Vickers feared for job after manhandling protester

Canada’s terrorist-slaying ambassador to Ireland feared he might be fired after manhandling a protester in Dublin last May, but privately told well-wishers he’d do the same again and would at least leave “with a bang.”

After the unusual episode at a politically charged event, Kevin Vickers declined to comment, even as some criticized his actions.

But in emails released by the Global Affairs Department under access to information legislation recently, Vickers defended his grabbing of the demonstrator, saying it was only clear afterward that the man posed no danger.

“I would not be surprised if my great gig is up. And if so, it has been a hell of a ride and nothing like going out with a bang,” the former parliamentary sergeant-at-arms said to a contact whose name is redacted. “Even with all the controversy, I know if the same thing happened tomorrow, I would react the same.”

Neither the ambassador nor Global Affairs officials could be reached for comment Friday. The government has never suggested his appointment was in any jeopardy.

Vickers came to fame in October 2014 when he and other security officers fatally shot Michael Zehaf Bibeau. The lone-wolf terrorist killed a soldier guarding the national war memorial in Ottawa, then stormed inside Parliament’s centre block before dying himself in a hail of bullets.

Lauded as a hero, Vickers was named Canada’s envoy to Ireland in January 2015.

A year later, last May 26, he attended an event to remember British soldiers killed in the 1916 Easter rising, a thwarted rebellion that preceded Irish independence from Britain.

When a Republican protester ran toward the ranks of dignitaries, including Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, Vickers leapt up and seized the man by the arms, handing him over to police moments later. The demonstrator was unarmed and eventually released.

Some critics suggested the former RCMP officer had acted inappropriately for a diplomat while others praised his swift response.

“It all happened so fast, I think (it) was over before I had a chance to think,” Vickers wrote in one of the emails. “When I first caught him in the periferal (sic) of my eye he was striding towards the podium and my immediate sense was for the purposes of harm. Hence my reaction. As it turns out, he did not have a weapon and was there for peaceful protest.”