Hacktivist Byron Sonne Free At Long Last!

I'm not going to repeat the comments that everyone is making about the injustice that Byron Sonne was subjected to. So let's just say that the Judge at his trial ruled that he was innocent.

Here are links to some articles with excerpts from  one that provide details of the history of this case and good commentary and analysis of what occurred.

Congratulations, Byron!

The Verdict Is In ~ Byron Sonne is free by Laurel Russwurm

"Now that there isn’t a publication ban . . .

It’s safe to talk about things I learned at Byron’s preliminary hearing.

CSIS has what they call the “Open Source” program, which doesn’t mean software which allows users to access the source code (the usual meaning) but rather this is a program to spy on Canadians online.  The officer testifying about this program stressed that they only spy on citizens in the “public” parts of the internet, so while they may be reading your Facebook status, he claimed they don’t delve into our “private messages” without a warrant, although he gave the impression that they could if they wanted to.

Still, I find this warrantless invasion of the privacy of private citizens in a democracy more than a little bit creepy.  When they pass C-30 they will be legally allowed to take the next step into our private communications, also without a warrant.

Something else bothered me even more, something said by one of the law enforcement witnesses.  I’m not sure if he was from CSIS or had just worked with them to find information about Byron,  but he testified that CSIS had been unable to crack the TrueCrypt encryption on one of Byron’s computers.  Because of this, he testified, Byron would always be a person of interest to CSIS — even if Byron was acquitted.

I couldn’t write anything about that then, because of the publication ban, but that attitude makes a mockery of our  justice system.   After facing everything that law enforcement could throw at him, Byron has been cleared.  The Crown spent nearly two years trying to prove Byron guilty, spending untold tax dollars trying to transform speculation into evidence, and failed.

I am happy that Byron is now free to rebuild his life.  It was great to hear that his CISSP certification was restored in record time.  And I’m happy that this is the last time I need to write about Byron, so that I can spend more time writing about fictional characters.   I expect I won’t need to write about Byron again until it’s time to plug the book about this mess he plans to co-author with Denise Balkissoon."

*   *   *

"It was the only reasonable legal outcome, but the idea that CSIS or the police might continue to harass Byron Sonne is of serious concern.   Byron Sonne is no longer only presumed innocent, he is now legally innocent.  And innocent Canadians should not have to worry that Big Brother is looking over their shoulder.

MacLeans “Byron Sonne cleared of all charges” by Jesse Brown
Open File: “Byron Sonne, found not guilty on all charges, has plans for the future” by Denise Balkissoon
Chris Olah’s Trial Notes: Byron’s Trial, Verdict
Toronto Star: Byron Sonne not guilty on G20 explosives charges
The Grid: Judgement day for Byron Sonne ~ Nearly two years after he was first arrested on G20-related explosives charges, the Forest Hill resident was freed today following a tense, two-hour hearing.
Security Memetics: Parody song (to the tune of “Sesame Street) “In celebration of #freebyron”"

Creative Commons licence

Hactivist Byron Sonne: Comment by a friend

Kevin Brown, posted the following response to my previous blog, Hactivist Byron Sonne: Justice Delayed, on the Facebook page set up by friends of Byron Sonne: Free Byron Sonne. 

It was so good that I asked and received permission to copy and publish it to my blog. 

Thanks Kevin for your very insightful comments.

Kevin Brown:

"Regarding the incredible issue of bail being denied for 330 days, I would add, as an example of just how unprecedented this is, the case of Vakhtang Makhniashvili (Mariam's father).

Vakhtang stabbed his neighbor with a kitchen knife (came very close to killing him) on a Friday and was released on bail the following Monday! Bail amount for the attempted murderer was $50,000 (compare that to the $250,000 Bail Byron had to post ! for his crime of uploading video's of the convention centre to YouTube!)

