A
aesop081
Guest
mellian said:
*sigh*
Facepalm........
May 2010 Attack on Ottawa Bank: Arson or terrorism?
- Thread starter The Bread Guy
- Start date
*sigh*
Facepalm........
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mellian said:
Complete and utter BS. A fire bomb is a weapon. Weapons serve one purpose, to destroy. It is an indirect, and unfocused weapon, so there is ALWAYS an extreme risk that there will be a loss of life. There is no debating that fact sunshine.
They picked up, and used a bomb. The committed to an act DELIBERATELY which any reasonable, rational and intelligent person could surmise could lead to a loss of life.
Further, why were they stockpiling military ammunition? .50 cal and 7.62mm NATO are not hunting grades of ammunition, unless your prey is human.
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The steadfast refusal of the left to condemn this act, and the potential use of "diversity tactics" (read, violent actions) at the G8/G20 is truly disgusting and hypocritical.
The "left" in this country appears content with making themselves irrelevant, which is a shame. If they ever grew up, they would discover that they could play an important role in our democratic society, instead of being universally ignored.
The "left" in this country appears content with making themselves irrelevant, which is a shame. If they ever grew up, they would discover that they could play an important role in our democratic society, instead of being universally ignored.
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Teeps74 said:
To be fair, the cops issued a correction on the .50 cal ammo:
That said, though, anyone with hundreds of rounds of 7.62/.308 ammunition better have a lot of deer/moose in the freezer - and if they did, they'd know how to store ammo safely.
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mellian said:
Well stone the lizards and starve the bloody crows, I thought I had heard it all on here before......
How niave can you get?
You knew these urban terrorists???
How could you in any way be involved in such stupid activities/organisations?
In Australia we use the term for such stupidity by saying 'give yourself an uppercut' but that might indeed knock some sense into you.
Anyone who sympathises or in any way supports 'whackos' like these organisations and or individuals is not part of the solution, but part of the problem, and are just as guilty.
Its plain luck that no one was killed either at the time the fire was set, or any emergency services pers doing their job to put the fire out. That being said if the clowns who set the fire were burned badly or killed while setting this fire, zero sympathy from me.
What would you be saying if some innocent bystanders were horribly burned, or killed?
I suggest you stick to 'roller derby' as your potential service as a Defence Force member is no longer required, I don't think you are a suitable candidate.
Let us hope the limp wristed Canadian legal systems has the balls (allbeit miniscule ones, supporting a micro penis) to dish out a semi-real punishment for such a reckless crime.
OWDU
EDITed only for spelling
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Teeps74 said:
57Chevy said:
milnews.ca said:
Sorry guys. I'm an active shooter and collector. Hundreds of 7.62 is a mere pittance to any of us that take the sport seriously. A single battle pack will put you into that category. There is also absolutely nothing illegal about possessing that ammo, or the amount. The cops might think you have to have your ammo locked in a big honkin' safe, but the law says otherwise.
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Tongue in cheek prospective :nod:
Looks like a good Govenment knee jerk to this is to ensure all .50 ammo tins have the stencilling sprayed out, ha! EDITs to add: ...or better yet, ban all .50 ammo tins, and get permits to own .30 ones, but all 7.62mm and 9mm stencilling must be removed, and being caught with anything marked TRACER or AP, API, APIT etc automatically gets you time in the slammer.
Small arms cartridges are simply that, and the good ole British .303 Mk VIIz ball and German 7.92mm ball cartridges have taken more lives than all the new modern cartridges put together.
I shoot and I vote.
OWDU
Looks like a good Govenment knee jerk to this is to ensure all .50 ammo tins have the stencilling sprayed out, ha! EDITs to add: ...or better yet, ban all .50 ammo tins, and get permits to own .30 ones, but all 7.62mm and 9mm stencilling must be removed, and being caught with anything marked TRACER or AP, API, APIT etc automatically gets you time in the slammer.
Small arms cartridges are simply that, and the good ole British .303 Mk VIIz ball and German 7.92mm ball cartridges have taken more lives than all the new modern cartridges put together.
I shoot and I vote.
OWDU
- Reaction score
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On that tangent:
When a good day shooting, along with the wife, involves 500+ rounds (easily), having on hand a few thousand rounds is nothing. Hell, I did a course were the round count for the week end was over 1500 rounds.
So anything under 5000 rounds of center fire in the house and I feel naked. Add in .22 rimfire and you have a "10 000 rounds arsenal" easy.
Anyways.
