VANCOUVER – Accused terrorist John Nuttall repeatedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” after allegedly planting homemade pressure-cooker bombs on the lawn of the British Columbia legislature on Canada Day, his trial has heard.
Nuttall and his wife Amanda Korody were captured by hidden cameras carrying bags filled with pressure cookers out of an undercover RCMP van early on the morning of July 1, 2013.
As the van, driven by an undercover officer, pulls up to the legislature in Victoria, Nuttall points out his target.
“There it is, brother,” Nuttall says.
“How much is going to be left of it?” asks the officer, who can’t be identified.
“Hopefully none,” replies Nuttall.
Nuttall and Korody have been preparing for this moment for months, talking through their plan with the undercover officer and building pressure-cooker bombs using instructions they found on the Internet.
In the back of the van were three pressure cookers that Nuttall and Korody believed contained C-4 plastic explosives. The RCMP ensured the bombs were inert, the Crown has said.
A day earlier, they had identified two bushes where they planned to drop the bombs with timers set to detonate between 9 and 10 a.m.
In the video, Nuttall says an Arabic phrase that translates to “in the name of Allah” as he picks up a bag stuffed with two of the pressure cookers. Shortly after, Korody steps out of the van with her pressure cooker, as well.
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Nuttall returns several minutes later. He appears full of energy, speaking quickly in a loud voice.
“Allahu Akbar,” he says repeatedly, using an Arabic phrase that means “Allah is the greatest.”
Nuttall and Korody were recent converts to Islam who previously told the officer they were inspired by al-Qaida propaganda and wanted to avenge the mistreatment of Muslims overseas.
Nuttall tells the officer he encountered a homeless man as he dropped off his bombs and that he almost used a knife he had to kill the man.
“I was going to kill him,” says Nuttall. “We’re not playing games. … Stick it right in, I’d sever the artery. He’s dead.”
The undercover Mountie, who has been in the witness box as most of the videos have played, acknowledged police did not anticipate the man in the bushes. He said it was not a pleasant surprise.
Korody said she placed her bomb in a hole and covered it with branches. She said it was well hidden and she was sure no one would find it.
The video ends as Nuttall, Korody and the undercover officer abandon the van and switch to a getaway car, after which their conversations are captured by a hidden microphone.
Nuttall declares the mission a success.
“We got away with it,” he says. “It’s just a matter of time.”
He tells the officer he doesn’t feel good about the prospect of killing people, but he calls it “moral jihad.”
“You know it’s going to happen,” the officer says. “How do you feel?”
“I’m proud of what I did,” says Nuttall. “It’s a war, brother. It’s a war on Islam and that’s it. We’re soldiers.”
Nuttall says he and Korody don’t plan to take responsibility for the bombings. They have already recorded a video explaining their motivation, but Nuttall tells the officer to ensure the video is destroyed.
“We don’t tell nobody anything,” he says. “We let the media blame it on whoever they’re going to blame it on, OK?”
The officer has told the couple their next stop is a safe house in the Vancouver area, where the Crown has said they are later arrested.
Nuttall and Korody have each pleaded not guilty to four terrorism-related charges.
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