So far, the Toronto attack can’t be called terrorism
We have no idea yet what motivated suspect. Be cautious, Phil Gurski says.
A man has been charged following an incredibly professional arrest by a Toronto Police Service officer who acted with amazing coolness given the situation. There are at least 10 dead and 14 wounded.
When the van attack occurred Monday, I was on Twitter, sharing news stories about terrorism with like-minded people because that is what I have chosen to do after a three-decade career with Canada’s security intelligence services.
As soon as I read a tweet from a friend and trusted source, a real Canadian terrorism expert, I felt a knot in my stomach. We know a little more now than Monday night, but even at that early juncture the events showed some hallmarks of a terrorist attack.
We have seen analogous events around the world far too often of late: Nice, Barcelona, London, Edmonton, Saint-Jean-surRichelieu. All terrible attacks and all terrorist in nature.
Not again, was my first thought. And yet I did not jump up and yell “This is terrorism!” right away, and I don’t now. The simple reason is I have no idea why the driver, who is apparently a Seneca College student, did what he did and I do not think anyone else knows.
That did not stop people on Twitter from drawing that conclusion.
I learned long ago that to be accurate and to do true analysis, you need intelligence and/or information to make a judgment — and we do not have that yet.
We may learn more about the suspect if he co-operates with police. We may learn more from his social media postings or emails, if a warrant is obtained. We may learn more from family, friends, workmates and so on. Until then, we cannot make that call.
There is an old saying: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck.” Not necessarily. While the modus operandi shares a lot in common with the attacks cited earlier, similarity does not equate to definitive identification.
For anyone to say this is yet another terrorist act by an Islamist extremist, as I am sure many did, where is the proof ? The suspect shows no outward sign of ties to Islamist extremism and I am at least initially skeptical. Besides, didn’t a right-wing extremist carry out a similar crime in Charlottesville, Va., last August?
Maybe the suspect had issues. Maybe he was on some kind of substance. Maybe he had just been fired. Maybe his marriage just broke up. Maybe he is mentally disturbed. I have no idea, do you?
When Anders Breivik slaughtered those young people in Norway back in 2011, I labelled it an act of Islamist terrorism when I was pressured to write something in the absence of any real information.
I will never make that mistake again and neither should you.
We will learn more in the days and weeks to follow. Once our law enforcement agencies do their work and get help from their partners and international allies, we will know more. It is at that time that we can have the debate over whether this was “just” a heinous act of violence or an act of terrorism.
My condolences to the victims and their loved ones.