This & That, Ceci et Cela

TORONTO (Reuters) - A group of Canadian residents arrested for “terrorism related offenses” were inspired by al Qaeda, had amassed enough explosives to build huge bombs and were planning to blow up targets in densely populated Ontario, police said on Saturday.

Mike McDonell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the group had acquired three metric tons of ammonium nitrate — or three times the amount used in the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City — as they sought to “create explosive devices.” Police arrested 12 men and five young people. The adults were from Toronto, its western suburb of Mississauga and from Kingston, Ontario. (Reuters)

So that’s what it was! Intense police activity around Toronto had been reported since yesterday but the police refused to comment on their activity until today.

Crazy surrounding factoids include 5 of the 17 arrested being under 18. Reports this evening also noted the suspects backgrounds varied from students to unemployed to professionals from upper middle class families. The mayor of Toronto confirmed that he was made aware of the investigation back in January, giving credence to the fact that the attack preparations had been going on for a very long time.