When a good day shooting, along with the wife, involves 500+ rounds (easily), having on hand a few thousand rounds is nothing. Hell, I did a course were the round count for the week end was over 1500 rounds.
So anything under 5000 rounds of center fire in the house and I feel naked. Add in .22 rimfire and you have a "10 000 rounds arsenal" easy.
Anyways.
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Overwatch Downunder said:
Jumping the gun are we. :
Just because I knew and familiar with people does not mean I support them or were in the same groups or even agreed. That was the case with them, a long with hundreds of other activists. Like any types or forms of community, tend to know and be familiar with everyone in it, especially in the small town feel of Ottawa. Heck, I am only one or two degrees of separation from our Prime Minister and good chunk of politicians there simply because I was born and raise in Ottawa plus been involved in many circles and communities along with activism.
That is the case with these idiots. They were known and happen to have many mutual friends and acquaintances, and not all involved in activism or agree with them. I certainly didn't, especially now.
I would still consider them idiots and have no sympathies for.
:
You are more than likely a member in good standing (papaerwork and all) to your local hunting/fishing/recceguy said:
shooting club. And likely without any similar past records with police forces like these guys. I think that is the reasoning of them making mention of it in the paper and the report. By the way, a little acetone works well to remove the stencilling from ammo boxes.
- Reaction score
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Here, courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen, are the three suspects, as seen at their arraignment in Ottawa yesterday:
Charged in the firebombing of the Royal Bank on Bank Streetin he Glebe, May 18, are, from left, Claude Haridge, Matthew Morgan Brown and Roger Clement. The three acused appeared in an Ottawa courtroom June 19, 2010.
Photograph by: Ronn Sutton, The Ottawa Citizen
Charged in the firebombing of the Royal Bank on Bank Streetin he Glebe, May 18, are, from left, Claude Haridge, Matthew Morgan Brown and Roger Clement. The three acused appeared in an Ottawa courtroom June 19, 2010.
Photograph by: Ronn Sutton, The Ottawa Citizen
- Reaction score
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mellian said:
No, "we" would like you to open your eyes and stop being an apologist for them with remarks about what you think their intentions may have been. They are CRIMINALS, they are ARSONISTS, people may have DIED because of their actions. In commission of that act they are no different from some scumbag who burns things down for fun or because he has a pathological desire to cause harm. There is no justification or rational explanation for their actions. ARSON is NOT a legitimate political act.
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 105
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Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.
Police lay arson, mischief charges in firebombing
19/06/2010 9:33:22 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
LINK (with 2 min video)
Three Ottawa men are facing numerous charges following the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in the city in May. The incident sparked security fears for the upcoming G20 summit in Toronto.
Roger Clement, 58, Matthew Morgan-Brown, 32, and Claude Haridge, 50, were arrested Friday in connection with the incident.
Clement and Morgan are charged with mischief, arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, and the use of explosives with intent to cause property damage.
Haridge is charged with careless handling of ammunition after police found him to be in possession of several rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition.
The three men were to appear at an Ottawa courthouse Saturday morning.
A self-styled anti-establishment group calling itself the Fighting For Freedom Coalition (FFFC-Ottawa) took responsibility for firebombing the downtown RBC branch. The attack occurred around 3 a.m. on May 18.
In a video posted online, the suspects said RBC had been targeted because of its support for the Vancouver Olympics, which were "held on stolen indigenous land." They also vowed further action during the upcoming G8 and G20 summit meetings in Huntsville, Ont. and Toronto.
"Their actions do speak for themselves and their willingness to post it publicly is alarming as well," said Ottawa Police Chief Vern White at a news conference on Saturday morning.
White also continued labelling the incident as an act of domestic terrorism, and said he was "confident" the Crown may still end up with terrorism charges.
RCMP assistant commissioner Francois Bidal appeared to suggest more charges were still possible.
"We will leave no stone unturned in uncovering the evidence we have before us now," he said.
But Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer representing Clement, criticized those remarks.
"Pre-trial comments that attempt to characterize offences are not helpful to the administration of justice," he said.
"There's no talk of terrorism by anybody except our Chief of Police," Greenspon said, adding that the charges laid so far relate strictly to property damage.
The Bank Street RBC branch sustained more than $500,000 worth of damage and remains closed, police said.
Terrorism charges can only be laid with the consent of the Federal Justice Minister and the RCMP, but Ottawa police won't say whether they've yet contacted either about the case.
"That part of the investigation is ongoing," RCMP assistant commissioner Francois Bidal told reporters at the press conference Saturday.
