The man accused of shooting dead six Muslim men during evening prayers at a mosque in Canada was known for having far-right views.

French-Canadian student Alexandre Bissonnette has appeared in court charged with the killings and five counts of attempted murder.

The attack took place at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre at about 8pm on Sunday, as around 50 people gathered for worship.

Bissonnette made a brief appearance in court and did not enter a plea.

Image: Flowers at a makeshift memorial near the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City

Wearing a white prisoner jumpsuit, his hands and feet shackled, he looked at the floor and fidgeted but remained silent.


The 27-year-old reportedly had nationalist and right-wing sympathies.

His Facebook page listed French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen and US President Donald Trump among his "likes".

He had also expressed support on the site for Generation Nationale, a group whose causes include the rejection of multiculturalism.

Image: People attend a vigil in support of the Muslim community in Montreal, Quebec

According to his profile, which has since been taken down, he attended Laval University where he studied political science and anthropology.

One user of the online forums that Bissonnette was also said to use, Eric Debroise, told Le Journal de Quebec his ideals were "very right and ultra-nationalist white supremacist".

Among the six killed in the attack was Azzedine Soufiane, a 57-year-old grocer and butcher with three children.

Mr Soufiane was described by local imam Karim Elabed as a longtime Quebec City resident.

Khaled Belkacemi, 60, was a professor in food science at Laval University.

University rector Denis Briere said he had been "an esteemed member of the faculty and the university, a devoted and beloved man of his colleagues and students".

Image: The scene as emergency services arrived at the mosque on Sunday evening

Mr Belkacemi was married to another professor and they had three children.

Abdelkrim Hassen, 41, was an IT worker for the government and was married with three daughters.

Two of the other victims, Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahim Barry, 39, were brothers from Guinea.

Aboubaker Thabti, 44, was also killed in the shooting.

There were also 19 people injured in the attack and five of those remain in a critical condition.

The mosque's vice president, Mohamed Labidi, said the victims were shot in the back and, although security was a "major concern" at the mosque, they had been "caught off guard" by the attack.

"It's a very, very big tragedy for us," he said. "We have sadness we cannot express."

A second man arrested after the attack is being treated as a witness, not a suspect, police have said.