Terrorism suspect Aaron Driver was subject of peace bond; aroused suspicions
WINNIPEG — Last year, federal authorities were so suspicious Aaron Driver might have ties to a terrorist group that he bounced in and out of jails and courtrooms for months, all without any actual charges ever being laid — and he had no criminal record at the time.
The Canadian Press has learned that Driver was the terrorism suspect killed in a confrontation with police Wednesday in the southern Ontario town of Strathroy. The information was from a source with knowledge of the police takedown who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
In June 2015, Driver was first picked up in Winnipeg. Published reports at the time suggested Driver posted messages on social media that praised terrorist activities, including the attack on Parliament Hill in October 2014 by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.
Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie University who studies radicalization and terrorism, maintained in 2015 that Driver posted for several months on social media about disliking Canada and about a desire to move overseas.