There can be absolutely no justification or basis in law for a judge to deny Byron bail within day's of his arrest. The judge who denied bail request was corrupt - plain and simple! She was just doing favors for the police and crown without any regard for the rule of law. The judge has no integrity and she should not be sitting on the bench but she doesn't have to worry, judges are never held to account in Canada. Unlike the U.S. where the media are not afraid to criticize judges, in Canada the media consider judges to be above reproach.

In the attempted murder case above where the suspect received bail within days - his Lawyer was the former top crown prosecutor - Calvin Berry. Berry has many friends on the police force, the crown and the bench and you can see how his cozy connections ensured that his client was given as smooth a ride as possible! (he would go on to stab two more people while out on bail awaiting trial!).

If the judges involved were doing their jobs why wasn't the entire case thrown out after the preliminary hearing? Most of the charges were thrown out but the judge left in a few bogus charges , again doing a favor to the police and prosecutors, a face-saving measure so that they are not left with egg in on their face.

As for the latest charade, where the police made a huge spectacle out of recovering a harmless chemical buried in a back yard - if the judge was doing her job she would have cited the participants for contempt of court. This was not only a harmless chemical (used in high school chemistry labs) we have PROOF that the Police KNEW it was harmless because we can see (in videos) that the officers that lowered the canister into their special "hopper" wore NO protective equipment whatsoever (save for Oakley sunglasses).

Despite the FACT that police KNEW this material was completely harmless they went to great lengths to stage this elaborate theater in an effort to influence the decision of a judge.

If this happened in the U.S. , where they take the law more seriously, I have no doubt that senior police officials (Tam Bui?) would be facing contempt of court charges!

Cases like this remind me why we need to get camera's in our courtrooms. Somehow I think that if the actions of the players inside our courtrooms were to be held up to scrutiny we would see far less corrupt conduct.

Hopefully in making her decision this judge will follow the rule of the law and will not be swayed to find some wrongdoing (however minor) just so the police and crown are not left with egg on their face."

Hactivist, Byron Sonne: Justice Delayed

Will it also be Justice Denied? We won't know until sometime in May. The trial ended in March.

The entire case of Byron Sonne has been an injustice from start to finish.

However, that’s not what I find shocking. We know injustices like this occur. What shocks me is that there is very little moral outrage that it occurred.

Have we become so desensitized to corruption, abuse of process and abuse of power that we either no longer recognize it or simply don’t care? Is it really okay with our government, the media and the public at large to have our Justice system undermined in this way?

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Byron Sonne was the only person arrested during the G8/G20 Summit who was held without bail for over 300 days despite the fact that he committed no violent crime.

This includes people who actually committed violent acts like the fire-bombings of the Royal Bank of Canada and the vandalism in downtown Toronto.

Clement, one of the firebombers, and the only one of the three arrested who was held without bail, went to trial in December, 2010, less than 6 months after his June arrest. Pflug-Back was alleged to have committed thousands of dollars worth of vandalism and was released on bail.

Why was Byron treated in this discriminatory manner? What exactly did he do to deserve this “special” treatment?

2. The case against Sonne consisted of:

a. “guilt by association” claims based on his reading material and email lists he was following;

b. speculation about legal chemicals and other materials he had on his property, some of which were for geek experiments that he was able to demonstrate he was working on;

c. his open and public admission of blackbox testing G8/G20 security.

None of which are criminal acts as far as I know.

In contrast. The cases against Clement, Pflug-Back and some others included video evidence of what appeared to be them actually committing the crimes. 

And yet they weren't held without bail for over 300 days.

Where is the actual evidence against Sonne to support the charges? If there was none, why were the charges not dropped in their entirety? What is the standard required to legitimately arrest and charge someone? Was this standard actually met here or was it ignored by both the Detective Tam Bui, the lead investigator, and the Crown?

3. An appearance of extreme bias on the part of Detective Tam Bui occurred both in the interview tapes and with the dramatic street theatre associated with the potassium chlorate recently dug up in Byron's yard. The dig occurred based on information that wasn't a secret and the police presumably should have known long before this. Although they claim that they found out from the Defense Closing remarks. Whether that is true or not doesn't really matter. 

