Overview

2017 Quebec Mosque Shooting was a mass shooting that occurred at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec, Canada in late January 2017, in which a lone gunman killed six people and injured an additional nineteen others. Following the incident, Quebec student Alexandre Bissonnette was arrested as the only suspect.

Background

On January 29th, 2017, a lone gunman wearing a head covering entered the mosque after the evenings scheduled prayers, opening fire on those remaining inside. In the attack, six people were fatally shot, and an additional nineteen people were injured, five of which were in critical condition.

Developments

Online Reaction

That evening, the Islamic Cultural Center streamed a Facebook Live video outside of the mosque, gathering upwards of 496,000 views, 8,8,00 shares and 5,300 reactions over the next 48 hours (shown below).

Meanwhile, a thread about the shooting reached the front page of /r/worldnews,^[5] gathering upwards of 48,000 points (84% upvoted) and 17,200 comments within 48 hours.

Justin Trudeau's Response

Immediately after the incident, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his condolences to the victims, denouncing the attack as "cowardly" and labelling it a "terrorist attack on Muslims in a center of worship and refuge." The following day, Trudeau delivered a statement about the attack, referring to it as "senseless violence" that has "no place in Canadian society" (shown below).

Donald Trump's Response

Also on January 30th, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer delivered a statement condemning the attack and noting that United States President Donald Trump had spoken with Trudeau following the incident (shown below).

Suspect

Following the shooting, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette was arrested after calling police to report himself as the shooter. Bissonnette was subsequently charge with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. Prior to Bissonnette's identity being revealed, Fox News tweeted that the suspect was "of Moroccan origin" (shown below).^[2]

On January 30th, Bissonnette was identified as the only suspect. That day, Heavy^[4] published an article titled "Alexandre Bissonnette: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know," noting that he was a student at the Universite Laval and held "right-wing, pro-Israel, pro-Trump and anti-immigration beliefs."

On January 31st, The Daily Dot^[3] reported that Bissonnette was a "far-right internet troll," citing his Facebook likes which included Donald Trump and French politician Marine Le Pen. Additionally, the article highlighted several instances of Twitter posts incorrectly identifying the suspect as a Muslim or refugee. That day, a post titled "Terrorist who killed 6 in Quebec was member of the alt-right" reached the front page of the /r/fuckthealtright^[6] subreddit, garnering more than 24,800 points (65% upvoted) and 2,700 comments within 24 hours.

4chan Post

Following the shooting, a post on 4chan's /pol/ board made by a Canadian user asking "what day are mosques most active? I'm going to demonstrate at the main one in my city and want to go at the right time" was discovered, leading some to speculate that Bissonnette submitted the thread prior to the attack (shown below).^[1]

Search Interest

External References