"And to that extent, I won't comment on particular details, only to say that we will leave no stone unturned in considering the evidence that we have before us now, and whatever evidence we may have in the future, before we come to a decision."
With a report by CTV's Karen Soloman
LINK
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.
Ottawa RBC firebombing sees 3 charged
19/06/2010 12:37:46 PM
LINK
Police have charged three men in connection with the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in Ottawa's trendy Glebe neighbourhood in May.
In a news conference Saturday morning, Ottawa Police Chief Vern White said the three were arrested Friday, and two of them have also been charged in an incident at the same bank last February when witnesses saw men damage windows and an ATM with rocks and a hammer.
The three men charged are:
- Roger Clement, 58, of Ottawa, charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, using explosives with intent to cause property damage, and mischief.
- Mathew Morgan-Brown, 32, of Ottawa, charged with arson, arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, using explosives with intent to cause property damage, and mischief.
- Claude Haridge, 50, of Ottawa, charged with arson, careless storage and handling of ammunition, and mischief.
Clement and Haridge were also charged Saturday in connection with the February incident.
White lavished praise on the co-operation his force received from the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, who took part in the investigation because of concerns the incident was related to the G8 and G20 summits being held later this month in southern Ontario.
White also appealed to Ottawa residents to be vigilant before and during the G8 and G20 meetings, saying the Ottawa Police Service has not sent any of its members to Huntsville or Toronto because he believes the national capital could be a target of terrorism.
Safety deposit boxes gone
The fire at the bank early in the morning of May 18 caused an estimated $500,000 damage, and the branch remains boarded up. The bank recently notified its customers that their safety deposit boxes have been transferred to another branch.
The day after the fire, a video was posted on an independent media website showing the explosion and fire and two people walking away from the blaze.
A message with the video was signed by a group called FFFC-Ottawa. RBC was targeted because of its sponsorship of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, it said, which were held on "stolen indigenous land."
In the past, Chief White has characterized the firebombing as domestic terrorism, and he stood by that description Saturday. But he said no terrorism charges have been laid so far, and it will be up to the RCMP to decide whether they should be.
The three accused appeared in court Saturday morning.
Morgan-Brown was remanded in custody and will appear in court on Monday. Haridge was remanded in custody and will also appear in court on Monday. Clement was remanded in custody and will appear in court on Friday.
2 of accused took 'activism' course at U of O
A former University of Ottawa professor said Saturday two of the accused men were students in his Science and Society course four years ago. He did not say which two.
It was a course known by students as the "activism course" because each class began with a lecture by a guest speaker such as an animal-rights or anti-arms activist, former student Valérie Duchesnau told CBC News in 2006.
The ex-professor, Denis Rancourt, said Saturday the course "was a lot about activism, a lot about speakers who were doers. They weren't just scientists. They were also various people in politics and activism.
"We weren't learning how to make bombs," Rancourt said.
The accused Morgan-Brown may have been one of Rancourt's students because Rancourt was on hand to protest Morgan-Brown's arrest in 2007 during the lead-up to a summit of world leaders at Montebello, Que.
Morgan-Brown was arrested at the time and charged with assaulting police after a demonstration near Ottawa's Fairmont Château Laurier hotel.
When Morgan-Brown was being questioned at the police station, Rancourt was outside demanding to know why he had been arrested.
"I think it's a procedure for discouraging organizers [of protests], for intimidating," he told CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada at the time.
"I think they're techniques of a police state."
Morgan-Brown was released from that arrest after agreeing to abide by a list of conditions, which included engaging in good behaviour, keeping the peace and not going within 500 metres of several sites, among them the Fairmont Château Laurier and the U.S. Embassy.
LINK
___________________________________________________________________________
We can see by the last report that there are "associations" that will be/are being built to include others in this group and possibly through association, more charges against others yet to be named.
It is also of interest to note that Lawrence Greenspon is one of the Defense Lawyers. High profile case?............Or soon to become one?
Police lay arson, mischief charges in firebombing
19/06/2010 9:33:22 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
LINK (with 2 min video)
Three Ottawa men are facing numerous charges following the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in the city in May. The incident sparked security fears for the upcoming G20 summit in Toronto.
Roger Clement, 58, Matthew Morgan-Brown, 32, and Claude Haridge, 50, were arrested Friday in connection with the incident.
Clement and Morgan are charged with mischief, arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, and the use of explosives with intent to cause property damage.
