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May 2010 Attack on Ottawa Bank: Arson or terrorism?

Oldgateboatdriver said:
I am putting just a subsection here and underlining two parts

(b) an act or omission, in or outside Canada,

(i) that is committed

(A) in whole or in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause, and

(B) in whole or in part with the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act, whether the public or the person, government or organization is inside or outside Canada, and [...]

This very specific intent is the heart of the "terrorism" definition and seems to have been generally ignored in this thread. Yes, you blow a bank: it is a crime; you kill someone while doing it: it is a crime; you endangered lives: it is a crime. But is it terrorism?

Can someone here honestly say that, having heard of this firebombing, of the Anarchist group's claim of responsibility and its vague message concerning the olympics-G8-and-G20 meetings, they are afraid of going banking, or to go out at night and walk past a bank? I think not. There was no message here that would amount to "this is just the beginning/do not dare go out at night or we'll get you/the streets of Ottawa will run with blood". Similarly, can any one identify from the known facts here any specific and identifiable act  of a person, government or organization that this group is trying to prevent from happening or cause to happen?

No, This is just a group of misguided Anarchist trying to garner publicity for their pet cause through the commission of crimes. It makes them dangerous criminals (re: their disregard of life and property rights) but on the basis of this sole event and its surrounding facts, not terrorists. Lets keep the law for real terrorists like the Toronto 18.

Why did you underline that portion and then totally disregard it in your opinion?  Did you not read their little manifesto online?  Tell me that this is "just a criminal act" and I'll call BS.  This is a little more than an small group of misguided anarchists committing a petty criminal act.  It was well planned, documented, as well as published with a manifesto for all to see, along with their "demands" that the RBC stop their funding in certain ventures.  That, to me at the very least, sounds like they are showing the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act, whether the public or the person, government or organization is inside or outside Canada, and [...]
 
Things are starting to be repeated, and more than once.

This one is circling and heading into the vortex.

Tic, toc......

Milnet.ca Staff


 
(B) in whole or in part with the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act, whether the public or the person, government or organization is inside or outside Canada, and

Unless you wanna throw up a make shift road block and charge people money for passing throgh, thats not terrorism at all.
 
Unlocked, for discussion of the arrests.

Arrests in Ottawa bank firebombing
Gary Dimmock, Canwest News Service
18 June 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Arrests+Ottawa+bank+firebombing/3172706/story.html


OTTAWA — Three men — including two in their 50s — have been arrested in the investigation into the firebombing of an uptown Ottawa bank last month.

In the Friday morning raids, Ottawa Police arrested one man downtown, and a second at his home in nearby Stittsville, Ont. A third man in his early 30s has also been picked up. His name is Matthew Morgan-Brown, of Ottawa. He is a well known activist. He was arrested before the 2007 Montebello summit and charged with assaulting police. He was also arrested in 2004 for vandalizing downtown buildings during an antiwar protest.

Claude Haridge, 50, of Stittsville is in police custody, charged with arson and mischief. Days after the firebombing, which was filmed and posted online in a “catch-me-if-you-can” video, the 50-year-old accused was arrested in an unrelated investigation. In that probe, the accused firebomber was charged with careless storage of ammunition.

The 58-year-old accused is Roger Clement a retired federal public servant, is also in police custody and charged with arson. Detectives believe he rented a 2010 SUV, which was used as the getaway car.

The licence plate of the truck was caught on security video, which led detectives to check rental car records.

The Citizen has learned that Clement used his own credit card and driver’s licence to rent the truck.

The firebombing by anarchist group FFFC-Ottawa, which was filmed and posted online, was considered an unsophisticated attack.

Clement told the Citizen in an interview that he was “absolutely not” linked to the attack.

The retired public servant also said at that time that he knew nothing about the incident. He said he did not loan the vehicle to anyone and, he added that, if it had been stolen, he would have reported it to police.

He also said that he, alone, put 1,500 kilometres on the SUV’s odometer in just two days, driving from Ottawa to Peterborough, Ont., and back, not once but twice, to help his brother with “something.”

