*** This does NOT look good at all. A white guy, walks with a limp AND missing fingers? Can you say bombmaker? Let's see how this plays out. Hope its just a big misunderstanding. MS ***
UPDATE: Yes, it was a big misunderstanMS ding. Whew!
FROM: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100608/missing-ammonium-nitrate-fertilizer-100608/20100608/?hub=TorontoNewHome
Police are continuing efforts to locate someone who made a notably large purchase of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the Niagara region late last month -- material that could be used in a truck bomb.
RCMP have been asked to assist in the investigation because of the "volatile nature" of such a large quantity of fertilizer, estimated at 65 bags, Sgt. Marc Laporte of the Ontario RCMP told CTV NewsChannel.
Each bag contains 25 kilograms of the potentially explosive fertilizer.
"We take all these threats seriously and we don't have a choice in this kind of matter," he said.
However, more details on the state of the investigation won't be available until at least Wednesday.
Someone walked into Vineland Growers in Lincoln and bought the fertilizer on May 26, which was loaded onto a single-axle trailer and taken away.
"At the time, the male gave staff the impression he was a regular customer; however, upon further review, this was determined not to be the case," Niagara police said in a news release issued Friday.
Investigators are looking into the possibility the man may be a local farmer.
They describe him as being between 40 and 50 years of age, possibly of European descent, who walked with a slight limp and was missing fingers on his right hand.
This comes about as security starts to tighten for the G20 Summit of world leaders in Toronto on June 26 and 27, and the G8 Summit in Huntsville that begins on June 25.
Several law enforcement agencies with involved in providing security for the summit told CTV News that the Niagara Regional Police Service is the lead agency and said any comment should come from them.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he has been briefed.
Ammonium nitrate, when mixed with diesel fuel, can make a powerful bomb. Such an explosive was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
According to some reports, the quantity of fertilizer involved in the Niagara case is comparable to the quantity used in Oklahoma City.
Ammonium nitrate also played a role in the 'Toronto 18' terror trials. Some of the suspects were arrested following an RCMP sting.
No one in authority has said so far that such a security threat exists to the two summits.
In the period before the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, two tonnes of the fertilizer went missing, which triggered an RCMP investigation.
However, the whole thing turned out to be a clerical error.
Showing posts with label G20 security cost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G20 security cost. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
G20 SUMMIT FEAR FACTOR & THE TORONTO 18
*** Actually, the CN tower was never mentioned as a target but was assumed so by the media and has found its way into the popular discourse. A good point though about the reality of homegrown terrorism and domestic security costs. MS ***
FROM: http://www.torontosun.com/comment/editorial/2010/06/04/14268601.html
From the outside looking in, the world view is Toronto is the perfect setting for this month’s G20 summit, while the higher-end G8 attempts to get a peek at Muskoka’s beauty from behind a ribbon of sky-high security fences.
Toronto, after all, likes to tout its image as the world’s most multicultural city, a racially-tolerant and vibrant cultural mosaic teeming with diversity and brimming with hope.
And rightly so.
But it also has an underbelly.
And therein lies the problem.
While it will take a post-mortem examination to determine whether the much-criticized $1 billion being spent on security is an outrageous amount of money, there are factors in a city like Toronto that make it a veritable safe house for potential terrorists.
Because of the racial diversity of the city, and the mass of its humanity, no one truly sticks out in the crowd.
No one gets noticed in its kaleidoscopic cityscape until something goes awry.
Anonymity is almost guaranteed.
Let’s not forget, for example, that up until the summer of 2006, no one had ever heard of the Toronto 18, a terror cell that plotted to attack Parliament and downtown Toronto landmarks, lop the head off the prime minister, explode truck bombs near the CN Tower — ground zero for the G20 — and take out the Toronto Stock Exchange and a nuclear plant east of the city.
Two weeks ago, following the lead of some of his followers, the kingpin of the Toronto 18, 25-year-old Fahim Ahmad, suddenly pleaded guilty to terrorism charges midway through his trial.
So the plot was real, not imagined.
And these were predominately home-grown terrorists — not like the hijackers who brought the horrors of 9/11, not like the potential terrorists who might see our porous border and the G8 and the G20 summits as a world-stage opportunity, and not like the masked anarchists who will flock from beyond on their predictable missions of havoc.
The reality is that these terrorists were hiding in the underbelly of a city not known for violent demonstrations or racial intolerance — all going unnoticed until something went awry.
So, will a billion dollars in summit security be too much?
We can only hope.
FROM: http://www.torontosun.com/comment/editorial/2010/06/04/14268601.html
From the outside looking in, the world view is Toronto is the perfect setting for this month’s G20 summit, while the higher-end G8 attempts to get a peek at Muskoka’s beauty from behind a ribbon of sky-high security fences.
Toronto, after all, likes to tout its image as the world’s most multicultural city, a racially-tolerant and vibrant cultural mosaic teeming with diversity and brimming with hope.
And rightly so.
But it also has an underbelly.
And therein lies the problem.
While it will take a post-mortem examination to determine whether the much-criticized $1 billion being spent on security is an outrageous amount of money, there are factors in a city like Toronto that make it a veritable safe house for potential terrorists.
Because of the racial diversity of the city, and the mass of its humanity, no one truly sticks out in the crowd.
No one gets noticed in its kaleidoscopic cityscape until something goes awry.
Anonymity is almost guaranteed.
Let’s not forget, for example, that up until the summer of 2006, no one had ever heard of the Toronto 18, a terror cell that plotted to attack Parliament and downtown Toronto landmarks, lop the head off the prime minister, explode truck bombs near the CN Tower — ground zero for the G20 — and take out the Toronto Stock Exchange and a nuclear plant east of the city.
Two weeks ago, following the lead of some of his followers, the kingpin of the Toronto 18, 25-year-old Fahim Ahmad, suddenly pleaded guilty to terrorism charges midway through his trial.
So the plot was real, not imagined.
And these were predominately home-grown terrorists — not like the hijackers who brought the horrors of 9/11, not like the potential terrorists who might see our porous border and the G8 and the G20 summits as a world-stage opportunity, and not like the masked anarchists who will flock from beyond on their predictable missions of havoc.
The reality is that these terrorists were hiding in the underbelly of a city not known for violent demonstrations or racial intolerance — all going unnoticed until something went awry.
So, will a billion dollars in summit security be too much?
We can only hope.
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