Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York)

by **Diesel** Thu 26 Jul 2018, 8:02 pm

Mentally ill stabber in army recruiting centre attack to be allowed into community

Michele Mandel
Published Jul 26, 2018

It appears the last mentally ill “lone wolf” who went on a 2016 rampage in Toronto will be free in no time.

In a shocking decision, Ayanle Hassan Ali — a man with schizophrenia found not criminally responsible for the attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York — has already been cleared to leave the secure unit of his Hamilton hospital this year on passes into the community, including forays that aren’t even directly supervised.

This follows Ali’s first hearing before the Ontario Review Board earlier this month after a court found him NCR due to his mental disorder, but acquitted him on terrorism charges. The federal Crown is currently appealing that decision, still arguing that a “lone wolf” falls under Canada’s anti-terror laws.

According to the recently released disposition, Ali has been ordered detained in the secure forensic unit at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton for treatment and rehabilitation. In the upcoming year, the person in charge “may permit” Ali to enter the community in “southern Ontario” while accompanied by staff or someone approved by the hospital.

More worrying is the last condition available for Ali if the hospital agrees: to enter the “community of Hamilton, within a 2 km. radius of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton-West 5th Campus, for education purposes only, indirectly supervised.

“Indirectly supervised?” How is that Ali is already being fast-tracked to freedom after only his very first ORB hearing? On the heels of the conditional discharge of cop killer Richard Kachkar, is it any wonder that many have little confidence in a system that is so quick to release people deemed dangerous to society?

The reasons for the board’s decision on Ali will be released in a week or so, according to an ORB spokesman.

The ORB’s mandate is to impose the least onerous conditions while maintaining public safety. But are we to feel secure that they’re already willing to allow him into the community just two years after this very sick man could have killed three soldiers?

On Mar. 14, 2016, Ali forced his way into the Yonge St. recruiting centre intent on becoming a jihadi martyr.

At the entrance, he punched the first soldier repeatedly in the head, then took a large kitchen knife from a folder he was carrying and lunged at him, slashing and stabbing at him with the knife, causing a three-inch gash to the corporal’s arm.

A sergeant rushed out of her office to see what was happening and Ali gave chase with his knife and narrowly missed slicing the back of her neck. He then tried to slash and stab at another sergeant, who in the chaos had slipped on spilled coffee and fallen to the ground.

With his first blow, the blade hit the ground.

While laying there, Ali repeatedly stabbed the soldier in the head and torso. But luckily, the mentally ill man was now using the wrong end of his weapon.

It took four soldiers to finally tackle and subdue him.

During his attack, Ali shouted words to the effect of, “Allah akbar.” He told a paramedic that “Allah” had sent him “to kill people.” Both forensic psychiatrists who examined Ali testified that he believed soldiers were a “legitimate target” due to Canada’s military action in Muslim countries and he wanted to be a martyr.

He was originally charged with three counts of attempted murder, three of assault with a weapon, two of assault causing bodily harm and one count of carrying a weapon – all “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group.” In May, Justice Ian MacDonnell acquitted him of the terror charges, ruling that he didn’t act on behalf of any organization but was acting alone.

“I have a licence to kill, I have a green light to kill,” Ali had written in his diary. “One soldier is all it takes, just one.”

If and when Ali is allowed visits into the community this year, the board ordered the hospital to inform local police.

And don’t worry, he’s also not allowed to have any weapons or visit any army recruiting centres.

mmandel@postmedia.com

Toronto Sun

by Charlie Sat 28 Jul 2018, 9:03 am

A Hamilton city councillor has concerns about allowing a man with schizophrenia who attacked soldiers at a military recruitment centre to leave the forensic unit at the West 5th campus to visit the hospital grounds or the community unsupervised.

July 27, 2018

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) B88298850Z.1_20180727205617_000_GN295201.3-0_Super_Portrait

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) B88298850Z.1_20180727205617_000_GN295201.3-0_Super_Portrait

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8767193-potential-visits-to-community-for-military-recruitment-centre-stabber/

by **Trooper** Sun 29 Jul 2018, 7:34 am

I hope those making the decision to let him loose have the public's safety well in hand.

I wonder if this individual was to park himself in the neighborhood of those letting him loose would alter somewhat their decision?

by Zodiac Thu 09 Aug 2018, 8:23 am

Man found not criminally responsible for attacking soldiers wants to attend Mohawk College

Posted: August 8, 2018

http://www.chch.com/man-found-not-criminally-responsible-attacking-soldiers-wants-attend-mohawk-college/

by **Spider** Fri 08 Feb 2019, 8:03 am

Crown opposes bid to let mentally-ill stabber attend college

Published:
February 7, 2019

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) 21x098_21ad_9-e1533730387951

Ayanle Hassan Ali.

The Crown is going to Ontario’s highest court to try to block a mentally-ill man who stabbed three soldiers at a Canadian Forces recruiting centre from attending Hamilton’s Mohawk College without supervision.

The Ontario Review Board made an “unreasonable” decision that failed to consider public safety when it gave Ayanle Hassan Ali the prospect of unaccompanied passes to attend college classes, the Crown argued in a factum filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Ali still has “significant potential for carrying out an attack on military personnel or nearby military offices. The board did not address that risk or give it any substantive consideration,” prosecutors said in their written submission.

In its alarming July decision, the ORB gave Ali privileges to leave the secure forensic unit at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton to attend Mohawk College across the street. He would be escorted initially, but the plan is that within the year, he’d be allowed to sign himself out and go unaccompanied to class.

Yet, it was only in May that Ali, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was found not criminally responsible (NCR) for the attempted murder of the soldiers in the March 2016 attack. He was acquitted on terrorism charges after the judge found no evidence he was acting on behalf of any group.