What matters is that the drama was quite unnecessary.

Perhaps I'm wrong but it seems patently obvious to me that the police and the HazMat team knew the compound wasn’t explosive otherwise why would they have burned it in an open fire? They did this immediately after they created a huge drama by stopping traffic all over the city as the truck took the compound to the dump to be disposed of. 

In other words, publicly treating it as though it was an explosive even though they had determined that it wasn't and didn't treat it as an explosive when they disposed of it.

The Judge was initially writing her decision based on the fact that Sonne didn’t make a bomb. Now, with what appear to be deceptive tactics, the Judge has presumably been left with the false impression that he did. An impression which could have an impact on the outcome of the case if the Judge doesn’t research this new issue carefully or register the nuances.

Whether Mr. Sonne is declared Guilty or not when this Judgement is handed in, I certainly hope that not just for his sake but for the sake of all Torontonians he will sue everyone involved in meting out this injustice.

There is no Justice without Accountability and those who engage in corruption, abuse of process or abuse of power to further agendas of personal bias must be held accountable. Especially those in positions of special trust like civil servants.

If they're not held accountable, they'll do it over and over again and every citizen will be placed at risk of becoming vulnerable to this abuse.

And I'm not assuming that this kind of abuse hasn't already occurred to others.

It has.

Byron Sonne Hacktivist on Trial

Byron Sonne’s trial is currently in progress and I have been following it as closely as I can without actually being there. I blogged on this issue during the G8/G20. 

Byron Sonne is a hacktivist who was black box testing the security surrounding the G8/G20.

I initially thought that Sonne had been recruited to participate in the Dirty Tricks campaign that I believe occurred at the time. However, friends of Sonne contacted me and assured me that I was wrong and that Sonne was an innocent victim.

Note that there is now evidence coming out that my general assessment of what occurred during the G8/G20 in 2008 was actually a direct result of a Dirty Tricks campaign,was correct even though it appears that I was wrong about Sonne.

If the media keep digging I don’t doubt the rest of the story could be revealed. If they don’t well then an opportunity to expose some pretty ugly corruption will have fallen by the wayside. Of course, the fact that Elliott was the Commissioner during that period also means that much of the evidence could have been destroyed or fabricated to be intentionally misleading.

Based on what I’ve seen to date I would have to agree with Sonne’s friends about his innocence.

I publicly admit my error and apologize to Sonne.

It appears that their trust in their friend was well founded. Sonne does indeed appear to be an innocent victim of this particularly ugly Dirty Tricks campaign, and I thank his friends for calmly and rationally presenting their case and giving me the time to evaluate it based on it’s own merits.

One of my reasons for saying that Sonne appears to be an innocent victim is the published interrogation of Byron Sonne by Tam Bui. There are several things that become obvious in that interview and indicate that Bui was trying to make a lot more out of Byron’s actions than the evidence itself indicated. His questions about Byrons attitudes and beliefs towards the Jewish community as well as the one's related to an alleged conspiracy were baseless because there was no evidence to support them.

June 23, 2008: First interrogation of Byron Sonne by Tam Bui

June 26, 2008: Second interrogation of Byron Sonne by Tam Bui

Given that a Ms. Bich Bui is a donor to Mount Sinai Hospital (a relative of Tam Bui?) one has to wonder if Sonne was arrested and held without bail, simply because Tam Bui and/or his personal friends held a personal bias based on nothing more than Sonne downloading a document.

One has to wonder if they held a personal bias which resulted in Sonne unjustly being held in prison without bail for three hundred days and charged for numerous offenses for which there was no evidentiary foundation?

If anyone bothered to research Sonne and read his online stuff it’s pretty clear that he isn’t antisemitic. Unless one thinks that reading something automatically means that the reader must believe it or agree with it.

