The 2014 Saint Jean sur Richelieu ramming attack was a
terror car ramming that occurred in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
on October 20, 2014. Two
Canadian Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
members were hit by a
lone wolf terrorist, Martin Couture-Rouleau.
Warrant officer
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...
Patrice Vincent died from injuries, while another soldier was injured, but survived. The
RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
and the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
has characterized the homicide as a terrorist act by an
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
-inspired terrorist.
[
]
Attack and pursuit
On October 20, 2014, Martin Couture-Rouleau deliberately rammed a car into a pair of Canadian Armed Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
soldiers in a shopping centre parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada, at 11:30 a.m. ET. He had been seen sitting in his car and watching for over two hours before the attack.[ A police chase ensued. The '']Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'' reported that the suspect called 911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 91 ...
during the chase to say that he carried out his acts in the name of Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
.
The chase ended when Martin Couture-Rouleau lost control of his car, rolling it into a ditch and onto its roof. A witness said that a spike belt was deployed. According to witnesses, Couture-Rouleau exited the car and charged a female police officer with a knife.[ Police shot him up to seven times and he was pronounced dead that evening in hospital.] A large knife was seen stuck in the ground according to eyewitnesses.
There were two victims. Warrant officer
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...
Patrice Vincent (53) died in hospital the next day while another unnamed soldier sustained non-life-threatening injures. One of the soldiers was in uniform and one was not.[
A statement by Prime Minister ]Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
indicated that government and police officials linked the attack to terrorism.
Victims
Warrant officer Patrice Vincent, 53, had served in the military for 28 years and was considering retiring to become a cabinet maker.[ He had previously served as a refrigeration and mechanical technician engineer as well as a military firefighter.][ Vincent's funeral was held on November 1, 2014.][
A second Canadian Forces member was injured in the attack.
]
Perpetrator
Martin Couture-Rouleau (died October 20, 2014, age 25) was a francophone Canadian living with his parents in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...
at the time of the attack. He was separated from his partner and their young child. Couture-Rouleau had converted to Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in the previous year, and was praying at a mosque "regularly." He had owned a small power-washing business that failed.
Legal documents show Couture-Rouleau became a Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
convert
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
in 2013 and started to refer to himself as Ahmad LeConverti (Ahmad the Converted).[ ]Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
activity and a CBC interview show that he had become a supporter of ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
. He posted images and links that were anti-American foreign policy, and links to anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
videos. Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
reported Facebook posts in both English and French about Allah and graphic posters with references to Islam's superiority over Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
.[ A Facebook friend who corresponded with Couture-Rouleau said, "So he was really mad that Canada actually supported the American bombing of SISin Syria and Iraq so I think that was the main motive in killing that Canadian soldier."] Another told Radio-Canada that Couture-Rouleau spent hours on the internet and devoured jihadist
Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
literature, and that Couture-Rouleau dreamed of dying as a martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
.
According to information Radio-Canada obtained, he had convinced at least four or five people in his circle of friends to convert to Islam, but the friend said that Couture-Rouleau got carried away with an extreme interpretation of the Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
. A friend said he was obsessed with practicing his new religion and trying to convert his friends.
The RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
became aware of Couture-Rouleau after a relative alerted police to the man's terrorist leanings.[ He wanted to travel to Iraq to fight with ISIL the summer before he perpetrated the attack in Quebec.] His Canadian passport was revoked in June 2014 over concerns that he had "become radicalized after converting to Islam."[ RCMP Commissioner ]Bob Paulson
Robert Wilfred Paulson, (born 1958) is a former Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He retired from the RCMP at the end of June 2017.
Life and career
Paulson was born in Lachute, Quebec in 1958. His father was an Icelandic Can ...
confirmed he was one of 90 Canadians under surveillance by the RCMP because they were suspected of wanting to join terrorist organizations.
Responses
The federal government immediately labelled the act as a terrorist attack. According to Steven Blaney
Steven Blaney (born April 8, 1965) is a Canadian businessman and Conservative politician. He served as the Minister of Public Safety Canada (July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015) and previously as the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister o ...
, Canadian Minister of Public Safety
The minister of public safety (french: ministre de la sécurité publique) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for overseeing Public Safety Canada, the internal security department of the Government of Canada. The ...
