'Why did the police put my life jeopardy?'; Cabbie caught in terror takedown slams cops
By
Randy Richmond, The London Free Press
First posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 07:42 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 07:57 PM EDT
STRATHROY, Ont. - The cab driver injured in a terrorist explosion charges the RCMP and the OPP did nothing to protect him, ignoring several chances to intervene before a bomb nearly took his life.
“Why did the police put my life jeopardy?” Terry Duffield said Wednesday. “They did absolutely nothing to help me at any time. They did absolutely nothing at any time to prevent me from getting in that situation.”
In an exclusive interview with The London Free Press, Duffield revealed new details about last Wednesday’s police takedown of terrorism suspect Aaron Driver, including its shocking conclusion.
“As I’m laying on the ground, I hear an officer say, loud, ‘He’s still twitching.’ Then I hear pop, pop, pop, pop, like four or five shots, and then it was complete silence.”
Moments earlier, only a reach for cigarettes saved his life, Duffield said.
“As I leaned over to grab the cigarettes, Boom!, there goes the bomb. If I hadn’t leaned over to grab that pack of cigarettes, I probably wouldn’t be here to talk to you today. It was that seat and those cigarettes that saved my ***, no cop.”
Duffield was injured after an explosive device that Driver brought into the cab went off outside the address where he was living in Strathroy. OPP have confirmed they shot and killed Driver outside the cab.
RCMP were tipped off earlier that day about threats from an ISIS supporter on a video and by 11 a.m. had identified the man as Driver, who was living with his sister in Strathroy on a terrorist peace bond imposed by a judge because of Driver’s support and online contact with ISIS.
The cab company has said it received a call from the address and that Driver wanted to go to a downtown London mall, although it’s not clear if that was his intended final destination.
It’s not clear when police arrived at Park Street and set up their operation outside the home.
Duffield said he was dropping off a fare nearby when he got a call about 4 p.m. that day from his dispatcher about a man at 212 Park St., in Strathroy who wanted to go to London.
He’d taken the resident, Driver, on previous trips to work or shopping, Duffield said.
“I never thought anything twice about this guy. He’s very quiet.”
As he drove down Park Street, he saw no evidence of police snipers or undercover officers staked out in the area. No police officer approached him or tried to stop him before he went into the driveway.
He pulled into Driver’s driveway and sat for about five minutes waiting, filling out receipts from a previous fare, Duffield said.
“Even in the five minutes that I was there, no cop approached the car. Nobody tried to signal me, like get the hell out of the area, nothing.”
Driver came out, taking about five to seven steps from the house to the front corner of his vehicle and another five steps into the back seat.
The two spent about a minute talking about where Driver wanted to go, and arranging for Driver to pay him up front, Duffield said.
When he put the car in reverse, police swarmed the vehicle, and he said to Driver, ‘I think they’re here to talk to you.’
That’s when he leaned over reached for his cigarettes beside him on the front seat before leaving the car, and when the explosive device went off.
Duffield said he asked police during an interview two days later why they didn’t do more to protect him.
Police told him that part of the incident was under investigation.
A cab ride was the only way Driver could leave Strathroy, so why didn’t police call the two cab companies in town like they did the Toronto Transit Commission and other agencies? Duffield asks.
“They never called our cab company once to say, ‘Do not send any cabs into this area in this time frame. There is something going on I can’t tell you.’ Or, when I’m driving down the street have someone stop me, put in a plainsclothes officer and they act as a cab driver.”
Duffield’s contact in the RCMP couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
Duffield said his arms were cut from debris, his left torso marked with cuts and his back injured in the explosion.
He’s on painkillers now, as well as several medications for trauma and stress. He tried driving cab a few days ago but ended up shaking, sweating and vomiting, Duffield said.
A friend is setting up a Gofundme account to help Duffield pay his rent, food, other living expenses and medications he takes now because of the explosion.
With files by Jennifer O'Brien, The London Free Press
rrichmond@postmedia.com
'Why did the police put my life jeopardy?'; Cabbie caught in terror takedown sla
Liberals' answer to terrorists: Talk them through their feelings
Postmedia Network and The Canadian Press
First posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 02:05 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 02:10 PM EDT
OTTAWA -- The Liberal government has unveiled its first desired weapon to combat homegrown terrorists, and it's a therapy couch.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, facing scrutiny one week after jihadi sympathizer Aaron Driver was killed by police in Strathroy, Ont., on his way to attack a transit hub, said he wants counter-radicalization counselling mandatory for people under anti-terrorism peace bonds.
Driver, 24, was under a court-ordered peace bond intended to limit his activities but he was able to obtain explosives, plan an attack and film a martyrdom video.
Police got wind of his plans through a tip from the FBI and intercepted him as he was leaving his southwestern Ontario home in a taxi.
There were some ad hoc interventions aimed at helping deradicalize Driver but nothing deliberate and well-organized, Goodale said Wednesday after a speech to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
The Liberals plan to open a federal office of counter-radicalization to serve as a national focal point for counselling and intervention services.
"We are in the process of recruiting the person that will lead the effort. And we are determined to get this office up and running toward the end of the summer, the beginning of the fall," Goodale said.
"We need to understand what positive messages can counteract the insidious poison that draws people in, especially young people."
The government is also back to "examining" and "considering" other changes to monitor terrorists in our midst, but it doesn't appear to be in any hurry.
Considering Driver was on an anti-terrorist peace bond -- as are another dozen or so people across the country -- but was not under constant surveillance, the government said it wants to find a way to make peace bonds more effective -- perhaps involving community outreach organizations.
"(Driver's peace bond) is obviously a lesson that one needs to look at very carefully," Goodale said. "And we are examining very carefully what we need to do to make our police and security activity more effective."
Goodale said the government would move as rapidly as possible, but he stressed that good laws are not developed "in a panic."
A federal consultation on national security, to conclude by the end of the year, must happen first, he said.
"I've obviously got to do this in a coherent and sensible way, not scribbled down on the back of an envelope."
Liberals' answer to terrorists: Talk them through their feelings | Canada | News
