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“I understand Islam better than you,” he told Soussi, citing as his source the father of Wahhabism, an austere form of Islam that interprets the Koran literally.

The boy, who turned 16 this year, elaborated on his beliefs, which he said he had gleaned from the Internet. The police officer was not a true Muslim because he worked to enforce laws other than Allah’s, he said.

He accused Canada of “massacring his brothers and sisters” by taking part in the armed mission against ISIL in Iraq. The government sent its troops, and in a democracy the government is elected by the people, he said. “So the people are at fault. Oh, yes.” Democratic governments must be removed, “by force if necessary,” he said.

The convenience store that had been robbed at knifepoint was a legitimate target because Canada was “a land of war” fighting against Islam, he said. The goods of unbelievers, he added, can be seized as the “spoils of war.” He said he felt no remorse for his actions.

The teen pleaded guilty to the holdup last year. He is on trial in Quebec Court’s youth division on one charge of committing a crime “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group” and a second charge of attempting to leave Canada for the purpose of aiding a terrorist group.

The trial heard that it was his father who alerted police after he discovered his son’s backpack hidden in their yard, containing a knife, a bag of cash and a scarf. RCMP agent Salvador Calderon testified that he met with the father soon afterwards. “He was very nervous because he had confronted his son, and his son wanted to leave the country to fight with a terrorist group,” Calderon said. He said he assured the father the RCMP would do everything possible to stop his son from getting on a plane.