Teen appears in court in terrorism case
RCMP reports youth placed on peace bond in Fredericton court Wednesday on suspicion of involvement with online hate group 764 Network; case is related to Nov. 4 school threats
The RCMP says a capital-region youth has been placed on a peace bond after its investigation found ties to an international, online terrorist organization, and the case is linked to threats made at New Brunswick schools last fall.
The police force’s national security enforcement section for the Eastern region of Canada issued a news release Thursday morning about an investigation into a youth’s alleged involvement with terrorist activities.
“In late 2025, the RCMP Federal Policing – Eastern Region’s National Security Enforcement Section (ER NSES) in New Brunswick, in close collaboration with the Fredericton Police Force, began an investigation into a youth who was an active member of an online group in the 764 Network/The COM,” the release said.
The 764 Network is a notorious online sextortion ring with neo-Nazi leanings that’s been designated a terrorist organization in Canada, and is treated as a terror network by U.S. law-enforcement agencies as well.
The RCMP release said the Fredericton Police Force arrested the youth on charges of uttering threats and public mischief, and that investigation in turn led to the RCMP embarking on an investigation for alleged participation in the activities of a terrorist group, which is an offence outlined under Section 83.18 of the Criminal Code.
“It was determined that the youth allegedly used social media to promote the violent ideology of 764, a group that has recently been added to the Government of Canada’s terrorist entity list,” the release said.
“This group uses social media and online gaming platforms to recruit and radicalize individuals, spread propaganda and violent extremist narratives, and incite violence both online and offline.”
Specifically, the RCMP alleges, the young capital-region resident actively extorted victims to carry out self-harm, making threats to schools in the province and in the United States, and produced and distributed material online aimed at “gaining notoriety for the 764 Network.”
That suspect appeared in Fredericton youth court Wednesday and was placed on a terrorism peace bond with strict conditions, the release said.
“This investigation highlights the threat of exposure to extremist online spaces and in peer-to-peer networks,” Insp. Aaron Glode, the officer in charge of the Eastern region national-security section, said in the RCMP release.
“Be aware of who your children are talking to online, and take note if they start to become more private or withdrawn.”
Given the reference to threats to schools in the RCMP news release, the Fredericton Independent contacted the Fredericton Police Force to inquire if the terrorism investigation was linked to threats made to seven New Brunswick schools on Nov. 4 - most of them in the Fredericton region - that led city police to arrest a youth.
Fredericton police spokesperson Sonya Gilks declined to comment, referring all inquiries to the RCMP.
RCMP Insp. Aaron Glode with the ES-NSES later verified that the youth placed on the terrorism-related peace bond this week was the suspect arrested for the threats to the seven New Brunswick schools.
“We can confirm this is the same individual that was arrested on Nov 4,” he wrote in an email to the Fredericton Independent on Thursday afternoon.
New Brunswick RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette, who was looped in on the email exchange with the city police force, also declined to comment or elaborate about the young suspect.
“As per our news release: the Youth Criminal Justice Act prevents any further release of information regarding this individual,” he wrote.
However, that’s not accurate. The Youth Criminal Justice Act precludes the publication or broadcast of information that would tend to identify minors accused of criminal conduct, as well as youth witnesses.
It doesn’t prohibit the dissemination of such information as the age and gender of an accused youth, the general area in which they reside, the date and nature of charges against them, or conditions imposed on them as part of court orders.
In fact, such details are routinely included in news coverage of youth-court matters.
Wednesday’s case in Fredericton youth court marks the second such terrorism peace bond case involving a minor in New Brunswick this month.
The New Brunswick RCMP issued a news release Feb. 4 that as a result of another national-security investigation, a youth had been placed on a terrorism peace bond for the first time ever in this province.
That release didn’t indicate in which judicial district the youth appeared or the nature of the alleged activities that gave rise to the investigation or the peace bond.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.