, the attack was "clearly linked to terrorist ideology." The Prime Minister's office released a statement that said in part "The individual who struck the two CAF members with his car is known to federal authorities, including the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams
Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSET; french: Équipes intégrées de la sécurité nationale, ''EISN'') are Canadian counter-terrorist, counter-foreign interference and counter-espionage security forces operating under the auspic ...
(the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams are an anti-terrorism police unit). Federal authorities have confirmed that there are clear indications that the individual had become radicalized."
After the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a nationally televised address in which he said "Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent... was killed earlier this week by an ISIL-inspired terrorist" and "this week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world. We are also reminded that attacks on our security personnel and on our institutions of governance are by their very nature, attacks on our country, on our values, on our society, on us Canadians as a free and democratic people who embrace human dignity for all." Conservative MP Erin O'Toole
Erin Michael O'Toole (born January 22, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Durham since 2012. A member of the Conservative Party, O'Toole served as the party's leader and the leader of the Official ...
said on ''Power Play
Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to:
Sports
* Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games
* Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket
* Power play (cur ...
'' that he stands behind the terrorist act label, both in the case of Zehaf-Bibeau and Martin Couture-Rouleau. "Warrant Officer Vincent and Nathan Cirillo weren't attacked for who they were, they were attacked for what their uniform represented, so inherently that's terrorism."
Rouleau's next-door neighbour said, "Mr. Rouleau's father, Gilles, is a peaceful man who tried to help his troubled son. She said Mr. Rouleau had been "brainwashed" by online radicals. "I don't think it's a terrorist act," she said. "He needed help. We could see that he needed psychiatric help." "To convert to a new religion and to adopt such violent, radical ideology suggests that he was influenced by others, in person or online," said Wagdy Loza, head of the Canadian Psychological Association
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the primary organization representing psychologists throughout Canada. It was organized in 1939 and incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, in May 1950.
Its objectives are to imp ...
's extremism and terrorism section.
In an article on ''The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' website, Jacob Siegel equated both Couture-Rouleau and Zehaf-Bibeau, "the killers who brought terror to Canada this week", with the 2014 New York City hatchet attacker, saying "like the killers who brought terror to Canada this week, the New York attacker is being called a "lone wolf", meaning he acted essentially on his own, outure-Rouleau and Zehab-Bibeauseem custom made for the stray dog profile, and the kind of terrorist the West could be seeing a lot more of in the future". He cites a paper by Brian Michael Jenkins
Brian Michael Jenkins (born 1942) is an American expert on terrorism and transportation security. During his nearly four decades of analysis, Jenkins has advised governments, private corporations, the Catholic Church, and the Church of England on t ...
of the RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
. Jenkins described them as "stray dogs," rather than lone wolves, characterizing them as "misfits" who are "who are moved from seething anger to spontaneous deadly action" by exposure to Islamist propaganda.
Media reactions
Commentators have cited the attacks against Canadian soldiers in Quebec and Ottawa while arguing against Canadian Government changes to anti-terrorism legislation, although the legislation was prepared long before the attacks occurred and is not in response specifically to the two attacks.
James Baxter, editor-in-chief of ipolitics.ca, an Ottawa political zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...
, said "the government is exploiting two isolated murders to push through sweeping new surveillance powers" and pointed out "the would-be 'terrorists' involved were armed only with a car and a vintage hunting rifle".
Andre Picard, in an opinion piece for ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', acknowledged the Couture-Rouleau and Zehaf-Bibeau were both attracted to radical elements in Islam, and dismissed arguments that mental illness caused their actions.
Vincent and Nathan Cirillo, the victim in the Ottawa shootings, were jointly named the Canadian Newsmakers of the Year by the Canadian Press
The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...
.
See also
* 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa
*Shooting of Jesse Hartnett
In the late evening of January 7, 2016, in a sudden attack with no precipitating event, Edward Archer rushed towards and shot Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett while he drove his patrol car, inserting the gun into the window of the car a ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack, 2014
2014 murders in Canada
2014 in Quebec
Attacks in Canada in 2014
Crime in Quebec
Murders by motor vehicle
ISIL terrorist incidents in Canada
October 2014 crimes in North America
October 2014 events in Canada
2014 ramming attack
Terrorist incidents involving vehicular attacks
Vehicular rampage in Canada
Terrorist incidents in Canada in the 2010s
Terrorist incidents in North America in 2014