Youth pleads not guilty to terrorism charges

A youth has pleaded not guilty to three terrorism-related charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a plot to kill Jewish people in Ottawa.

The pleas were made as a trial got underway Thursday in Ontario court for the young person, who was arrested in February 2024 and cannot legally be identified due to his age.

He is charged with conspiracy to commit murder through involvement with a terrorist group, as well as facilitating terrorist activity by making available instructional material and propaganda and by seeking to acquire a prohibited firearm.

The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, began a day after his co-accused was found guilty on four charges.

The co-accused, who also cannot be named due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded not guilty to the charges but admitted to a statement of facts and invited a judge to find him guilty.

The unusual move preserves his right to appeal pretrial rulings on the admission of certain evidence in his case, as well as the findings of guilt.

The agreed statement of facts says the co-accused found guilty Wednesday was inspired by the Islamic State terror group and planned, along with others, to carry out a terrorist attack in Ottawa against Jewish people.

The statement indicates there was discussion of him using homemade pressure cooker bombs in a suicide assault that was to take place in late 2023.

In court Thursday, Crown prosecutor Kelly Reitsma outlined the case against the youth on trial, saying he conspired with his co-accused and an unindicted individual, who used the online aliases Klm and Gh D, to commit murder.

The Crown alleges the role of the youth on trial was to assist with the attack by seeking to acquire a prohibited firearm, possibly an Uzi, to be used by his co-accused.

"Though there will be evidence that the specific plan changed over time, their intent remained the same: to kill as many Jewish persons as possible in support of the Islamic State," Reitsma said. "That other persons would die in an attack was expected and accepted."

While his co-accused "believed in martyrdom," the youth on trial "did not wish to die for the cause," Reitsma said.

The two youths exchanged instructional material and Islamic State group propaganda in large quantities beginning as early as August 2023, she said.

The Crown questioned RCMP Const. Leona Raths on Thursday about surveillance of the two youths and search warrants the police executed at their homes.

Reitsma said the court would hear from digital forensic officers who will testify about the extraction of information from devices that were seized during the searches.

An expert on the Islamic State and one on explosives are also expected to testify.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

By Jim Bronskill | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.