Haridge is charged with careless handling of ammunition after police found him to be in possession of several rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition.
The three men were to appear at an Ottawa courthouse Saturday morning.
A self-styled anti-establishment group calling itself the Fighting For Freedom Coalition (FFFC-Ottawa) took responsibility for firebombing the downtown RBC branch. The attack occurred around 3 a.m. on May 18.
In a video posted online, the suspects said RBC had been targeted because of its support for the Vancouver Olympics, which were "held on stolen indigenous land." They also vowed further action during the upcoming G8 and G20 summit meetings in Huntsville, Ont. and Toronto.
"Their actions do speak for themselves and their willingness to post it publicly is alarming as well," said Ottawa Police Chief Vern White at a news conference on Saturday morning.
White also continued labelling the incident as an act of domestic terrorism, and said he was "confident" the Crown may still end up with terrorism charges.
RCMP assistant commissioner Francois Bidal appeared to suggest more charges were still possible.
"We will leave no stone unturned in uncovering the evidence we have before us now," he said.
But Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer representing Clement, criticized those remarks.
"Pre-trial comments that attempt to characterize offences are not helpful to the administration of justice," he said.
"There's no talk of terrorism by anybody except our Chief of Police," Greenspon said, adding that the charges laid so far relate strictly to property damage.
The Bank Street RBC branch sustained more than $500,000 worth of damage and remains closed, police said.
Terrorism charges can only be laid with the consent of the Federal Justice Minister and the RCMP, but Ottawa police won't say whether they've yet contacted either about the case.
"That part of the investigation is ongoing," RCMP assistant commissioner Francois Bidal told reporters at the press conference Saturday.
"And to that extent, I won't comment on particular details, only to say that we will leave no stone unturned in considering the evidence that we have before us now, and whatever evidence we may have in the future, before we come to a decision."
With a report by CTV's Karen Soloman
LINK
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.
Ottawa RBC firebombing sees 3 charged
19/06/2010 12:37:46 PM
LINK
Police have charged three men in connection with the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in Ottawa's trendy Glebe neighbourhood in May.
In a news conference Saturday morning, Ottawa Police Chief Vern White said the three were arrested Friday, and two of them have also been charged in an incident at the same bank last February when witnesses saw men damage windows and an ATM with rocks and a hammer.
The three men charged are:
- Roger Clement, 58, of Ottawa, charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, using explosives with intent to cause property damage, and mischief.
- Mathew Morgan-Brown, 32, of Ottawa, charged with arson, arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, using explosives with intent to cause property damage, and mischief.
- Claude Haridge, 50, of Ottawa, charged with arson, careless storage and handling of ammunition, and mischief.
Clement and Haridge were also charged Saturday in connection with the February incident.
White lavished praise on the co-operation his force received from the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, who took part in the investigation because of concerns the incident was related to the G8 and G20 summits being held later this month in southern Ontario.
White also appealed to Ottawa residents to be vigilant before and during the G8 and G20 meetings, saying the Ottawa Police Service has not sent any of its members to Huntsville or Toronto because he believes the national capital could be a target of terrorism.
Safety deposit boxes gone
The fire at the bank early in the morning of May 18 caused an estimated $500,000 damage, and the branch remains boarded up. The bank recently notified its customers that their safety deposit boxes have been transferred to another branch.
The day after the fire, a video was posted on an independent media website showing the explosion and fire and two people walking away from the blaze.
A message with the video was signed by a group called FFFC-Ottawa. RBC was targeted because of its sponsorship of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, it said, which were held on "stolen indigenous land."
In the past, Chief White has characterized the firebombing as domestic terrorism, and he stood by that description Saturday. But he said no terrorism charges have been laid so far, and it will be up to the RCMP to decide whether they should be.
The three accused appeared in court Saturday morning.
Morgan-Brown was remanded in custody and will appear in court on Monday. Haridge was remanded in custody and will also appear in court on Monday. Clement was remanded in custody and will appear in court on Friday.
2 of accused took 'activism' course at U of O
A former University of Ottawa professor said Saturday two of the accused men were students in his Science and Society course four years ago. He did not say which two.
It was a course known by students as the "activism course" because each class began with a lecture by a guest speaker such as an animal-rights or anti-arms activist, former student Valérie Duchesnau told CBC News in 2006.
The ex-professor, Denis Rancourt, said Saturday the course "was a lot about activism, a lot about speakers who were doers. They weren't just scientists. They were also various people in politics and activism.
