We need to watch for local terrorism: Expert
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The onus is on everyone to be aware of the kind of strange behaviour that could be linked to terrorism, a former University of Manitoba terrorism professor said Thursday.
“We need to be an aware citizen and keep tabs on people we know are suspicious and report them to CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service), which has an office in Winnipeg,” said Peter St. John. “I've done it myself ... Don't sit back and do nothing.”
St. John was responding to the death of former Winnipegger Aaron Driver, a suspected terrorist who was shot by police in Strathroy, Ont., on Wednesday.
Driver, who had been flagged by CSIS after he had posted support of ISIS on social media, was in and out of court in Winnipeg last year.
“I just had an uncomfortable feeling about that,” St. John admitted. “This guy, I felt may be a problem down the line. We may never know what he went through. He may have felt isolated, angry and resentful, and wanted to go out with a bang.”
Driver, 24, had detonated one bomb inside a taxi when he was confronted by police and it is believed he was planning to detonate a suicide bomb in a larger centre.
Leonard Tailleur, the lawyer who had handled Driver's peace bond case in Winnipeg, expressed shock at what happened.
“Saddened to hear that it had to end this way for him,” Tailleur said in an e-mail sent to the Canadian Press.
Conservative MP James Bezan had asserted that Driver should be indicted for terrorism.
“I am thankful RCMP were able to stop Driver before he could act. I was concerned about him last year,” Bezan tweeted (@jamesbezan).
Bezan could not be reached for comment Thursday.
St. John believes Driver succumbed to ISIS propaganda.
“People are looking for a cause and finding it on the Internet, or it could be the result of mental instability,” he said. “Or it could be the result of slick work done by ISIS aimed at the weak and the most likely to be drawn in.
“It's unbelievable that suicide bombers believe that they're going to go straight to heaven and have seven virgins.”
The FBI had alerted CSIS to a video that Driver had made. Wearing a mask, Driver railed against the western “enemies of Islam” and warned that the only solution would be the “spilling of your blood” in a video shown by RCMP in Ottawa.
Driver had been living with his sister in London, Ont.
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