THE TRANSCRIPT
Doug: Hi buddy, my name’s Doug . . . I just swung in here so I could talk to you as well. Michael: Yep. Doug: We’re writing this down, it sounds very interesting. I’m just wondering, does the woman you have there need to be involved anymore? Michael: She does. Yeah. Like, I can’t let her go. I don’t want to hurt her, right? Doug: We don’t want to hurt her either. Michael: Yeah, and I don’t want anyone to create a situation. I need the police to remain calm, OK? Doug: Yep, no problem. And we do want to get you help. We don’t want you to get hurt.
When the call came in to the Star newsroom Wednesday morning, reporter Fakiha Baig answered. Here’s how the conversation played out. The transcript has been edited for space and privacy considerations. Michael: I’ve needed help for a long time, OK? And nobody will listen. The only way to do this is to create a situation. A crisis, OK? Which is what I’m doing. So I took a hostage. Are you listening to me?
Fakiha: Yes, sir, where are you exactly? Michael: I know you have me on speaker phone so there’s other people there around now. Fakiha: It’s just for my recorder, sir.
Michael: OK, so the RCMP . . . along with CSIS, the national security enforcement team, in addition to Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the national security division of the passport program and the (Canada Border Services Agency), are you still there? Fakiha: Yes.
Michael: They’ve all, CSIS and the RCMP specifically, have been keeping me under investigation and surveillance for about 15 years now. I know I’m throwing a lot of information out there. Right now I’m just nervous because I have no other way of having anybody listen to me, right? So I also want to say that I do apologize. The person that I took hostage, her name’s Hannah. She’s very very upset. I completely like this woman, I’m literally broken hearted having to do this to her. Michael starts crying.
Michael: Hannah, I’ve told you what they’ve been doing to me, buddy. Remember, when I was stressed out. Hannah: Everyone has problems! Michael: You don’t have these kinds of problems, though, Hannah, right?
Hannah: Then why’d you take me with you?
Michael: I don’t know. All I can say is I apologize.
Hannah: I have family! I don’t want to be (unintelligible, crying).
Fakiha: And how many women do you have with you right now?
Michael: I have one. I had three, but I let two of them go as long as Hannah agreed to stay with me.
Hannah, crying: Can you please help him? Michael: Did you call the police? Fakiha: Can you tell me — yeah, we’re just — Michael: You should, yeah. Doug: Hi buddy, my name’s Doug, I work with Fakiha, I just swung in here so I could talk to you as well.
Michael: Yep. Doug: We’re writing this down, it sounds very interesting. I’m just wondering, does the woman you have there need to be involved anymore? Michael: She does. Yeah. Like, I can’t let her go. I don’t want to hurt her, right? Doug: We don’t want to hurt her either. Michael: Yeah, and I don’t want anyone to create a situation. I need the police to remain calm, OK? Doug: Yep, no problem. And we do want to get you help. We don’t want you to get hurt.
Michael: I don’t want to get hurt! Doug: No, that’s what I’m saying.
Michael: This, what I’m doing here, you really have to understand it isn’t on behalf of any f------ terrorist organization. This is something personal because I’ve been targeted, for my religion and my politics.
Doug: I totally get that. I didn’t realize you’d converted to Islam. When did that happen?
Michael: That happened when I was 20 years old, right, but it’s been nothing but problems and I don’t blame the religion I just understand that there’s — at the time, I didn’t understand about there being this big issue with Muslim fanatics.
Doug: Tell me about growing up in Halifax.
Michael: I basically like, the first 12 years of my life I was raised around a bunch of criminals and junkies, right? And then I was taken away from my mother, which is understandable because she’s so f----- up, but I was taken away from her when I was 12.
Doug: That sounds like a really tough way to start off life. Is (Hannah) like a friend of yours, or a relative.
Michael: She works, she’s the manager here at this Studio 9 place, right? She’s a super nice person. Doug: What is Studio 9?
Michael: Here’s where it gets into I’m not the best practicing Muslim, right? It’s a massage parlour, right? But the reason I come here is because of the stress in my life. I need some type of comfort.
Doug: That’s fine, hey, I’m not here to judge, right?
Michael: Here’s the thing man, I can’t have a relationship is the point, right? Doug: Right.
Michael: I was married once, I had a (child), right? I lost my wife. I lost my (child). My life was essentially ruined. Doug: It looks like we’ve just had a police officer come in the newsroom here. Doug pauses the conversation to con- sult with police.
Doug: I’ve got some police officers here and they’re going to join our conversation, OK?
Michael: OK. Sean: Who am I speaking to?
Michael: Hello? Sean: It’s Sgt. Thrush with the Toronto police, who am I speaking to?
Michael: It’s Michael Storms, S-T-OR-M-S. Sean: Michael, my first name is Sean, is it OK to call you Michael? Michael: You can call me Michael, yeah.