"We weren't learning how to make bombs," Rancourt said.
The accused Morgan-Brown may have been one of Rancourt's students because Rancourt was on hand to protest Morgan-Brown's arrest in 2007 during the lead-up to a summit of world leaders at Montebello, Que.
Morgan-Brown was arrested at the time and charged with assaulting police after a demonstration near Ottawa's Fairmont Château Laurier hotel.
When Morgan-Brown was being questioned at the police station, Rancourt was outside demanding to know why he had been arrested.
"I think it's a procedure for discouraging organizers [of protests], for intimidating," he told CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada at the time.
"I think they're techniques of a police state."
Morgan-Brown was released from that arrest after agreeing to abide by a list of conditions, which included engaging in good behaviour, keeping the peace and not going within 500 metres of several sites, among them the Fairmont Château Laurier and the U.S. Embassy.
LINK
___________________________________________________________________________
We can see by the last report that there are "associations" that will be/are being built to include others in this group and possibly through association, more charges against others yet to be named.
It is also of interest to note that Lawrence Greenspon is one of the Defense Lawyers. High profile case?............Or soon to become one?
- Reaction score
- 4,165
- Points
- 1,260
Big time, especially if the "T" word gets added to the list of charges as the investigation continues.George Wallace said:
Retired AF Guy
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 912
- Points
- 1,160
George Wallace said:
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 105
- Points
- 710
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.
Police push ahead with firebombing investigation
‘No stone unturned,’ top Mountie says as full-attention turns to terrorism
By Gary Dimmock and Ian MacLeod , The Ottawa Citizen, June 19, 2010
LINK (with photos)
OTTAWA — The three men charged in the May 18 firebombing of a Glebe bank are also being investigated for possible terrorism charges, a senior RCMP officer said Saturday, after police detectives discovered an “alarming” cache of ammunition nine days after the suspects are accused of using an accelerant and an improvised explosive device to torch the Royal Bank of Canada branch.
Assistant RCMP Commissioner François Bidal said Saturday morning that his force “will leave no stone unturned” in its continuing investigation.
Earlier Saturday the three alleged members of Fighting for Freedom Coalition-Ottawa, appeared in Ottawa court and were remanded in custody pending a bail hearing no later than Friday.
The Royal Bank branch was firebombed because it was a sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics. In a statement posted in a “catch-me-if-you-can” online video of the attack, a group claiming to be FFFC-Ottawa warned they would also be “present” at the upcoming G20 Summit.
Ottawa police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP had the suspects under surveillance within days of the firebombing. The video actually helped police zero in on the suspects, who allegedly used a 2010 Acadia SUV to leave the scene.
During the 30-day-long investigation, the OPP, led by Det.-Insp. Chris Nicholas, uncovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a cache. It is alleged that 50-year-old Claude Frederic Haridge, of Stittsville, was responsible for the cache. Police said Saturday that the ammunition — 7.62-millimetre bullets — was found in a box marked “50 calibre.” The bullets found are of a type often used in military assault rifles such as the AK-47.
The joint-police task force wanted to arrest the suspects before the upcoming summit as a firm indication that criminal acts of destruction will not be tolerated. Police had feared the suspects were allegedly plotting further acts of destruction to coincide with the summit.
“While I am very pleased to bring this portion of the RBC arson file to a close, I ask Ottawa residents to remain vigilant, before and during the G8/G20, and continue to report any suspicious activity to police,” Ottawa police Chief Vern White said Saturday.
The chief noted that while the summit is being held in Toronto, opponents may decide to protest in the nation’s capital.
The firebombing arrests drew praise from the federal minister of public safety on Saturday.
“I commend the outstanding co-operation between law enforcement agencies that led to these arrests,” said Vic Toews in a statement. “The dedication and tireless work of police has once again succeeded in making our communities safer. Hosting the G8 and G20 summits requires that we are prepared to respond to any possible situation or threat.”
The accused are Roger Clement, a 58-year-old retired public servant, Haridge, a 50-year-old engineer, and 32-year-old Matthew Morgan-Brown, a career protester, who according to one of his teachers from elementary school had been encouraged to “do whatever he wanted in life.”
Two of the accused, according to police, were “fixated” on targeting RBC.
Clement and Haridge are also charged with using a hammer and rocks to damage windows and ATMs at another RBC branch at 1535 Bank St., on Feb. 1.
Clement, whose last government job was with Canadian International Development Agency, is charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, two counts of mischief and explosives with intent to cause property damage.
