A Canadian security guard has been arrested after he walked into his local city hall and opened fire after going on an anti-woke, pro-Gaza rant on social media.
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, brought a rifle into Edmonton City Hall, shooting several rounds, before throwing a homemade Molotov cocktail on Tuesday. No one was injured.
He is now facing six charges for the attack in Alberta after he surrendered himself.
In CCTV footage from the attack, Sarvar is seen randomly shooting left and right inside the civic building, shattering glass outside a conference room, before taking off his jacket and walking away with the gun in his hand.
Sarvar was a Canadian Corps of Commissionaires employee – which is a non-profit security company originally created to employ ex-military members.
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, brought a rifle into Edmonton City Hall, shooting several rounds, and then threw a homemade Molotov cocktail on Tuesday. No one was injured
In the video, which has since been deleted from YouTube, he said: ‘Before I do my mission, I want you all to know that I am not a psychopath. I do not believe in bloodshed’
In the video titled ‘Rise up,’ which has since been removed from YouTube, Sarvar went on a rant about what he believes to be wrong in the world – from wokeism, to the fighting in Gaza.
Sarvar is sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, wearing a Commissionaires jacket.
In the video, which has since been deleted from YouTube, he said: ‘Before I do my mission, I want you all to know that I am not a psychopath. I do not believe in bloodshed.
‘I am not one of these monsters that hurt children, that hurt innocents.
‘I’m just tired of seeing the tyranny and corruption taking over our society and our lives. We need good men and women in all workforces to promote a pro-human life.’
Sarvar continued by saying that people need to become doctors, police, and politicians to ‘rise up against this wokeism disease that is leading our generation into deception.’
The suspected gunman told his followers that they need to ‘rise up’ and stop ‘this genocide that’s going on in Gaza and throughout the world.
‘Anybody that is destabilizing other countries, hurting their community, should feel ashamed of themselves, and inshallah we will rise against you guys and we’ll put you on trial.’
Mentioning his ‘beautiful wife and children,’ he continued: ‘I cannot sit back and let this happen. I cannot watch our society crumble into darkness.
He is now facing six charges for the attack in Alberta after he surrendered himself
In CCTV footage from the attack, Sarvar is seen randomly shooting left and right inside the civic building, shattering glass outside a conference room, before taking off his jacket and walking away with the gun in his hand
He drops his jacket before walking away
In a second video, also deleted, the man is seen wearing a tactical-style vest, holding a large gun, and smoking as he chats in a non-English language
‘We all need to rise up, we all need to stop being on our phones, we gotta promote healthy social lives where we all communicate with one another.’
He then went on to rant about taxation, water, and healthy eating.
Sarvar said: ‘We got to be in control of our tax, how it’s spent, and tax money has to be spent on us and it has to be spent on something that is pro-life, pro-human and somebody that is beneficial for us and our children.
‘We need to start filtering our water. We need to watch what we’re eating. We got to start eating healthy. Our officials need to start promoting healthy choices, healthy diet, exercises.
‘They need to unite us all as one and we all got to start doing something positive for our society.’
‘Inshallah, I will succeed with my mission. If I don’t succeed, I know somebody else will succeed for me.’
In a second video, also deleted, the man is seen wearing a tactical-style vest, holding a large gun, and smoking as he chats in a non-English language.
Sarvar was in the Alberta court of justice on Thursday. His lawyer, David Ibrahim, asked Justice Steven Bilodeau to reschedule his bail hearing for February 2
According to the city, the damaged caused by the attack could cost an estimated $100,000
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said following the attack: ‘While more investigation needs to occur, based on an alleged video manifesto, the attacker appears to have provided a plethora of reasons for his attack.
‘But [he] does seem to have been primarily motivated by an alt-right agenda involving concerns around municipal taxes, inflation, the cost of living, and hatred for multiculturalism — what experts are calling ‘salad bar extremism’ motivated by mental health concerns.
‘We encourage Canadians to allow the investigation to continue before coming to any conclusions.’
Sarvar was in the Alberta court of justice on Thursday. His lawyer, David Ibrahim, asked Justice Steven Bilodeau to reschedule his bail hearing for February 2.
He is charged with reckless arson in an occupied property, possessing incendiary materials, use of a firearm while committing an offence, careless use of a firearm, throwing an explosive substance and discharging a firearm into a building.
According to the city, the damaged caused by the attack could cost an estimated $100,000.