Thirty-four-year-old Rehab Dughmosh, who is facing terror-related charges, admitted in court that she attacked people inside a Scarborough Canadian Tire store in the summer of 2017 “for ISIS.”
This acknowledgement came about after the crown read a six-page agreed statement of facts presented to the jury on the first day of her trial on Wednesday. When asked by the crown after reading the statement if the facts were true, Dughmosh — who is self-represented — said, “Yes.”
According to the statement of facts, Dughmosh packed a bag with several homemade weapons, including a bow and a butcher’s knife, just before 5 p.m. on June 3, 2017, and made her way to the department store at Cedarbrae Mall.
Once inside the store, the statement said Dughmosh removed from beneath her clothing a black and white ISIS banner and tied a black bandanna bearing the terrorist-group’s symbol around her head. She then began swinging a golf club at three employees while shouting “Allahu Akhbar” and “this is for ISIS,” according to the statement.
An employee of the store managed to wrestle the club away from Dughmosh, who, the statement of facts said, then pulled out the knife and began threatening employees again. The document said the knife was eventually pried away from Dughmosh, who was then wrestled to the ground.
During an interview with INSET (The Integrated Security National Enforcement Team) after the incident, Dughmosh “explained that she feels good when she sees news of ISIS terrorist attacks… She wanted news of her own attack to be published; she believed ISIS would be happy with what she had done,” the statement of facts said.
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Furthermore, the statement said Dughmosh was “happy with what she had done” but “was disappointed that she failed to hurt anyone in her attack.”
Upon searching her home the day after her arrest on June 4, 2017, the document said the RCMP found a red bag and a black bag that Dughmosh’s husband – who she was separated from at the time — had confiscated from her before she went to the department store.
In the red bag was “a large quantity of tools and makeshift weapons,” including a hammer and two archery arrows. In all, the statement said the red bag contained 36 homemade weapons.
In the black bag was “four knives, scissors, a child’s shovel converted into claws, a screwdriver, and nail polish remover and cotton balls.”
Furthermore, investigators said they found two ISIS propaganda videos on her iPhone, both of which, the statement said Dughmosh had viewed “several times.”
The document said the videos had been deleted by Dughmosh shortly before she went to the Canadian Tire.
Police also found a handwritten will in her name dated May 22, 2017.
The statement of fact said in that will she asked Allah “to grant me martyrdom for his sake, for the elevation of his religion, and to take revenge from the criminal infidels.”
The jury also heard that in April 2016, Dughmosh attempted to travel to Syria from Toronto to join ISIS. She tried to make her way through Turkey, but while en route, her brother contacted the RCMP, who then notified Turkish authorities. She was refused entry into the country and flown back to Canada, where the RCMP interviewed her.
During that time, the statement said Dughmosh denied to the RCMP that the purpose of her trip was to join ISIS. She said she was traveling to visit family in Damascus. The RCMP chose to not lay any charges and closed the file.
Meanwhile, Dughmosh has pleaded not guilty to the charges. After the crown rested its case, she did not present any evidence in her own defence. The jury was sent home and will be back Thursday morning when the judge will give the jury instructions on deliberations.
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