Ottawa Terrorist’s Message Finally Released to the Public, With Key Sections Edited Out

Staring directly at the camera last October, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau explained to Canada why he was about to launch an attack that would rattle the entire country.

"To those who are involved and listen to this movie, this is in retaliation for Afghanistan and because Harper wants to send his troops to Iraq," Zehaf-Bibeau says. His beard is untrimmed, and his brown hair is pulled back.

He filmed the video sitting in his car, parked in a lot in downtown Ottawa. He had a serrated combat knife tied to his wrist and a Winchester .30 caliber rifle by his side.

Clocking in at under a minute, his rambling manifesto laid out the 32-year-old's reasoning for the murder he was about to commit.

"We are retaliating, the Mujahedin of this world," he says. A few minutes later, he would step out of his car at the National War Memorial and open fire on Corporal Nathan Cirillo, killing him. He then would get back in his car, drive to the front gates of Parliament, and continue on to front steps of Centre Block.

The RCMP released the video before a parliamentary committee on Friday after months of pressure from politicians, the media, and the public to disclose the manifesto that explains why the Canadian-born Libyan national tried to kill as many Canadian Forces personnel as he could.

"Canada officially became one of our enemies by fighting and bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries and killing us and killing our innocents. So, just aiming to hit some soldiers just to show you that you're not even safe in your own land, and you gotta be careful," he said.

The video was introduced by RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson who underlined that the federal police service had agonized over the decision to release the video for months. While the initial plan was to release the propaganda video nearly immediately after the attack, Paulson said he was dissuaded by investigators who feared it could boost recruitment, radicalization, and fundraising for radical elements in Canada, and that it could inspire copycat attacks.

"On this point, we remain concerned," Paulson said.

Evidently, the video confirms Zehaf-Bibeau's terrorist inspirations. "He did not come to this act alone," Paulson said.

"Canadians should not be afraid, but engaged."

The RCMP, however, decided not to release the entirety of the video. Of the nearly minute-long video, 18 seconds—13 at the beginning, five at the end—were edited out from the clip shown to the public on Friday.

"I am confident that there are reasonable and sound operational reasons for the edits," Paulson said, explaining that "for the very same reasons that we have edited the video," he would be unable to explain why the entire video was not screened.

Paulson added that 130 investigators were committed to the Zehaf-Bibeau case, following leads on his motivation, his actions and any possible accomplices that he may have worked with.

Those national security investigators have tracked the attacker's movements across the country, from the lower mainland of British Columbia, to Vancouver, Alberta, Quebec, and, eventually, Ottawa.

Investigators are confident that Zehaf-Bibeau was in Ottawa in order to renew his Libyan passport, ostensibly to travel abroad to link up with terrorist groups.

One thing they have not done yet, however, was confirm whether Zehaf-Bibeau had an accomplice in his attack. They've also not traced the origins of the rifle that he fired repeatedly in the halls of Parliament.

Paulson released a photo of that rifle, broken in several places, calling the long-barrel rifle "unique."

He also showed images of the knife, which was covered in Zehaf-Bibeau's dried blood.

Speculation was rife that the attacker, who has a documented history of mental health issues, had been using hard drugs in advance of the attack. Security guards on Parliament Hill were convinced that he was using meth or speed, given the speed and resilience he showed in barrelling down the main hall of Centre Block, even after he'd been shot repeatedly.

But Paulson said a tox screen showed that Zehaf-Bibeau had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died.

In the video, Zehaf-Bibeau was lucid, but his thoughts appear jumbled and slightly frantic.

"May Allah accept from us. It's a disgrace you guys have forgotten God and you have let every indecency and things running your land. We don't, we don't go for this. We are good people, righteous people, believers of God and believing his law and his Prophets, peace be upon them all."

It's not clear when, or if, the RCMP will release the rest of the video.

Paulson said he originally wanted to include the whole thing. Eventually, he compromised. Before committee, Paulson wouldn't get into detail about the decision process, only going so far as to tell a Liberal MP during the committee hearing that the police service wanted to "ensure that the integrity of the investigative process is preserved."

He went on to say that the amount of anti-terror investigations have grown exponentially in the past year. While he wouldn't put a number on how many individuals were being investigated—previously, Paulson said that number was around 90, though he said on Friday that releasing number was a "rookie mistake"—Paulson said the number has gone up. One statistic he did offer was the number of investigators pulled from other units to focus on anti-terror investigations—in October, that number was 300. Now, it's 600.

Canada has been pushing to lay more charges in anti-terror investigations. Recently, they charged noteable ISIS fighter John McGuire in absentia, even though he might be dead. The Harper government has also rushed to get Bill C-51 on the books to expand the powers of the RCMP to detain and investigate terrorism suspects, and for CSIS to disrupt possible threats.

Paulson, before the committee, said that the current powers that the RCMP hold do let them target suspects like Zehaf-Bibeau, but that the courts often drag their feet in actually taking action.

Asked by the NDP whether the issue is one of resources, or whether it's a lack of powers under the law, Paulson shrugged: "I dunno."

Members of Parliament on the committee said that watching the video weighed heavy on them. During the attack, most of the MPs were locked down in adjacent rooms to the one they sat in on Friday. After four months, they finally heard from the man that died in a shoot-out just meters away.

"That's my message to all of you in this, Inshallah, we'll not cease until you guys decide to be a peaceful country and stay to your own and I-, and stop going to other countries and stop occupying and killing the righteous of us who are trying to bring back religious law in our countries."

Zehaf-Bibeau signs off in an eerily Canadian way.

"Thank you."

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