That would be a pretty absurd conclusion for a presumably experienced lead police investigator to come to and one would have to question his competence if he did that.

Was Sonne simply being punished because someone, somewhere came to baseless and therefore wrong conclusions about his political beliefs and decided to make him pay irrespective of his clear and unambiguous explanations in the interrogations?

It's Ontario. Why wouldn't that surprise me.

(Please note that the above is not a commentary on the good people of Ontario. It is directed towards a specific circle in the wealthy elite here who has effectively bought the Liberal government and for whom the Liberals work exclusively at the expense of not only other members of the wealthy elite but the citizens of Ontario).

Sonne’s trial can be followed on the following site: Free Byron Sonne!

About Byron Sonne: Jessie Brown Interview with Jesse Hirsch on TVO

TVO Search Engine Show : Interview by Jessie Brown with Jesse Hirsch on the Byron Sonne case.

Sonne's trial begins January 26, 2011.

What Does Julian Fantino Have To Hide?

I'm guessing he has a lot to hide and cudos go to Liberal Leader Ignatieff for raising the question and demanding answers. 

Apparently the only G20 budget details now unaccounted for is the 100 million dollars spent by the OPP under Fantino's leadership as OPP Commissioner.

Since Fantino is running under the Conservative banner and has been endorsed personally by Harper, Ignatieff's concern that the Conservatives are supporting a cover up in order to ensure Fantino gets elected in the Vaughn Federal By-Election on November 29 is quite legitimate.

Why is Fantino so reluctant to have that information made public at this time if he has nothing to hide?

Why is the Conservative Party willing to risk their reputation to cover up for Fantino if he does have something to hide? 

Wouldn't it be better for the Conservatives to drop their support for Fantino before it causes them potentially major problems down the line?

This is the type of thing that could ensure that they lose the next Federal Election to the Liberals so they shouldn't make the mistake of assuming that this will blow over. 

Ignatieff is a smart man and he's not going to stop flogging this useful and timely horse. It's a gift horse for the Liberal Party.

And frankly, shouldn't the voters in Vaughn be aware of any possible corruption where taxpayers money is concerned before they elect Fantino to represent their community? Don't they have that right?

Toronto Police Services Chief Bill Blair, openly and honestly, handed over his budget and his was probably the only police service involved that came in under budget. 

He, apparently, didn't have anything to hide but then he's a police officer who is known for his integrity and honesty.

In addition to Fantino being required to hand over the details of the G20 OPP expenditures immediately, I would like the answers to the following questions:

Given the fact that the OPP under Julian Fantino's leadership infiltrated the Southern Ontario Anarchists:

1. Why was this most violent protest where vandalism was concerned, in the history of G20 protests around the world? 

2. How did these plans get past the OPP undercover officers or did they?

3. Did Fantino authorize agent provocateurs to incite Black Bloqists?

4. Did the undercover officers become Black Bloqists?

5. Where were the police when this vandalism was occurring?

Note that the old Red Squad style Dirty Tricks are now illegal in Canada.

If the OPP, under Fantino's leadership, did engage in this style of Dirty Tricks, then those who made these decisions as well as those who implemented these decisions, should be held accountable and charges laid.

And if this was done, don't the good people of Vaughn have the right to make an informed vote and not one based on a potentially serious deception?

Perhaps Fantino is afraid the budget might expose these types of expenditures?

Now I'm not a supporter or advocate of Anarchism. Frankly I don't understand it or care enough to try to understand it.

I am a defender of civil rights and am both shocked and outraged that such draconian abuses of power and  violations of citizen rights could occur in my city in 2010.

I want those responsible held accountable, no matter who they are. 

People like Fantino should not be above the law and should not be protected out of political expedience.

Not to mention the fact that if something serious is being hidden here it's going to come back to bite the Conservatives really hard.

So my question to the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Harper is:

Is Julian Fantino worth losing the next election over?

Hacking and IT Culture

IT Culture has come into the limelight in recent weeks due to Byron Sonne's arrest just prior to the G20 Summit in Toronto.

