Terry Newman: The Montreal arsonist who claimed he didn’t know it was a synagogue

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Akodad, led by his lawyer Saaty, then testified that he’d rather not name the friend who supposedly took him to a “chill spot” in an Airbnb. There, he said, a stranger offered him an opportunity to make $15,000. He claims he was then connected via Signal to another individual, whom he FaceTimed. That person allegedly gave him the “three barbecues” mission — code for arson.

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Akodad said he was driven to the West Island in an unknown vehicle. He was instructed to commit the arsons, film them for proof, and target a third unknown vehicle on the property. He claimed he did not know the targets were Jewish institutions — and would never have done it if he had known.

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Akodad said that because he never fully completed his mission, he only received $2,500 after taking a bus and then getting a ride from two individuals, one being the “mission” escort he couldn’t identify from the night before, to an unknown place in Montreal where another unknown individual gave him cash.

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Saaty argued that these arsons were about money and not hate, and that in the absence of proof beyond reasonable doubt that Akodad knew these were Jewish institutions, he should be given the “benefit of the doubt.”

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Crown prosecutor Hadjis-Chartrand questioned Akodad’s claims that he couldn’t remember things because of stress and drug use, and suggested that he was able to plan, remember details, carry out the acts and then film them. When pressed about not realizing these were Jewish institutions, he later acknowledged that he “wasn’t stupid” and knew what the Star of David looked like.

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This wasn’t the only thing that was bizarre about this hearing. Before it began, I, a videographer and another reporter waited in the hallway near the elevators and close to the courtroom, where signage expressly permits filming, hoping for an image of Akodad, who has no pictures online. A man approached and tried to tell us whom we could film. When asked who he was, he replied, “Don’t worry about who I am.”

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Later, I learned the man was El Amine Serhani, director of the Listening and Assistance Centre for Maghrebi People in Quebec. The same organization lists Akodad’s lawyer Saaty as a “citizen mentor” and his father Fouad Akodad as a “human pillar.” All three were present in court. The scene grew even more bizarre when the court constable shook Serhani’s hand after the hearing.

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If this wasn’t enough, on the same day in the same courthouse, there was a hearing for another alleged Montreal synagogue arsonist, Steven Luu, which was postponed to July 8 pending his psychological evaluation. Luu is accused of smashing a back window and throwing two incendiary devices into Temple Emanu-El-Beth-Sholom in Westmount, a suburb of Montreal, in the early morning of June 5. Security cameras captured the incident. Shortly afterward, Luu was arrested nearby by Westmount public safety patrol officers who discovered that he also had walkie-talkies with him, raising questions about whether other suspects may have been involved. For the time being, Luu remains in custody.

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Court will reconvene on Sept. 10 to hear what Akodad’s sentence will be. His story is suspect, not just because it is vague and unbelievable, but because it emerged two weeks after the Toronto police’s announcement that youth were being hired to attack Jewish schools and synagogues. It’s not clear if Akodad’s story is in any way linked, and it’s unlikely the court will fully interrogate that question now that he’s avoided a proper trial.

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National Post

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