WHY?

Canadian Man’s Past as ISIS Fighter Was a Hoax, Police Say

Shehroze Chaudhry allegedly went by the moniker Abu Huzayfah.

A Canadian citizen who maintained for years he was a member of the Islamic State’s religious police in Syria allegedly fabricated the entire story and was never a member of the caliphate, Canada’s Global News reports. Shehroze Chaudhry is charged with concocting a terrorist hoax, a charge more often used for fake bomb threats or similar lies. The 25-year-old allegedly went by the name Abu Huzayfah and was one of the subjects of the New York Times podcast “Caliphate,” which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Chaudhry said he had carried out public executions on behalf of ISIS. In response to news of the hoax charges, the creator of the show said on Twitter, “The narrative tension of our podcast ‘Caliphate’ is the question of whether his account is true.” Conservative members of Canada’s parliament previously called for his arrest while he was living openly in Toronto, claiming to be a former ISIS killer. Canadian police have arrested him, and he’s due in court November 16.