Byron Sonne is part of the IT Hacker community in Toronto and a Security professional although the claim of professionalism has been challenged by at least one blogger on BelchSpeak.

So, perhaps this is a good time to enlighten the public on IT Culture, what it is and what constitutes standard practice.

Hacking (exposing vulnerabilities in computer hardware and software systems) is part of our IT culture and not an uncommon practice.

Is it illegal? Technically speaking, yes it is and always has been.

However, in it's defense and in my personal opinion, the problems with hacking isn't so much that it's done but what the motivation is. This motivation can be determined by observing what occurs as a result of it's being done.

For example, if a person hacks a system in order to set it up to:

1. participate in a DNS attack,
2. load a virus or other maliciously destructive software,
3. violate the privacy of an individual, group, corporation, etc. they've targeted, 
4. steal and/or tamper with data or software code,

amongst many other things....

They've committed an illegal act and should be held accountable including prison time.

The criminal act, in my opinion, was what occurred when the person accessed the system, not the access to the system.

On the other hand, if someone is Black Box Testing a system in order to expose vulnerabilities, but does no harm to the system and/or reports the vulnerabilities to the target so that they can improve their security, I (and I would argue that most IT people) don't see this as a problem, never mind a criminal act.

Historically, this has been the role of the White Hat Hacker and one that many corporations have appreciated and benefited from.

Why has this become part of IT Culture?

In order to protect systems and keep them secure, we need to know how to break them first and this gives us the information we need to secure them.

As a Web and Software Developer, if I don't understand how SQL Injection or Cross-site posting works I can't develop software which blocks these kinds of attacks.

This is one of the key purposes behind Black Box Testing. It gives the IT professional the information they need to either write secure code or implement configuration changes to hardware for the purpose of securing the system against malicious hacking.

Black Box Testing is an IT methodology where the tester doesn't know the internal workings of a software or hardware system but will poke it, both see if they can bypass it's security and expose any  vulnerabilities in the system.

It's generally a constructive activity which contributes to ensuring that IT hardware and software systems and therefore the privacy and security of those who use these systems is protected.

A key principle behind this type of hacking is that no harm must be done to the system being probed or with information garnered.

As soon as harm is done, it crosses the line from White Hat Hacking into malicious hacking also known as Black Hat Hacking.

So, what then constitutes harm?

In my opinion, just noting that one was able to access private information, particularly if this access is then reported to the appropriate parties, does not constitute doing harm.

Why?

Because no negative act occurred as a result of this violation, and if it was reported, the violation is offset by the reporting which will result in a more secure system.

Accessing private information and then using it for blackmail purposes would constitute doing harm, would be malicious hacking and of course the person who committed such an act belongs in jail.

That said, let me just make the critical point that the vast majority of IT people who do this are not malicious hackers and it's because of them that we have far more secure systems today than even five years ago.

The IT Community, particularly the IT Security Community, which consists of numerous White Hat Hackers, should be commended and not demonized, for their constructive contributions to the IT Security field and industry.

Irrespective of whether Byron Sonne turns out to be a White Hat, Black Hat, or possibly a Grey Hat Hacker.

Something which remains to be seen.

I don't know him, but what little information I've been able to pick up on his activities through Internet searches gives me serious cause for concern, despite the confidence displayed by his friends.

Friends who, while I'm sure they're nice and for the most part honest, sincere and caring people, obviously have an emotional stake in this cause and are unlikely to be able to see this situation as objectively as an outsider would.

That said, there is a concept held by some hackers, called Full Disclosure which could have an impact and which I'll be discussing in another blog.

One of the difficulties in the Byron Sonne situation is that the Bail Hearing was held under a publication ban at Sonne's lawyers request.

So it's currently impossible to make a rational decision based on actual facts, regarding whether or not Sonne's actions were reasonable in the context of IT culture and based on the facts that I do have I can't in good conscience defend his actions.

