A Canadian man who was featured as a terrorist associated with ISIS on a New York Times produced podcast, was arrested by Canadian officials for faking his involvement with the Islamofascist terror group.
Shehroze Chaudhry, a 25-year-old from Burlington, Ontario, who used the alias “Abu Huzayfah,” was the featured subject in five episodes of “Caliphate”, a New York Times produced podcast that focuses on the Islamic State and Islamofascist terrorism in general.
Chaudhry claimed “Huzayfah” had travelled to Syria in 2016 and had taken up with the terrorist group ISIS as a fighter, committing horrific acts of terrorism.
“The blood was just…it was warm, and it sprayed everywhere…and the guy cried, was crying and screaming,” Huzayfah said in the podcast. “It’s hard. I had to stab him multiple times. And then we put him up on a cross. And I had to leave the dagger in his heart.”
“The interviews were published in multiple media outlets, aired on podcasts and featured on a television documentary, raising public safety concerns amongst Canadians,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement. “Chaudhry was charged with Hoax-Terrorist activity.”
According his academic transcript from Pakistan’s University of Lahore, Chaudhry was a student at the exact time he claimed Huzayfah was an ISIS fighter, contradicting his ISIS claims. Multiple sources familiar with Chaudhry identify him as Huzayfah.
The host, Times terror reporter Rukmini Callimachi, attempted to spin her way out of the fact that the podcast team failed to adequately vet Huzayfah before giving him a global platform, defending her failure in a series of tweets.
1. Big news out of Canada: Abu Huzayfah has been arrested on a terrorist “hoax” charge. The narrative tension of our podcast “Caliphate” is the question of whether his account is true. In Chapter 6 we explain the conflicting strands of his story, and what we can and can’t confirm https://t.co/w0CbPGvzeA
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) September 25, 2020
Canada’s terrorism hoax law has been used to prosecute individuals who make fake bomb threats, and is based on the idea that bogus threats of terrorism spread fear and consume police resources.
“Hoaxes can generate fear within our communities and create the illusion there is a potential threat,” RCMP Superintendent Christopher deGale said.
“As a result, the RCMP takes these allegations very seriously, particularly when individuals, by their actions, cause the police to enter into investigations in which human and financial resources are invested and diverted from other ongoing priorities.”
Chaudhry faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The New York Times is increasingly facing criticism for the sourcing their material. Recently, The Times printed an article stating that President Trump hadn’t paid personal income taxes in 10 of the last 15 years, and only paid $750 in personal income taxes the last two years.
President Trumps attorney’s denied the accusation, explaining the President has paid millions in personal taxes during that time. They question The Times refusal to present supporting documents to their allegations.