The “homegrown terrorists” have said they firebombed the bank because it sponsored the Vancouver Olympics, which they say was staged on stolen Indian land.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was briefed about the case because the firebombers posted an online statement saying they will be at the upcoming G8-G20 summits in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto.

Since 2007, RBC branches across Canada had been targeted in dozens of attacks by Canadian anarchists and other extremists who view the bank as a symbol of corporate greed.

 
Claude Haridge, 50, of Stittsville is in police custody, charged with arson and mischief. Days after the firebombing, which was filmed and posted online in a “catch-me-if-you-can” video, the 50-year-old accused was arrested in an unrelated investigation. In that probe, the accused firebomber was charged with careless storage of ammunition.

The 58-year-old accused is Roger Clement a retired federal public servant, is also in police custody and charged with arson. Detectives believe he rented a 2010 SUV, which was used as the getaway car.

The licence plate of the truck was caught on security video, which led detectives to check rental car records.

The Citizen has learned that Clement used his own credit card and driver’s licence to rent the truck.

The firebombing by anarchist group FFFC-Ottawa, which was filmed and posted online, was considered an unsophisticated attack.

Wow, and these direct action "evil geniuses" think they are smart enough to decide how the world should be run.    ::)
 
old medic said:
Unlocked, for discussion of the arrests.

Arrests in Ottawa bank firebombing
Gary Dimmock, Canwest News Service
18 June 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Arrests+Ottawa+bank+firebombing/3172706/story.html


Oh for frak sake... *facepalms*
 
mellian said:
Oh for frak sake... *facepalms*

Why *facepalm*?

We shouldn't discuss this?

Why not discuss CRIMINAL activities in the name of activisim?

 
Michael O'Leary said:
Why *facepalm*?

We shouldn't discuss this?

Why not discuss CRIMINAL activities in the name of activisim?

Facepalm as in familiar with two of the idiots from before.
 
As you know two of these people arrested, does it in any way change your views as to "preemptive" measures in protecting an otherwise peaceful form of protest from infiltration from outside or otherwise known unstable persons who intend on committing violent acts?
 
George Wallace said:
As you know two of these people arrested, does it in any way change your views as to "preemptive" measures in protecting an otherwise peaceful form of protest from infiltration from outside or otherwise known unstable persons who intend on committing violent acts?

As being against violent acts and those that commit them or plan too? No, it has not changed.
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.


RBC firebombing arrests made by Ottawa police

LINK
18/06/2010 2:06:53 PM

Police said Friday they have made arrests in connection with the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in Ottawa in May.

Police did not reveal any further details on the arrests, but said they would be holding a briefing for the media on Saturday morning, when they expect to lay charges.

The fire on Bank Street in the Glebe neighbourhood broke out about 3:30 a.m. ET on May 18, and was immediately viewed as suspicious after witnesses reported seeing people flee the scene.

The next day a video appeared on an independent media website showing the branch light up suddenly before flames spilled out the front of the building and two people walked out.

A message accompanying the video, signed by a group calling itself FFFC - Ottawa claimed RBC was targeted for its sponsorship of the 2010 Olympics.

Ottawa police led the investigation into the arson and received aid from the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The RCMP became involved in the investigation in part because the group also said in its video that it would be present at the G8 Summit in Huntsville, Ont., and the G20 Summit in Toronto next week.


LINK
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Police to announce charges in Ottawa firebombing

LINK
19/06/2010 9:47:46 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

Ottawa police are expected to announce charges Saturday against three Ottawa-area men in connection with the firebombing of a bank in May.

The names of the suspects and the charges they face will be made public Saturday morning at a joint news conference with city police, the RCMP and OPP.

A firebomb was tossed into a Royal Bank branch on May 18. Investigators deemed the fire suspicious until an activist group took responsibility for the incident in a video posted online.

A self-styled anti-establishment group calling itself FFFC-Ottawa said it targeted the bank because of its support for the Vancouver Olympics "held on stolen indigenous land."

The group promised further action during the upcoming G8 and G20 summit meetings in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto.

Three suspects -- a 50-year-old, a 58-year-old and a man in his late 20s -- were taken into custody at the end of last week.

