Daesh sympathizer was killed in a high-stakes standoff with police Wednesday afternoon in Strathroy, Ont., according to news reports. Police keep watch around a house in Strathroy, Ontario, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.
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“We will continue to ensure that our police forces have the tools they need to protect Canadians against this evolving threat of terrorism”, Blaney’s press secretary, Jeremy Laurin, wrote in an email.
Authorities said Driver was under a peace bond after catching the attention of Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, for tweeting support for ISIS under the alias Harun Abdurahman in October, 2014.
Police said on Thursday that Driver had not been under constant surveillance, but had been monitored.
Police were still on the scene early Thursday and said they would remain through the night.
“It was a race against time”, Cabana said.
In the video, aired during a news conference in Ottawa, a masked Driver is seen railing against western “enemies of Islam” and warning that the only solution would be the “spilling of your blood”.
RCMP in southern Ontario have killed terrorism suspect Aaron Driver after a confrontation on Wednesday evening. “Our partnership reflects our joint commitment to protecting the safety of our citizens”, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman said in a statement.
Ross said that notices like the one issued on Wednesday are put out “fairly routinely” in the wake of terror attacks.
A spokeswoman for Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency which runs the Greater Toronto Area’s regional transit lines, says it was also advised of a security threat.
Driver, who once published instructions for Muslims trying to reach Syria, was released on a terrorism-related peace bond in June 2015, days after police raided his suburban Winnipeg residence, the Star reported a year ago.
Under the peace bond agreed to by both sides, there was an acknowledgment there were grounds to fear that Driver might help a terrorist group.
Winnipeg-based attorney Leonard Tailleur told The Canadian Press he was “shocked” to hear that his former client had been killed.
Driver was first picked up in Winnipeg in June 2015.
Driver had been under a court order not to associate with any terrorist organizations, among other restrictions.
When Driver was released later that month, he was ordered to comply with 18 different conditions, including wearing a Global Positioning System tracking device. The government later said some of his bail conditions had been lifted and that he would not go on trial, the AP reported. He continued to be prohibited from using a computer or cellphone – rules that were to be in place until the end of August. However, in a brief statement, the RCMP was vague, saying instead that “a suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public’s safety”.
The RCMP said CSIS and other police and security agencies were involved in the operation.
Despite the threat, Goodale said the terror threat level for Canada remained at medium, unchanged since the fall of 2014.
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Canadians are encouraged to remain alert and to report any suspicious or unusual behaviour to police.
