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But Mr. Heft said he did not realize his personal connection to the case until he saw photos of the Jaser family on Tuesday. The head of the non-profit group Paradise Forever, Mr. Heft said he was not the imam who had tipped off police about Mr. Jaser, triggering the investigation that lead to his arrest.

“Basically he came to me two to three times and mentioned to me two to three times that he was concerned about his son’s understanding of Islam and he would hope that I was able to talk to him to get him to soften up,” Mr. Heft said in an interview.

The father, Mohamed Jaser, made no mention of crime or violence, he added. “He was worried that the son was becoming too rigid, he was becoming too self-righteous, too much of a know-it-all, too much of, ‘everybody’s gotta follow me, gotta follow the religion according to how fast I want to follow it,’” he said.

“I said, okay, I’m ready, bring him to me. But he never brought him to me,” said Mr. Heft, an outspoken critic of extremism. “And I’m telling you, that’s the problem. I need to be able to get to the guy and at least put doubt in their mind.”

The imam who first brought forward concerns about Mr. Jaser wants to remain anonymous, his lawyer said Tuesday. Naseer Syed said the imam came to him more than a year ago about the suspect’s conduct. “It was enough of a concern and it passed a certain threshold than the imam felt comfortable with,” he said.

The lawyer said he then notified the appropriate authorities. On Monday, the RCMP credited the imam’s tip with helping bring terrorism-related charges against Mr. Jaser and Mr. Esseghaier.