A shocking shooting: Q&A with UNC professor Klaus Larres on gunman in Canada's Parliament

A gunman who opened fire in Canada’s Parliament on Wednesday sent shock waves throughout Canada and the U.S., and represented another major breach of security in a North American government building this fall, after a man scaled a fence and barged into the White House in September.

Staff writer Anica Midthun spoke with Klaus Larres, interim chair of curriculum in the Department of Peace, War and Defense, about what motivated the shooter and what the event means for national security in Canada and the United States.

Daily Tar Heel: What threats does the shooting pose for international security?

Klaus Larres: Well, any such shooting is of course a highly dangerous thing for international security, and it happens ever more frequently that any mentally unhealthy person decides to get his own revenge by attacking a governmental institution and killing other people and himself in the process.

DTH: Do you believe that this was a terrorist act?

KL: Yes, but it was a terrorist act that was provoked by some individual thinking that Western action in the Middle East could be revenged by attacking and killing innocent people. In this case the individual wanted to go to Syria to fight for ISIS, but his passport was withdrawn, so he couldn’t fight and decided to have his own way in Canada.

He was a convert to radical Islam, he had joined the cause of ISIS and Canadian intelligence services were aware of his pro-ISIS comments. He was seen as a security threat but not an imminent security threat. That was the reason they didn’t want him to leave the country.

DTH: What does a government do in these situations?

KL: If you let them out, they are almost always bound to join ISIS and fight on their behalf, perhaps killing innocent people and taking hostages. So if you let them go, there is a larger likelihood that they will joint ISIS and kill innocent people. But if you don’t let them go, you run the risk of them taking revenge in their own country, so anything you do becomes complex and difficult. You can’t arrest them since all they have done is state their own beliefs.

DTH: What actions might the Canadian government take after this incident?

KL: Canadian institutions are well known for the relaxed atmosphere. It was just like how it was in Washington, where you could get close to all the governmental buildings, but all that has changed since 9/11. The problem with that is that governmental institutions become more remote from the people. It is not good when there becomes the feeling that government is becoming isolated from the people. Canadian security was more relaxed than American security but now there is no other choice than to increase security.

DTH: Will America increase security also?

KL: I don’t think so. They will probably be more watchful and on the alert but there is probably no reason to increase security in the U.S. since it is already pretty high. Only recently a man got into the White House, which led to an increase in security. No further security is necessary since we already have such high security.

DTH: What might happen as a result of the shootings?

KL: People have to remember that they shouldn’t panic totally. These attacks and efforts to get close to officials should be observed very closely, but one should not jump to the opposite conclusion that we need to increase security. The media outcry always gets slightly out of hand with these sort of things. One should not be led astray by the panic of the moment.

DTH: Is this the first time in the recent past that an incident of this magnitude has occurred in Canada?

KL: Yes, and of course there were multiple attacks. One in Quebec and one in Ottawa.

DTH: What is Canada's policy on gun ownership?

KL: It is much more restricted than American laws on gun ownership. A gun cannot be easily obtained. Canadian laws are much more like the very restrictive gun laws in Europe rather than those in the U.S.

DTH: What does this event say about the interaction between the Middle East and the Western world?

KL: Well, what we have to wonder is why so many educated and grown young men in many Western and European countries who enjoyed a Western style of life have become so estranged from Western society. It goes well beyond the conversion of religion.

I think it should be one of the foremost tasks of Western society to find out what makes these people so hostile towards the society they have grown up in. It would be much better than erecting yet another fence between the government and the people; you need to get to the root of the problem.

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