RCMP release video recorded by Zehaf Bibeau

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We’re learning more about the man who shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo on Parliament Hill nearly five months ago. RCMP Commissioner Robert Paulson released a video recorded by the killer prior to the attack, calling Michael Zehaf Bibeau a terrorist, while at the same time saying it’s up to the courts to decide how to interpret his motive if there’s a future case. The tape is only 54 seconds long – but the cellphone video made by Michael Zehaf Bibeau makes his motive clear “this is in retaliation for Afghanistan, and because Harper wants to send troops to Iraq”

The video was filmed the morning of the attack, in a parking lot just a kilometer and a half from the National War Memorial. Shortly after recording the video, he begins his attack by killing Corporal Nathan Cirillo, and then on to Centre Block.

We also learned more about the actions of Zehaf-Bibeau leading up to the attack. He had dual Canadian-Libyan citizenship and tried to get a passport weeks before the attack but was denied. He bought a car the day before the attack and paid cash

“Very early the next morning, October 22nd, he was observed by witnesses placing a rifle in the trunk of his car” says Commissioner Paulson

According to the commissioner, the video was released because of the huge public interest. He also had a point relating to Zehaf-Bibeau’s radicalization, which happened over a long period of time, and in plain sight “people ought to have been concerned…people close to him”.

David Hyde is a security expert who says that this video is an opportunity for Canadians to open their eyes. “I think the video needed to be released, i think the Canadian public needed to know, really, was this terrorism? I think it really does underscore to Canadians, that there are, unfortunately these kind of people, a small number in our society.”