Background information:

Hacking Wiki

Originally published July 24 (8:54AM). Republished August 8 with revisions.

Curiosities, the G20 and a Full Provincial Public Inquiry

Why did the most violent acts in the history of any G20/G8 Summit occur in Ottawa/Toronto, purportedly by anarchists, at a time that OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino had the Southern Ontario Anarchists infiltrated (by his own admission)?

Exactly how much was spent on additional services provided by additional private Security firms as a result of this increased "terrorist" threat, incited by the Ottawa goon squad, and which Security firms benefited that wouldn't have benefited without this increased "terrorist" threat?

How did the Black Bloc goon squads know exactly where there would be little or no police activity and where they could vandalize unfettered?

Why was there so much "confusion" amongst the lawyers regarding the interpretation of the Liberal governments law covering identification and detention of protestors, to the point where Toronto Police Chief  Bill Blair was directly misinformed regarding what specific police powers the TPS had?

Why was a Press Release regarding these extraordinary police powers granted by the Liberal government  approximately one month before the Summit not issued by the ISU to the Media ahead of time?

Why were the Protesters not informed of these extraordinary police powers and their extent ahead of time during information sessions held between the ISU, community and protest groups?

Why did the ISU (Integrated Services Unit - RCMP, OPP, TPS, CF and Peel Regional Police) place the TPS (Toronto Police Services) in charge of defending the fence instead of protecting the city? Wouldn't defense of the fence more appropriately belong to the RCMP or CF (Canadian Forces)?

Why was a CTV Producer and a CTV Cameraman, both of whom properly identified themselves, arrested and detained?

Why were 900 peaceful protesters arrested when the Black Bloc goon squad consisted of fewer than 50 people, if that, or 100 if one wants to be generous/exaggerate?

What exactly was this law passed by the Liberal Government, that is, exactly what extraordinary police powers were granted and what was the extent of those powers?

And given these and other relevant questions ....

Why would Liberal Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty think that a Public Inquiry into the largest Mass Arrest and the most draconian violation of Civil Rights in the history of Canada, is somehow not required?

Or does he just have way too much to cover up?

Maybe it's time for a Provincial election ... It's definitely time for a full Provincial level Public Inquiry whether McGuinty thinks we need one or not.

Byron Sonne and G20 Security

Byron Sonne's bail hearing was finished today and a decision will be made on Bail on July 20.

Sonne, a CyberSecurity expert and licensed Private Investigator claims that he was simply testing the G20 security.

However, thanks to a publication ban invoked by his own lawyer, we still have no idea:

1. What the specific test was
2. What it was intended to demonstrate and to whom
3. Why he felt it necessary to perform
4. What the final goal of the test was.

We only know that according to friends, he was trying to find weaknesses in the G20 security and was publicizing those weaknesses online (Twitter, YouTube, and possibly other places).

There are indications from these same friends that he objected to the high cost and wanted to show that it was unjustified or some such thing.

However, the reality is that the methodology he employed would have ultimately undermined the security precautions taken, had he succeeded.

Was that his intent? What did he hope to gain by doing that? Was he trying to demonstrate that it could be undermined easily and the billion dollars was a waste of money?

The billion dollars was a waste of money but not because the security could be undermined (and it seems that it couldn't be - congrats go to the Toronto Police Service for that one).

It was a waste of money because it was based on, what I believe was a false "terrorist" threat (Ottawa RBC Firebombing) intended to incite fear, create an overreaction, and motivate a large amount of spending on security to the benefit of certain unethical private security companies. 

A process, Byron Sonne, a CyberSecurity expert and licensed private investigator, would also have contributed to, had he been successful.

Here's another possible motivation, did his company attempt to get one of the very lucrative G20 private security contracts and fail?

And another possibility that I'm sure the Police are considering because if they weren't he'd have been released a long time ago.

Maybe he really did want to commit a terrorist act and his goal was to probe the security in order to find an opening which would allow him to do it.