Ottawa Police Chief Vern White said the attack was a case of "domestic terrorism."

LINK
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Three held in bank firebombing may face terrorism charges


LINK


Police feared trio might be planning further acts of destruction at summits after arms cache found


By Gary Dimmock, The Ottawa Citizen, June 19, 2010 9:15 AM


OTTAWA —The brazen May 18 firebombing of a Glebe bank was to be just the start of a “domestic terrorism” campaign launched by three anarchists bent on acts of destruction at the G20 summit in Toronto, with one of the accused firebombers stockpiling boxes of ammunition and gunpowder, the Citizen has learned.

Detectives from three police agencies — Ottawa police, the RCMP and OPP — managed to find a cache

of ammunition, while they worked for 30 days straight to solve the firebombing of the Royal Bank of Canada at the corner of First Avenue and Bank Street in the Glebe.

Top police officials are said to be grateful that no one was killed in the alleged plot.

On Friday, Ottawa police detectives arrested three men — including a 58-year-old retiree who met with the Citizen last month — in the firebombing case. According to an internal police file, the suspects are charged with arson and may later be prosecuted for terrorism under section 83.01 of the Criminal Code.

Ottawa police Chief Vern White had publicly branded those who attacked the bank branch as terrorists days after the firebombing, which was filmed and posted online in a “catch-me-if-you-can” video by a group called FFFC-Ottawa.

The acronym stands for Fight for Freedom Coalition, according to the country’s spy agency. In their online statement, the group threatened to be present at the Toronto summit.

Police arrested Claude Frederic Haridge, 50, on his way to work near Hunt Club Road Friday. Haridge, an engineer, has been building circuit boards since he was 14, when he used to salvage parts from the garbage and cart them home in a little wagon.

Haridge, who lives on Carp Road in Stittsville, is facing charges of arson, mischief and careless storage of ammunition after police allegedly found a cache of ammunition. Haridge also has outstanding criminal charges of unlawful assembly and assaulting a police officer.

His Stittsville home was raided by police, including tactical members, on Friday morning. They executed a search warrant, which is sealed, at the Cape Cod-style home with a two-car garage where he stores a speedboat.

Haridge wrote this online last year:

“Electronics has always been a passion for me and I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to a wide variety of fields over the past 35 years.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to give back some of the stuff I’ve learned and help others develop some great ideas.”

Haridge, described as a friendly neighbour, is a former student of ex-University of Ottawa physics professor Denis Rancourt who taught a controversial course on activism before he was let go by the university.

In 2007, the university de-registered twin 10-year-old boys who had enrolled in Rancourt’s Science in Society class.

Haridge, a fellow student, rose to the defence of the twin boys. He wrote letters to the school in support of his young classmates. Haridge has also sent letters to newspapers critical of government. And he has demonstrated against Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

Roger Clement, 58, was also arrested and faces arson charges. Clement is a retired public servant, whose last job was at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

He was questioned by police on Friday and, like Haridge, is expected to appear in court this morning to face arson charges.

Police believe that Clement rented a 2010 Acadia SUV that was used as a getaway car in the firebombing.

The Citizen tracked down and met with Clement on May 26. The late-night meeting took place on Bank Street and Clement arrived with an entourage, which included a third firebombing suspect, Matthew Morgan Brown, the youngest of the trio, and believed to be in his early 30s. Morgan Brown is a well-known activist. He has been arrested during prior protests at the 2007 Montebello Summit and during a 2004 visit to Ottawa by former U.S. president George W. Bush.

In the meeting with the Citizen, Clement acknowledged he had rented the SUV and that he used his own MasterCard and drivers’ licence to do so.

But, he said he had nothing to do with the firebombing.

“Absolutely not,” he told the Citizen last month while he was under police surveillance.

Clement also said he didn’t lend the vehicle to anyone and, he added that if it had been stolen he would have reported it to police.

The Citizen saw a copy of his rental agreement, which is part of key police evidence, before the meeting.

The Ottawa man said that he, alone, drove 1,500 kilometres on the SUV’s odometer in just two days, driving to Peterborough and back, not once but twice to help his brother with “something.”