The federal Crown has appealed that acquittal, arguing that a “lone wolf” acting on his own — even one who was rightfully found NCR — is still subject to Canada’s anti-terror legislation.

In the terrifying incident, Ali, 30, burst into the North York recruiting centre wielding a large kitchen knife and muttering a prayer as he lunged at uniformed personnel, slashing the arm of one soldier and narrowly missing the neck of another. “The attack was motivated by his radical religious and ideological beliefs, in large part precipitated by mental disorder, which led him to believe that killing Canadian military personnel was justified because of Canadian military actions overseas and that he would obtain martyrdom in doing so,” the Crown wrote in its appeal factum.

In its own reasons, the ORB admitted Ali “still poses a significant threat to the safety of the public” and “holds some of the same delusions, that he experienced at the time of the (attack).”

His psychiatrist described Ali as a “kind, careful, considerate, soft spoken person” but conceded his “risk includes his potential to act out on political or radical ideas and that there is no treatment for that.”

So naturally, they thought it was a good idea to allow him to be college bound on his own?

Mohawk College wouldn’t say whether Ali has registered there.

“We won’t comment on any student’s applicant status as all students have a right to privacy,” said spokesman Sean Coffey. But he added that any application would be evaluated “under a lens of safety” and “safety is paramount.”

Ali had never even expressed an interest in attending school, the Crown argued, and the plan to accelerate him from lockdown with zero privileges to walking around campus alone within the year was beyond ambitious, let alone unsafe.

The Crown called it “particularly alarming,” considering Ali’s “ongoing delusions and fixation (with Canadian forces and his belief that attacking them is justified), particularly in the context of the aggressive and difficult to subdue nature of the attack/index offences (with many trained military personnel having great difficulty in disarming and subduing him), his prior interest in achieving martyrdom and the board’s own recognition of a need for secure detention to address the significant threat and level of risk posed by the Respondent.”

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-crown-opposes-bid-to-let-mentally-ill-stabber-attend-college-unsupervised

by Slider Tue 12 Feb 2019, 8:28 am

Crown doesn’t want St. Joe’s patient to attend Mohawk unsupervised

The Crown is appealing an Ontario Review Board decision involving a West 5th patient

Feb 11, 2019

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) B88579905Z.1_20190211204034_000_GJSG81HG.3-0_Super_Portrait

Ayanle Hassan Ali was found not criminally responsible for leaving two soldiers with minor injuries in May 2016.

The Crown is appealing an Ontario Review Board decision that would potentially allow a man with schizophrenia who attacked soldiers at a military recruitment centre to attend Mohawk College unsupervised.

In its factum filed with the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Crown argued the review board's July ruling is "unreasonable," as is their decision not to impose a condition that Ayanle Hassan Ali refrain from direct contact with uniformed military personnel.

"Being allowed to sign himself out for classes, presumably for at least an hour, in addition to the potential of being triggered or motivated to take action by encountering military personnel at the college, has significant potential for carrying out an attack on military personnel or nearby military offices," says the Crown factum. "The Board did not address that risk or give it any substantive consideration."

Ali, 30, has been at St. Joseph's Healthcare's West 5th campus since April 2016 with zero privileges as his case wound its way through the courts.

Last May, he was found not criminally responsible for leaving two soldiers with minor injuries in May 2016 when he slashed Toronto Canadian Forces personnel with a kitchen knife.

As a result of the ruling, the Ontario Review Board ordered him detained and listed potential privileges, including allowing him to attend Mohawk College, which is across the street from the mental health hospital.

Initially, he would be accompanied by staff, but if things go well, he would be able to go on his own, the decision reads.

Ali's lawyers, Nader Hasan and Maureen Addie, pointed this out in their factum.

"The conditions do not give unrestrained liberty to Mr. Ali," the factum reads. "To the contrary, they envision an incremental process."

Their factum points out that Ali's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, testified that Ali has spent a "very lengthy" period of time on lockdown, and that he is ready for privileges. He has "an interest in furthering his education" but it has been tough to access resources inside the facility.

"Although he will not attend Mohawk College until the Hospital deems him ready for that next step, Dr. Chaimowitz believed he would be ready at some point during the next year ..."

Mohawk won't comment on a student's application status due to privacy reasons, spokesperson Sean Coffey said. "That being said, if any student applied to Mohawk College or any other college under these circumstances they are evaluated under a lens of safety for the student, other students, staff and faculty and that safety is paramount."

The appeal is expected to be argued Feb. 15.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9171126-crown-doesn-t-want-st-joe-s-patient-to-attend-mohawk-unsupervised/

by Phrampton Mon 24 Jun 2019, 5:41 pm

Man who attacked soldiers in 2016 shouldn't have been acquitted of terror charges: Crown

CBC News · Posted: Jun 24, 2019

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) Ayanle-hassan-ali

Ayanle Hassan Ali was found not criminally responsible after he attacked soldiers at a military recruitment centre in Toronto. (Toronto Police Service)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ayanle-hassan-ali-crown-appeal-1.5187613

by **Colter** Wed 17 Jul 2019, 9:09 am

Ayanle Hassan Ali-(Attempted murder of three soldiers at the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in North York) Toronto-desktop

MANDEL: No one errs on side of caution in military stabber's case

Published:
July 16, 2019

Ayanle Hassan Ali.

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-no-one-errs-on-side-of-caution-in-military-stabbers-case

by Lionfield Fri 20 Dec 2019, 6:39 pm

North York recruiting centre stabber was not a lone-wolf terrorist: Appeal Court

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, December 20, 2019 3

https://www.cp24.com/news/north-york-recruiting-centre-stabber-was-not-a-lone-wolf-terrorist-appeal-court-1.4739117

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