The point that I'm making is that there are very good reasons to perform black box tests on security measures but there are also very insidious reasons including revenge and political extremism.

Perhaps I'm missing something, and I admit I don't have much in the way of facts, mainly because Byron Sonne's own lawyer had a publication ban placed on the Bail Hearing proceedings.

It just seems to me that the way that Sonne went about his testing would appear to indicate bad intent and not good intent. I suppose he could argue that he wanted it to appear that way and perhaps he did too good a job of it. On the other hand, so did the TPS when they caught him.

Depending on what he was purportedly testing and that still isn't clear, we really have no way of knowing whether this test was even a success or a failure.

If his only intention was to demonstrate the weaknesses in G20 Security through black box testing, all he had to do was hand the information over to the ISU instead of publicizing it.

If part of his testing was to see if he could get away with publicizing this type of information without getting caught he could have posted false but true-sounding information.

There were lots of ways of performing this type of black box testing without doing any harm to the G20 security apparatus.

Instead, he was revealing actual security information on Twitter and YouTube.

It also seems rather odd to me that a CyberSecurity expert and licensed Private Investigator would be naive enough to think that after spending a billion dollars on Security, the ISU wouldn't at the very least pick up on the basics.

Again, perhaps I'm missing something that more brilliant minds than mine can see but I'm also quite curious about what "Intimidating a Justice System Participant" has to do with testing G20 Security? That's a charge which involves threatening a Judge, Prosecutor or Juror.

If the test was to demonstrate that one could get away with making extremist and threatening statements, exposing sensitive security information and committing terrorist acts as long as one was seen as a nice guy and popular in ones circles with lots of people to come forward and speak well of one, then it remains to be seen whether that test has failed or succeeded in his case.

Although, I would agree that such a test has a strong potential of succeeding. I've seen it happen, often to my detriment. However, it usually also requires substantial amounts of cash and/or the connections to grant lucrative favors to back up that nice guy image. If one wants to stay out of jail, that is. It is also quite dependent on how much natural charisma a person has.

How many people thought Colonel Russell Williams was a great guy? I suspect many would have come forward to speak well of him and deny any claims that he could possibly be a serial killer and rapist. One doesn't become a Colonel by being unpopular.

Those claims would likely never have been believed if the police hadn't come up with solid evidence to support them.

Just a thought ....

GuantanaToronto

A modified Twitter Tweet:

Dear G20

Next time you decide to have a Summit, could you please hold it on Skype or on a Military Base?

XO

Love GuantanaToronto

Black Bloc Tactics

What do Black Bloc tactics accomplish for the characters in the G8/G20 drama in Toronto?

For the Protestors?

They obscure, if not obliterate their message as well as result in many innocent people getting arrested for absolutely no reason.

Of course, the roaming goon squads that vandalized the city should be, and many were, arrested.

However, I seriously doubt that the majority of people arrested were participants in those sprees or any other illegal/terrorist activity. Not based on the reports I've heard through the traditional, alternative and social media. 

Reports indicate that the goon squad members totaled between 50 and 100 out of thousands of Protesters. Based on the damage that occurred I'd say it was at the low end. A small number of determined people can do a lot of damage in a very short time when they're doing it unfettered.

At last count, on writing this blog and according to CBC News, well over 500 have been arrested, making this the largest mass arrest of people in Canada's history. Exceeding the previous record of 465 arrests which occurred during the War Measures Act in 1972 (FLQ Crisis).

UPDATE: As of 8:00PM EST, the number of arrests now exceeds 600 as per CBC TV News.

UPDATE: As of June 28, 2010 AM, the number of G20-related arrests made since June 18, 2010 totals over 900 as per the Toronto Star. 

Note that the War Measures Act (1972) was in place for a period of one month, Canada-wide and resulted in 465 arrests.

No, I didn't participate, wasn't downtown and didn't observe anything first hand so any criticism of my statements based on those grounds is fair comment.