Clement rented the truck from a ByWard Market agency on May 17, a day before the firebombing of the Royal Bank branch.

“I’ve been told not to talk. I’m worried and I need to talk to my lawyer,” he told the Citizen.

According to the rental contract, and Clement, he declined insurance and re-fill service charges. He registered himself as the only driver and he returned the SUV on time. He used his MasterCard and a valid driver’s licence with an out-of-date address to rent the SUV.

Days later, Ottawa police seized the SUV and a forensics team went through the vehicle, dusting for fingerprints inside and out.

A day before the Citizen found and took photographs of the alleged getaway car, police had seized its floor mats for forensic testing.

Upon its return, it did not smell of gas or smoke and except for an old penny in the console, it was relatively clean.

The rented SUV is equipped with a police-traceable identification number.

Until the retired public servant was arrested, he spent some of his free time at a coffee shop in Chinatown, considered a meeting place for Ottawa’s anti-establishment network, which protests big business, world government summits, and cuts to welfare.

The firebombing by anarchist group FFFC-Ottawa was an unsophisticated attack and detectives have collected trace evidence from the burned-out bank.

The police department has also secured security video from storefronts along Bank Street and First Avenue, including high-definition images.

These images helped detectives track the getaway car, and more importantly, its plate.

According to the online video, which included a statement, the firebombers said they attacked the bank because it sponsored the Vancouver Olympics, which they say was staged on stolen Indian land.

The firebombing attracted international attention because of the summits and Prime Minister Stephen Harper was briefed because of the online statement warning that the individuals would be at the upcoming G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont, and the G20 in Toronto.

RBC branches across Canada have been the target of dozens of attacks since 2007. RBC’s sponsorship of February’s Olympic Games in Vancouver brought the simmering hostility to a boil.

All three accused firebombers are in police custody, but police have declined to release their identities or details about the crime. They are expected to release details at a 10 a.m. press conference today.

Police have asked anyone with inside information about the firebombing to call them.


Gary Dimmock can be reached at 613-726-6869 or gdimmock@thecitizen.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Three+held+bank+firebombing+face+terrorism+charges/3171765/story.html#ixzz0rJEf0XFp


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Three+held+bank+firebombing+face+terrorism+charges/3171765/story.html#ixzz0rJDXt2TM
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.


Firebombing a novel concept?

  By Lydia Peever, The Ottawa Citizen June 19, 2010 7:10 AM


LINK

A novel by a Vancouver writer features a theme that is similar to the actual May 18 firebombing of an Ottawa bank.

The book is Wrong by Chris Walter. It was published in 2009.

The Ottawa bombing was captured on video that was posted on the Internet.

In the novel, police look at a video that opened with a city street at night. There is a bank. A flash sparks into flames through the window, as two figures emerged. One strolled off screen, almost casually. The bank building burned, but no one was injured in the incident. Later, the bombers claimed they were protesting the Vancouver Olympics.


This summarizes Walter’s novel Wrong. The Ottawa firebombing seems eerily similar to the plotline.

“I was wondering if anyone would notice that,” Walter has written in an e-mail. He said he had noted the similarities in news reports about the Ottawa incident.

In the novel, two men bomb the Olympic countdown clock, a bank and a fast-food franchise. The book is based on the turmoil that gripped Vancouver’s Lower Eastside prior to the 2010 Olympic Games.

On May 18, in Ottawa, two males were videotaped “firebombing” a Royal Bank to protest the Olympics held three months previously.

In another interview conducted well before the Ottawa incident and the Vancouver Games, Walter had made it clear he does not support violent acts like the ones described in his book.

The truth may well end up being stranger than fiction, as authorities continue to investigate.

Chris Walter is the author and publisher of 15 novels. For more information about Walter visit www.punkbooks.com .

