Terror Probe: Two arrested, one charged in Ontario after national security investigation

The RCMP have arrested and have now charged one man with a terrorism-related offence following a national security investigation in Kingston, Ontario.

The investigation involved multiple police forces, along with the help of the FBI in the U.S.

The RCMP will hold a news conference later today to fully inform the public on their investigation. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said police took action “based on credible information, to ensure public safety,” further stating that “the government of Canada constantly monitors all potential threats and has robust measures in place to address them.”

Goodale said the operation has not changed the country's threat level. It remains at "medium," where it has been since late 2014.

The father of Hussam Eddin Alzahabi says his 20-year-old son has been arrested in what he believes is a terror-related investigation.

The family has been living in Canada since July 2017, after living in Kuwait from 2008 to 2017, and Syria before that. But Amin Alzahabi said he does not consider the family Syrian refugees.

According to a bulletin posted to the website of a Kingston-area Catholic church detailing the journey of the Alzahabi family, an ecumenical group of churches helped bring them to Canada through the private sponsorship refugee program in 2016-17.

“They tell me they search about him about terrorists. I know my son, he didn't think about that. He like Canada. He like the safety in Canada. How could he think about that? Not good, not good.”

“It's fake news about my son," said Alzahabi. "I trust my son. I know he cannot do anything against any human, humanity."

The threat was considered serious enough to involve months of investigation, thousands of hours of police work and the use of a Pilatus PC-12 RCMP surveillance plane which has been circling over Kingston at low altitudes in recent weeks for hours on end, creating a great deal of interest from residents due to the noise.

More details will be known after the RCMP news conference is held later today.