Sean: OK, I’m a little bit late to the game here, so I’m just trying to, uh, sort out what’s going on and what we can do here.
Michael: Yeah, well first thing you can do is tell your guys that are surrounding the place to not overreact. I don’t want anything to happen to Hannah, OK? And I obviously don’t want anything to happen to myself, OK? Sean: We don’t want that either. I don’t want you or Hannah to get hurt. So you need to understand, I’m at the Toronto Star building right now, so I can’t see what you can see, so I understand you’re telling me that there’s officers right now at the building? Michael: Yeah, they’re uh, they’re creeping around.
Sean: OK. Now Michael, I’m going to have to make contact with those officers at some point.
Michael: Go ahead, man. Sean: And ultimately, what I’d like to do is arrange to have you patched through to one of the officers.
Michael: That’s SWAT right now. Man, you guys roll heavy.
Sean: Michael? Michael, to Hannah: I’m not right in my mind.
Sean: I’m just waiting for the officers you need to speak to there to be in a place to patch that phone call through. In the meantime I can stay on the line with you. Is it, who is there right now other than you and Hannah?
Michael: Just me and Hannah. There was two others. But they became like, super super upset, right? And I didn’t want to like, I didn’t want to watch them fall apart, right? So I asked Hannah, if she agrees to stay, I’ll let the other two go, right?
Sean: So I’m hearing some compassion there for sure. Do you know Hannah prior to today?
Michael: I do know her, yeah. Sean: Do you mind me asking what’s your relationship with her?
Michael: A little while, yeah. She’s the manager, one of the managers here at Studio 9 right? Sean: OK.
Michael: I feel bad, you know, for doing this to her, right? But no one would listen. No doctors would listen, the police didn’t really care, the RCMP were trying to get me, CSIS was trying to get me, the CBSA’s in my life. Starts crying again.
Sean: So, Michael, I’m hearing your concerns. You definitely have a lot going on by the sounds of it. I’ve just had an officer come up to me and tell me we’ve got a phone number that I can provide to you for one of our emergency task force officers who’s actually at the building right now. He’s actually very anxious to hear what you have to say and he wants to talk to you.
Michael: What am I going to use to call? Sean: OK, so here’s what you can do, if we get disconnected you can call this number back. I’ll even give you my number so that you can have someone you can call right back, but I want to give you the number for the emergency task force officer. (Gives phone number). That’s my direct cell number but I’m not disconnecting until I have that other number ready for you. Are you, I want to ask, Mike, are you able to tell me what is it that you would like to see happen today?
Michael: When I say I need help, I need help, right? And jail’s not going to help me. Sean: I’m not thinking jail or anything like that, all right? My concern right now is making sure you’re OK, making sure Hannah’s OK?
Michael: I just don’t want your fellas out there to overreact, that’s all.
Sean: That’s extremely fair, and you’re very logical and coherent in this, I appreciate that. There’s two types of people in the world, I always say. There’s bad people then there’s good people that do bad things occasionally.
Michael: I’d say I’m the second one. Sean: The police that are outside, they are as professional as they come. I’ve worked with a lot of them before, OK? The things that they need to know, so I do have to ask you some questions for your safety and for Hannah’s. Are you carrying any weapons of any kind?
Michael: I do have weapons. I do. But I won’t use them if you don’t threaten my life. Is that fair?
Sean: That’s fair, and no one wants to threaten your life but you have to understand that we have a duty to your life and Hannah’s life, right?
Michael: I know. Sean: Can you tell me what the weapons are?
Michael: I’m not going to tell you what the weapons are, OK?
Sean: OK. And I appreciate it. I’m just, I’m trying to get as much info as I can.
Michael: I think as long as we’re talking this is good. But, there’s going to come a point where I have to surrender, because again I don’t want anything to happen.
Sean: I’m glad. It makes me happy to hear that Mike, because —
Michael: You guys are holding all the cards right now, you control the entire thing right now.
Sean: I see what you mean. What I do need to tell you, and it’s not lip service, Mike, when I say we genuinely don’t want anyone to get hurt, we don’t mean just Hannah, we mean both of you.
Michael: Yeah. Sean: So, Mike, just literally a second ago, one of the officers came in with a phone number for the officer that’s actually at the scene. (Gives officer’s name). He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. I have a direct cellphone for him if you’re willing to give him a call. Michael: I’m getting Hannah to write it down. Sean: OK. (Gives phone number).
Michael: You want me to disconnect and call him?
Sean: OK, I’ve got another number you can call. If you need to reach us at the Star, because remember I told you no matter what when you disconnect from this call, you’re going to have a number of ways to get in touch with us. (Gives number).
Michael: OK. Sean: But if for some reason you get disconnected, you can call either of the two numbers I gave you right, I’m right beside both of those phones.
Michael: No, I’ll definitely do that. Sean: OK.
Michael: So we’ll disconnect now, I’ll call him right now. Sean: OK, thank you, Michael.
Michael: OK. See ya.