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Three+held+bank+firebombing+face+terrorism+charges/3171765/Ottawa+firebombing+book+share+similar+concept/3173718/story.html#ixzz0rJIHgIWp


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Three+held+bank+firebombing+face+terrorism+charges/3171765/Ottawa+firebombing+book+share+similar+concept/3173718/story.html#ixzz0rJHkElep


LINK
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Chris Walter's novel raised a little bit of controversy just prior to the Olympics in Vancouver.
 
mellian said:
Considering they did it during a part of the night where is there no other people around inside or out, it is safe to say their intention is not to harm anyone. The glebe around 3am is pretty deserted with only the occasional car going by.
Something that seems to have cropped up time and again in this thread, and the above quote is a good example, is how some have minimized the danger to the public safety based on the location being "just" a bank late at night.

I live in the Glebe, not far from where this fire took place, this assumption the risk to the public was minimal is BS, and I hope is considered heavily as the accused go through the legal system.
The people who started the fire would have seen clearly the close proximity of the bank to the residential home behind it, and the business adjacent to it, and the occupied apartments therein.
At some point the perpetrators of this act would have had to consider that, and to me, it is reasonable to conclude their intent was to cause fear because the possibility of injury or death was very real, it is more by chance that this didn't occur.
We cannot readily dismiss the location where this took place as being of minimal risk to anyone but emergency response services.
They purposely chose this area knowing full well it endangered people, and anyone familiar with the area can see that 
 
Initial statement, 18 Jun 10 & updated today (highlights mine - more bank building damage earlier this year):
On June 18, 2010, the Ottawa Police Service arrested three Ottawa men regarding the May 18th arson fire at the RBC branch located at 745 Bank Street.

An extensive 30-day investigation led by that Ottawa Police Arson and Major Crime Units and supported by Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that the suspects had used a combination of an accelerant and an improvised explosive device to set the lobby of the bank ablaze. Damage to the bank was estimated at over $500,000. 

The investigation also led to charges for another incident at the RBC bank located at 1535 Bank Street that occurred at approx. 4:00am on February 1, 2010 where two persons were observed damaging multiple windows and ATMs with rocks and a hammer.

This morning, the three men have been charged as follows:

Roger Clement 58 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson - 18th of May 2010
Arson Causing Damage
Possession of incendiary material
Use explosives with intent to cause property damage
Mischief
RBC Damage - 1st of February 2010
Mischief


Matthew Morgan – Brown 32 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson - 18th of May 2010
Arson Causing Damage
Possession of incendiary material
Use explosives with intent to cause property damage
Mischief

Claude Haridge, 50 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson - 18th of May 2010
Careless storage / handling of ammunition
Fail to comply with undertaking
RBC Damage - 1st of February 2010
Mischief 


The three suspects are appearing at Show cause at the Ottawa Court House this morning ....

As of this AM, all remanded for court appearances later this month.
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.


Police lay arson, mischief charges in firebombing
19/06/2010 11:05:29 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

LINK (with 17 min video of announcement)

Three Ottawa men are facing numerous charges following the firebombing of a Royal Bank branch in the city in May.

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 ammunition and military-calibre weapons.

The three men were to appear at an Ottawa courthouse Saturday morning.

A self-styled anti-establishment group calling itself FFFC-Ottawa took responsibility for firebombing of a Royal Bank of Canada branch on Bank Street in the city's downtown core 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 "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," White told reporters at a news conference Saturday morning in Ottawa.

Clement and Haridge are also facing charges in connection with the vandalizing of an RBC property on Feb 1.

Police said surveillance would be ramped up during the summits in the event that activists protest in Ottawa.

Police said they consider the incident a form of "domestic terrorism" which authorities continue to investigate.

The Bank Street RBC branch sustained more than $500,000 worth of damage and remains closed, police said.

LINK
 
Petard said:
I live in the Glebe, not far from where this fire took place, this assumption the risk to the public was minimal is BS, and I hope is considered heavily as the accused go through the legal system.

Knowing who they are now from previous involvement with the Ottawa activist community when I still lived there, I am more certain than when I wrote that quote that the intention is not to harm anyone. They are still idiots thought.
 
mellian said:
Knowing who they are now from previous involvement with the Ottawa activist community when I still lived there, I am more certain than when I wrote that quote that the intention is not to harm anyone. They are still idiots thought.

What about the risks to the fire fighters? Are we to assume they are expendable in case of death or injury while fighting an activist ARSONIST's work?

What is an intention worth when someone actually DIES?

 
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