The damage to the Glebe bank is estimated at $500,000.
The senior police officers at Saturday’s press conference expressed relief that the suspects were off the street after an intense 30-day probe.
Clement met with the Citizen last month and acknowledged that he used his Mastercard and driver’s licence to rent the 2010 SUV believed by police to be the getaway car.
He told the Citizen then that he had “absolutely nothing” to do with the firebombing. Police who questioned him this week aren’t buying his story that he simply rented the truck to help out a brother in Peterborough, driving it not once, but twice from Ottawa and back.
Clement put 1,500 kilometres on the vehicle, which is equipped with a computerized tracking system which records its route. It is not known if the system was working or if police were able to access it. (The warrants in the firebombing case have been sealed.)
The Citizen took photographs of the alleged getaway truck last month. The police had seized its floor mats and dusted it for fingerprints.
Clement also told the Citizen that he was worried and needed to talk to a lawyer. He said he didn’t lend the truck to anyone and added that if it had been stolen he would have reported it to police.
Clement met the Citizen late at night on Bank Street on May 26, just days after the firebombing. He showed up with an entourage that included co-accused Matthew Morgan-Brown, 32.
Morgan-Brown is charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, use of explosives with intent to cause property damage and mischief.
Morgan-Brown is said to spend his free time demonstrating against the state and watching the Daily Show. His name is mentioned in connection with demonstrations at the 2007 Montebello summit and during a 2004 visit by then-U.S. president George W. Bush to Ottawa.
Haridge, described as a friendly neighbour who lends his lawnmower out, is an engineer at an Ottawa tech firm, and a former student of a now defunct “activism course” once taught at the University of Ottawa.
Haridge has been building circuit boards since he was 14. As a boy, he is said to have salvaged electronic components from the trash, carting them home in a little wagon. He is not charged with arson. Haridge is charged with careless storage of ammunition (the cache police discovered), and mischief in connection with the Feb. 1 vandalism of RBC branch at 1535 Bank St.) and failure to comply with undertaking.
The latter charge is in connection with an incident on May 27, 2009 when Ottawa police Const. Cedric Nizman was assaulted at the Ottawa Civic Centre and three Ottawa police raincoats were damaged.
Haridge is known for writing letters to newspapers criticizing the government and protesting Israeli actions.
Police raided Haridge’s Stittsville home on Friday and could be seen looking for evidence again on Saturday. Some detectives took away material, including what appeared to be a personal safe.
Chief White branded the firebombers as “domestic terrorists” last month and said he was confident his force would capture them.
Saturday morning the three accused were escorted by police into an Ottawa courtroom packed with about 50 family members, friends and supporters.
Clement, at 58, the oldest and said to be on medication for a heart condition, stood in the prisoners’ box looking relaxed in a denim shirt and jeans. He smiled occasionally as his lawyer Lawrence Greenspon addressed Justice of the Peace Bernard Swords.
Haridge, in a blue jailhouse jumpsuit, and Morgan-Brown, who looked tense, stood alongside Clement as assistant Crown attorney Carl Lem, Greenspon and the court agreed on a joint bail hearing for the three no later then next Friday.
A publication ban prohibits reporting on evidentiary matters discussed.
The bail hearing date is to be set Monday, when the three are to make another remand appearance via video link from the regional jail.
Outside court, Dan Sawyer a friend of the men and spokesman with a group called Ottawa Movement Defence, defended the trio.
“All three of them have really dedicated a lot of time and energy to issues in the city, antiwar issues, anti-poverty issues, all kinds of stuff. We have a lot of respect for them, they’re part of our communities.”
Sawyer suggested the timing of the arrests may have been politically motivated.
With “the G20 coming up, I feel like the feds are under a lot pressure to justify their ($1-billion security) budget, so the timing (of the arrests) seems pretty lucky for them in terms of justifying that kind of budget.
“We did have the bank (firebombing), absolutely, you can’t deny that,” he said. “But we’ve seen this before. I’ve been a protester for many years and opportunistic arrests, arrests that are totally unwarranted at demonstrations or before demonstrations to justify police actions, we’ve seen that many times.
“This has all just come out, we haven’t seen any evidence, (so) who knows how that’s going to play out.”
Outside court, Greenspon, who was prominent in the news recently in his defence of the convicted terrorist Momin Khawaja, cautioned the supporters against potentially jeopardizing the defence case by speaking to the news media.
With reporters later, he acknowledged “there are a number of activist groups that are interested in what’s happening here,” but he downplayed the case’s political overtones.
