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Comment by Doctor on June 18, 2010 at 3:52pm

Thanks for posting the update James... sounds even more suspicious to me now!

Comment by truth on June 18, 2010 at 3:27pm

OTTAWA — Ottawa Police detectives have arrested two suspects in the brazen May 18 firebombing of a Glebe bank.

In morning raids Friday, Ottawa Police arrested one man downtown, and a second at his home in Stittsville.

The Stittsville resident 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 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 along Bank Street, which led detectives to check rental car records.

The Citizen has learned that the 58-year-old suspect 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.

The individual who rented the SUV believed to have been used as a getaway car in the firebombing had told the Citizen in a recent interview that he was "absolutely not" linked to the attack.

The retired 58-year-old 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.

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

The 2010 GMC Acadia was rented by the man from a ByWard Market agency on May 17, the day before the firebombing of a Royal Bank of Canada branch on Bank Street around 3:30 a.m.

"I've been told not to talk. I'm worried and I need to talk to my lawyer," he told the Citizen.

When he rented the vehicle, the man 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 He used his MasterCard and a valid driver's licence with an out-of-date address to rent the SUV.

Ottawa Police Chief Vern White had always said he was confident arrests would be made soon in the hunt for the FFFC-Ottawa anarchist group who posted a "catch-me-if-you-can" video of the firebombing online. It was filmed from across the street, kitty-corner to the RBC branch at the corner of First Avenue and Bank Street in trendy Glebe.

The retired bureaucrat 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 "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 summit 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. RBC's major sponsorship of February's Olympic Games in Vancouver brought the simmering hostility to a boil.

Gary Dimmock can be reached at 613-726-6869 or gdimmock@thecitizen.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Comment by Doctor on May 20, 2010 at 9:29pm

Banks would be targeted by coptesters (read: agent-provocateur), so they would totally benefit as well. RBC would also had to have been in on it... how else would building access be gained after hours without raising suspicions? Recent personal example of basic bank security... some drunk fell through the window of a bank near where I live, triggering a silent alarm and there were four cruisers at the scene in SECONDS... not even one minute.

Comment by DallasBC on May 20, 2010 at 3:49pm

I agree more fear to enforce a police state

Comment by fireguy on May 20, 2010 at 1:19pm

The Bankers did it to themselves. All to show the proles how scared they need to be due to "domestic terrorists" so they will beg for protection.

"Today, America would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all people of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the world government."

Henry Kissinger