Article content

BRAMPTON — Mohamed Hersi thought he was being discreet as he prepared to depart Canada three years ago. Unless he lowered his voice, he wouldn’t even speak the name Al-Shabab, the Somali terrorist group he searched on the Internet.

“You have to think trust nobody,” he said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Mohamed Hersi found guilty of trying to join Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab Back to video

But while he spoke about “snitches” and the importance of not attracting attention, he told his friend that if you were smart about it and God was on your side, you could stay two steps ahead of the police and security agencies.

“You shouldn’t fear them,” he said to his friend. “They’re stupid as a rock, you know? They don’t know too much. They’re not very intelligent themselves, you know? When you think about it they are very stupid, you know?”

As it turned out, the “friend” he confided all this to was an undercover Toronto police officer and their conversations were being recorded with the authorization of the courts. A month after his burst of bravado, he was arrested.