For the Provincial Government?

They justify the draconian and extraordinary measures taken by the Liberal Government which amounts to a full suspension of Civil Rights similar to but far less extensive (regionally) than that which occurred during the War Measures Act.

The War Measures Act was invoked Canada-wide for a period of one month. This legislation was invoked for Toronto only, although the parameters and specifics are rather unclear to everyone including, apparently, the traditional Media.

The fact that this regional limitation exists and a much shorter time period is involved, and this number of people was arrested, makes this far worse than the gross violation of Civil Rights that occurred in Canada in 1972 with the invocation of the War Measures Act.

For the few unethical elements in the Private Security industry?

They justify the obscene additional expenditures which allowed them to rake in the profits.

Note that the Private Security industry provides private security guards as well as services like security passes, background clearances, equipment, etc. both to private companies in the area as well as to the G8/G20 security machine.

An atmosphere of fear helps them enormously when it comes to selling their services, particularly when it causes the public policing services to become overwhelmed..

So, the only ones who don't benefit in any way from using Black Bloc tactics are the Protesters. 

Go figure ....

There will probably be a lot more to say on this issue as the dust settles.

Toronto, the G20/G8 Summits and "Terrorism"

I'm not a Conspiracy Theorist and consider that the venue of the k00ks. One that they can keep as they hunt for monsters under each and every bed.

However, frankly, as a realist, there are conspiracy theories and there are conspiracy theories.

COINTELPRO, the RCMP Red Squad, and MKULTRA were also conspiracy theories when the rumors about them started.

The difference between those conspiracy theories and others is that witnesses came forward with personal testimony and/or certain acts occurred which didn't fit the explanations.

Having grown up during the era that exposed much of the truths behind these stories I had the opportunity to see this unfold.

The recent "terrorist" attacks in Ottawa and the recent arrest in Toronto of a "terrorist" smacks of a conspiracy theory in the process of exposure.

My original theory about the RBC Fire-bombings holds as far as I'm concerned.

In my opinion, this was nothing more than a deliberate attempt by unethical private security companies to create a panic in order to raise the terrorist threat level and to push the government into taking extraordinary security measures, while they sat back and raked in the profits. 

This one just reeks of a scam.

Let's look at who is being arrested.

The RBC Fire-bombings were done by:

1. 32 year old man with a history of protest activity
He is the only person that fits the profile of what one would expect if this were a genuine terrorist attack by people who oppose the G20/G8 summits. He was most likely brought in to give credibility to the lie that young anarchists were involved. Not to mention that he will now make a convenient scapegoat.

Everyone else:

2. 58 year old retired civil servant who worked for CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)

3. 50 year old Engineer

No tell my why an Engineer would fire-bomb a building when he has the skills to build something more sophisticated. And if he was concerned about people getting injured, could have created a more controlled type of explosion.

I'd also like to know why a 58 year old retired CIDA civil servant and 50 year old Engineer would vandalize buildings with stones and hammers when they could have made a far clearer statement with something more sophisticated.

Perhaps they did things this way because they were deliberately trying to give the impression that this attack was done by young anarchists in order to deflect suspicion from who they were and what they were really trying to accomplish?

And who was the person arrested in Toronto yesterday?

A millionaire CyberSecurity expert who contracts out his services in Toronto, lives in Forest Hills, and according to friends was purportedly testing G20 security.

He also just happens to be a licensed private investigator.

Sorry but this last arrest just fits my scenario like a proverbial glove.

If I were in the Integrated Security Unit, I'd be trying to figure out who paid the CyberSecurity expert, the Engineer, and the retired CIDA civil servant to do this and how much they were being paid for this particular service.

And I wouldn't be looking for a paper trail of cash. I'd be looking for cash purchases of property as well as home renovations, etc.

Let's face it, the private security firms were the one's that gained the most by these "terrorist" attacks as did their Investors. And if they financed these attacks they are as responsible as those who committed them.