Fredericton shooter's computer shows focus shifting from video games to anti-Muslim sentiment

Matthew Raymond's defence team is painting an image of a manlosing interest in biking and video games, and instead seeking information on ISIS, anti-Muslim sentiment, demons and the occult.

Raymond. 50, is facing four counts of first degree murder after he shot and killed Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright, then Fredericton constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello when they responded to a reportof shots fired at 237 Brookside Dr. on Aug. 10, 2018.

Raymond has admitted to the shooting but pleaded not guilty. His lawyers are arguing he was not criminally responsible because of a mental illness.

The Crown and defence have agreed Raymond was mentally ill at the time of the killing, leaving the defence with the burden to prove his mental illness prevented him from knowing what he was doing, or knowing what he did was wrong.

A digital timeline

Alex Pate,a member of the defence team, testified he reviewed tens of thousands of photos and videos on Raymond's hard drives, spanning from 2015 to 2018.

In 2015 the vast majority of the files were related to video games and mountain biking, he said. There were also some videos of Raymond with his family or with a group of people.

The year2016was largely the same.

In March of 2017the data shifted focusto the terrorist organization ISIS and some of the "atrocities" they were committing in the Middle East, Pate said.This focus persisted untilAugust of 2017, when Pate said the content became more focused onoccult numbers, demons and serpents.

Pate said he found quite a few "extremely graphic" and "brutal" images and videos related to ISIS on Raymond's hard drives. In March of 2017 alone, there were about10 "extremely violent" videos, Patesaid, and somewhere between 10 and 20 images.

In 2017, materials also included references toPrime Minister JustinTrudeau. He found comments written on images of Trudeau that say he was responsible for "mass immigration," and the loss of Canadian values, Pate said.

In early 2017 thedata also began leaning toward anti-Islam and anti-Muslim-immigration, Pate said.

The jury was shown avideo by Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlancfrom June of 2017. In it, Raymond was protesting the recently passed motion known as M-103, which calls for a national action plan against racism, including Islamophobia. He wore a sandwich board thatread "No Sharia-law."

LeBlanc confronted Raymond and askedhim if he's mentally ill. Raymond saidno. Raymond saidhe gets his news from "the internet."

"They talk about the borders and stuff. And they talk about it on Rebel Media."

Blogger videotaped alleged Fredericton shooter

6 years ago

Duration 1:49

Last year, Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlanc videotaped the man accused in August of killing four people in Fredericton.

Pate testified the first video from a YouTube conspiracy theorist who identifies himself asRob Lee wassaved in May 2017, before this encounter. The video included materialabout Muslim immigration and ISIS, he said.

In the Charles LeBlanc video Raymond spokeabout how Muslims are going to change Canadian society for the worse, and that there are "boatloads of them."

Pate testifies this is a similar message to the Rob Lee video from May.

From skating videos to ISIS conspiracies

The jury was shown multiple videos taken by Raymond. From 2015, some were of a family holiday dinner, another was of a skating outing.

Jumping to 2017, the jury was shown videos from a YouTube channel. The name of it is under a publication ban imposed by Justice Larry Landry. Pate testified some of the videos uploaded to the channel could be made by Raymond himself.

The first video on the channel, posted in March of 2017, has references to Trudeau speaking at a Muslimevent and participating in a prayer. The five-minute-long video ends with ISIS-related photos, some graphic, and a clip of Trudeau saying he will not support a war in Iraq.

The final frame is a closeup of Trudeau's face with text that reads "Justin Trudeau is dangerous."

Pate saidhe also found this video on Raymond's computer, and not just posted on the channel.

Justice Landry told the jury Tuesday this trialis expected to continue until the end of the month.The defence intends to call six witnesses.

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