“The charges are essentially damage-to-property-related charges. There’s no talk of terrorism by anybody except our chief of police.
“I have to see the (prosecution) evidence before I can make any real comment about whether actions are related to political beliefs.
“Pretrial comments that attempt to characterize offences are not helpful to the administration of justice,” said Greenspon, who also acted as a temporary legal agent Saturday for Haridge and Brown, who had yet to retain counsel.
Police have asked anyone with information about the firebombing to call them.
Gary Dimmock can be reached at
613-726-6869 or by e-mail: gdimmock@thecitizen.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
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LINK
Police push ahead with firebombing investigation
‘No stone unturned,’ top Mountie says as full-attention turns to terrorism
By Gary Dimmock and Ian MacLeod , The Ottawa Citizen, June 19, 2010
LINK (with photos)
OTTAWA — The three men charged in the May 18 firebombing of a Glebe bank are also being investigated for possible terrorism charges, a senior RCMP officer said Saturday, after police detectives discovered an “alarming” cache of ammunition nine days after the suspects are accused of using an accelerant and an improvised explosive device to torch the Royal Bank of Canada branch.
Assistant RCMP Commissioner François Bidal said Saturday morning that his force “will leave no stone unturned” in its continuing investigation.
Earlier Saturday the three alleged members of Fighting for Freedom Coalition-Ottawa, appeared in Ottawa court and were remanded in custody pending a bail hearing no later than Friday.
The Royal Bank branch was firebombed because it was a sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics. In a statement posted in a “catch-me-if-you-can” online video of the attack, a group claiming to be FFFC-Ottawa warned they would also be “present” at the upcoming G20 Summit.
Ottawa police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP had the suspects under surveillance within days of the firebombing. The video actually helped police zero in on the suspects, who allegedly used a 2010 Acadia SUV to leave the scene.
During the 30-day-long investigation, the OPP, led by Det.-Insp. Chris Nicholas, uncovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a cache. It is alleged that 50-year-old Claude Frederic Haridge, of Stittsville, was responsible for the cache. Police said Saturday that the ammunition — 7.62-millimetre bullets — was found in a box marked “50 calibre.” The bullets found are of a type often used in military assault rifles such as the AK-47.
The joint-police task force wanted to arrest the suspects before the upcoming summit as a firm indication that criminal acts of destruction will not be tolerated. Police had feared the suspects were allegedly plotting further acts of destruction to coincide with the summit.
“While I am very pleased to bring this portion of the RBC arson file to a close, I ask Ottawa residents to remain vigilant, before and during the G8/G20, and continue to report any suspicious activity to police,” Ottawa police Chief Vern White said Saturday.
The chief noted that while the summit is being held in Toronto, opponents may decide to protest in the nation’s capital.
The firebombing arrests drew praise from the federal minister of public safety on Saturday.
“I commend the outstanding co-operation between law enforcement agencies that led to these arrests,” said Vic Toews in a statement. “The dedication and tireless work of police has once again succeeded in making our communities safer. Hosting the G8 and G20 summits requires that we are prepared to respond to any possible situation or threat.”
The accused are Roger Clement, a 58-year-old retired public servant, Haridge, a 50-year-old engineer, and 32-year-old Matthew Morgan-Brown, a career protester, who according to one of his teachers from elementary school had been encouraged to “do whatever he wanted in life.”
Two of the accused, according to police, were “fixated” on targeting RBC.
Clement and Haridge are also charged with using a hammer and rocks to damage windows and ATMs at another RBC branch at 1535 Bank St., on Feb. 1.
Clement, whose last government job was with Canadian International Development Agency, is charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, two counts of mischief and explosives with intent to cause property damage.
The damage to the Glebe bank is estimated at $500,000.
The senior police officers at Saturday’s press conference expressed relief that the suspects were off the street after an intense 30-day probe.
Clement met with the Citizen last month and acknowledged that he used his Mastercard and driver’s licence to rent the 2010 SUV believed by police to be the getaway car.
He told the Citizen then that he had “absolutely nothing” to do with the firebombing. Police who questioned him this week aren’t buying his story that he simply rented the truck to help out a brother in Peterborough, driving it not once, but twice from Ottawa and back.
Clement put 1,500 kilometres on the vehicle, which is equipped with a computerized tracking system which records its route. It is not known if the system was working or if police were able to access it. (The warrants in the firebombing case have been sealed.)
The Citizen took photographs of the alleged getaway truck last month. The police had seized its floor mats and dusted it for fingerprints.
