How Martin Couture-Rouleau became an aspiring Islamic State fighter

MONTREALThe attack Wednesday on Parliament Hill cast a tragic pall over the country but also overshadowed what appears to be a much clearer case of homegrown radical terrorism that played out just 48 hours earlier south of Montreal.

The actions of the Ottawa gunman, longtime drug addict and petty criminal Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, have garnered the lions share of worldwide jihadi celebration this week for having breached the heart of Canadian democracy and killing Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

But it was the progression of Martin Ahmad Couture-Rouleau from struggling entrepreneur to aspiring Islamic State fighter over the last 18 months that followed the more classical path of radicalization.

After his power washing business foundered, 25-year-old Couture-Rouleau filled the void with a new-found religion that appears to have been nurtured and ultimately perverted by Internet propaganda about Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to his Facebook and Twitter accounts, which he registered under the names Ahmed Rouleau and Abu Ibrahim AlCanadi.

That fact fuels one of the tougher battles that Canadian Muslim leaders are facing in their bid to defend their religion against violent stereotypes and prejudice that risk growing in the wake of a deadly week.

At the end of the day, individuals that are bad are bad, said Samer Mazjoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum in Montreal. Why cant Muslims have insane individuals? When these actions are done by others, they say he is insane . . . Why, as a Muslim Canadian, do we always say right away it was a terrorist act?

Couture-Rouleaus friends in his hometown of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., say he discovered Islam after a dark period in his life, but they have denied that he was mentally ill. They described him this week to the Star and other media as having the converts religious fervour, but an undeniable persuasion.

Radio-Canada has reported that a half-dozen of Couture-Rouleaus friends were also convinced to convert to Islam and that he also offered to pay their airfare to travel with him to Afghanistan in recent months, which they declined.

A young man in Pakistan who said he was friends with Couture-Rouleau told the Star Friday that the Quebecer had attempted to travel to Pakistan last February but was prevented from boarding the airplane. Later he became determined to travel to Iraq. Why?

To fight for ISIS, the Pakistani man, who requested anonymity, said in a Facebook exchange. Its simple.

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How Martin Couture-Rouleau became an aspiring Islamic State fighter