Right-wing nationalist charged with six counts of murder after terrorist attack on Quebec mosque

Alexandre Bissonnette, the 27-year-old suspect in a terrorist attack against Muslims at a Quebec City mosque, has been charged with six counts of first degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Bissonnette was known for taking right-wing, nationalist positions and supporting the French far-right party of Marine Le Pen. The shooting during evening prayers Sunday left six people dead in an attack that Canada’s prime minister called an act of terrorism against Muslims.

Bissonnette has Le Pen and US President Donald Trump as likes on his Facebook profile, and François Deschamps, an official with a refugee advocacy group, said he was known for his far-right views. “It’s with pain and anger that we learn the identity of terrorist Alexandre Bissonnette, unfortunately known to many activists in Quebec for taking nationalist, pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist positions at Laval University and on social media,” he wrote on the Facebook page of the group, Bienvenues aux Refugiés, or Welcome to Refugees.

More than 50 people were at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when the shooting erupted. In addition to the six who died, five were in critical condition and 12 others suffered minor injuries, University of Quebec Hospital Centre spokeswoman Genevieve Dupuis said Monday. The dead ranged in age from 39 to 60.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard both characterised the attack as a terrorist act, which came amid heightened tensions worldwide over Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim countries.

Trudeau said in Parliament the victims were targeted simply because of their religion and spoke directly to the more than 1 million Muslims who live in Canada, saying, “We are with you.”