Clement also told the Citizen that he was worried and needed to talk to a lawyer. He said he didn’t lend the truck to anyone and added that if it had been stolen he would have reported it to police.
Clement met the Citizen late at night on Bank Street on May 26, just days after the firebombing. He showed up with an entourage that included co-accused Matthew Morgan-Brown, 32.
Morgan-Brown is charged with arson causing damage, possession of incendiary material, use of explosives with intent to cause property damage and mischief.
Morgan-Brown is said to spend his free time demonstrating against the state and watching the Daily Show. His name is mentioned in connection with demonstrations at the 2007 Montebello summit and during a 2004 visit by then-U.S. president George W. Bush to Ottawa.
Haridge, described as a friendly neighbour who lends his lawnmower out, is an engineer at an Ottawa tech firm, and a former student of a now defunct “activism course” once taught at the University of Ottawa.
Haridge has been building circuit boards since he was 14. As a boy, he is said to have salvaged electronic components from the trash, carting them home in a little wagon. He is not charged with arson. Haridge is charged with careless storage of ammunition (the cache police discovered), and mischief in connection with the Feb. 1 vandalism of RBC branch at 1535 Bank St.) and failure to comply with undertaking.
The latter charge is in connection with an incident on May 27, 2009 when Ottawa police Const. Cedric Nizman was assaulted at the Ottawa Civic Centre and three Ottawa police raincoats were damaged.
Haridge is known for writing letters to newspapers criticizing the government and protesting Israeli actions.
Police raided Haridge’s Stittsville home on Friday and could be seen looking for evidence again on Saturday. Some detectives took away material, including what appeared to be a personal safe.
Chief White branded the firebombers as “domestic terrorists” last month and said he was confident his force would capture them.
Saturday morning the three accused were escorted by police into an Ottawa courtroom packed with about 50 family members, friends and supporters.
Clement, at 58, the oldest and said to be on medication for a heart condition, stood in the prisoners’ box looking relaxed in a denim shirt and jeans. He smiled occasionally as his lawyer Lawrence Greenspon addressed Justice of the Peace Bernard Swords.
Haridge, in a blue jailhouse jumpsuit, and Morgan-Brown, who looked tense, stood alongside Clement as assistant Crown attorney Carl Lem, Greenspon and the court agreed on a joint bail hearing for the three no later then next Friday.
A publication ban prohibits reporting on evidentiary matters discussed.
The bail hearing date is to be set Monday, when the three are to make another remand appearance via video link from the regional jail.
Outside court, Dan Sawyer a friend of the men and spokesman with a group called Ottawa Movement Defence, defended the trio.
“All three of them have really dedicated a lot of time and energy to issues in the city, antiwar issues, anti-poverty issues, all kinds of stuff. We have a lot of respect for them, they’re part of our communities.”
Sawyer suggested the timing of the arrests may have been politically motivated.
With “the G20 coming up, I feel like the feds are under a lot pressure to justify their ($1-billion security) budget, so the timing (of the arrests) seems pretty lucky for them in terms of justifying that kind of budget.
“We did have the bank (firebombing), absolutely, you can’t deny that,” he said. “But we’ve seen this before. I’ve been a protester for many years and opportunistic arrests, arrests that are totally unwarranted at demonstrations or before demonstrations to justify police actions, we’ve seen that many times.
“This has all just come out, we haven’t seen any evidence, (so) who knows how that’s going to play out.”
Outside court, Greenspon, who was prominent in the news recently in his defence of the convicted terrorist Momin Khawaja, cautioned the supporters against potentially jeopardizing the defence case by speaking to the news media.
With reporters later, he acknowledged “there are a number of activist groups that are interested in what’s happening here,” but he downplayed the case’s political overtones.
“The charges are essentially damage-to-property-related charges. There’s no talk of terrorism by anybody except our chief of police.
“I have to see the (prosecution) evidence before I can make any real comment about whether actions are related to political beliefs.
“Pretrial comments that attempt to characterize offences are not helpful to the administration of justice,” said Greenspon, who also acted as a temporary legal agent Saturday for Haridge and Brown, who had yet to retain counsel.
Police have asked anyone with information about the firebombing to call them.
Gary Dimmock can be reached at
613-726-6869 or by e-mail: gdimmock@thecitizen.canwest.com
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A "career protester", I wonder what kind of pension that provides .... oh, wait ..... he plans to send his retirement years whining about how poorly my taxes have provided for him. :
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