Crown drops charges against terror suspect
Alleged to seek revenge on Driver’s killers
• Federal prosecutors have dropped their case against suspected Ottawa terrorist Tevis Gonyou- McLean, who stood accused of threatening to avenge the police shooting of ISIL supporter Aaron Driver.
Gonyou- McLean’s arrest made national headlines but the alleged threat, which he denies, has not been revealed until now.
On Aug. 12, 2016, two days after Driver’s death in the back of a cab, GonyouMcLean’s mother reported to the RCMP that her son said he was going to exact revenge, and “that he would not hurt civilians, but he knew who he would hurt.”
While the mother provided the RCMP with secretly recorded conversations with her son, the alleged threat was not documented on tape.
The Crown decided to abandon the case and formally stayed the utteringthreats charges Thursday.
Gonyou- McLean, 24, was arrested two days after Driver’s death and charged with uttering threats. Instead of laying terrorism charges, the RCMP secured a terrorism bond that required him to wear a GPS ankle bracelet and live at a shelter for drug treatment.
Driver was shot by police after he detonated a bomb during a counter- terrorism raid by RCMP in Strathroy, Ont.
The strict conditions proved unbearable for the pizza maker, who once, out of frustration, smashed his ankle bracelet and another time, in November, slipped out of the GPS device and was arrested hours later. His arrest led to him being jailed on Nov. 5 for allegedly violating his release conditions.
The Muslim convert, who has no criminal record, was housed in a segregation unit at the Ottawa- Carleton Detention Centre. He spent at least five days in the same cell with a 350- pound convicted sex offender who punched him out after his Twizzlers Nibs went missing.
Gonyou- McLean, who remains at the jail, is still facing criminal charges for allegedly breaching his strict release conditions.
In a wide- ranging interview with the Citizen, Gonyou-McLean denied having any sympathy for ISIL and said he’s being persecuted for simply exploring Islam.
“My life got turned upside down. ... I have lost all my friends and I had a lot of friends,” he said.
“I ’ ve never e ven met anyone that has supported (ISIL) in any sense,” he said.
Gonyou- McLean firmly believes his exploration of Islam and his questions, combined with all the times he watched Islamic videos online, are what led to his arrest. ( His conditions also say he can’t access or view materials from any listed terrorist group, and must not possess any objects with an Islamic State logo.)
“I haven’t done anything,” he said. “All of this is for asking questions.”