Looking into the eyes of a terrorist

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/08/2016 (3355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Aaron Driver in a video warning western “enemies of Islam” that the only solution would be “the spilling of your blood” looks eerily like the Aaron Driver I was running beside, and trying to photograph, after his appearance in court earlier this year.

He may even have been wearing the same balaclava.

The video, released by RCMP Thursday, shows a balaclava-clad Driver staring straight into a camera. It’s the same gaze I saw a few months ago.

In February, I was at Driver’s quick court matter at Winnipeg’s Law Courts where a possible days-long hearing became a 10-minute rubber stamp by a provincial court judge of a peace-bond agreement between Driver and the federal Crown prosecutor.

Twelve conditions were agreed to, including not being in possession of explosives, living at an address in Strathroy, Ont., not being on social media and not contacting the Islamic State or any other terrorist groups.

Most of the conditions Driver agreed to were to expire Dec. 1, but another, not to be able to have a computer or cellphone, was to run out Aug. 31, because that’s when a new school year would begin and Driver was expected to enrol in some type of post-secondary course in nearby London, Ont.

The Crown and police wanted the peace bond because, as they put in the document, they believed Driver “may participate in or contribute to, directly or indirectly, the activity of a terrorist group for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity.”

We don’t know whether Driver had been in contact with IS or any other terrorist group, but we do know — because of a video released by RCMP during a news conference in Ottawa Thursday — he obviously now had access to a computer and had used one to send out the video message.

Even more terrifying, we also know he had violated another condition: he had explosives.

Once I and other reporters spoke to the Crown, we tried to speak to Driver who was sitting on a bench on the main floor waiting to sign his peace bond. He declined the requests, but after about an hour for the paperwork to be processed, he started wandering through the Law Courts building.

It appeared Driver decided not to venture outside right away because of the throng of media ready to inundate him with questions.

After waiting, I finally went over to him, again trying to ask him a few questions, which he again declined. But then I told him it was up to him how long he wanted to stay inside the courthouse. But I said because media were camped outside both exits, they were going to get his photograph at some point.

That’s when he buttoned up his coat, put on a black balaclava and tuque, looked straight at me and then pushed through the doors to swiftly walk past the assembled media without a word.

That’s when I ran alongside Driver, snapping a photo with my iPhone with Free Press photographer Mike Deal in the background, while Deal took a similar picture of Driver and myself behind. Only the area around Driver’s eyes could be seen because of his balaclava — the same eyes caught in the video six months later.

I remember asking Deal, after we let Driver walk off, why anyone who is not a terrorist would make himself look like one as he walks away.

We now know the answer. Driver never did give up his terrorist tendencies, he just relocated them to an Ontario town.

We will likely never know what Driver was planning. Who knows how many lives were saved because RCMP and other law authorities were able to get to him before he could carry out whatever action he had planned.

What we do know is the blood Driver vowed to spill turned out to be his own.

And that the guy I was running beside down a Winnipeg street will no longer be able to hurt anybody.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca