cause of loneliness, isolation, and social degradation, the struggles he believes men are facing today.

The shooter highlights in the document what he believes are “potential class A targets.” It includes investment banks, powerful politicians, and “influential zionists,” corporate executives in private healthcare, companies involved in environmental destruction, plastic surgeons, and cryptocurrency speculators. 

In addition to threatening attacks on “the headquarters of international pornography companies,” the manifesto closes with a violent call to action: “Be unflinching, go forth, and KILL THEM ALL!”

Who was the slain officer?

Montreal police identified the slain officer as 34-year-old Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, who joined the force in 2021. The civilian victim, Michel Mizrahi, was confirmed to be an Israeli citizen by the Israeli consulate in Montreal. Witness footage reviewed by the Guardian suggests an officer may have accidentally shot Mizrahi during the confrontation. Quebec’s domestic security minister, Ian Lafrenière, acknowledged rumours of friendly fire but stated he could not confirm details at this time. The provincial police watchdog is currently conducting a thorough investigation into the exact circumstances of the deaths.

This fatal shooting marks the third on-duty death of a Canadian police officer this month, following the recent wounding of two RCMP officers during a property dispute in Saskatchewan. The shooting comes in unprecedented times when a string of attacks has propagated the extreme misogynist incel ideology. 

First incel-related incident in Canada

These recent tragedies echo a heartbreaking history of targeted violence against women.

In 2018, a devastating van attack claimed the lives of ten innocent people and injured a dozen survivors in Toronto. The horror continued in 2020 when a machete attack at a Toronto spa left one woman dead and another with severe, life-changing injuries. Driven by hateful “incel” ideology, that brutal assault became the first crime of its kind in Canada to be legally recognised as an act of terrorism.

The nation also continues to carry the profound grief of the 1989 attack on Montreal’s Polytechnique engineering school. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, the gunman murdered 14 women and wounded 14 other people before dying by suicide.

Response after the Monday attack in Quebec

Christine Fréchette, Quebec’s premier, shared her condolences with the reporters and ordered the Quebec flag to fly at half-mast.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, the first responders, and the entire community of Côte‑des‑Neiges,” Mark Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, said in a statement on social media.

“Deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the police officer who died in the line of duty, ” said Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the city’s mayor, expressing her condolences.

(The article is curated by Salonee Kulkarni, who is an intern with The Indian Express)