Toronto mayor Rob Ford crack scandal, Somalis own the evidence

[Yunis]

Safferz;956087 wrote:

This is my fear too, but I wouldn't put it past Rob Ford and his people either. The

last article

I posted is quite alarming, and

I hope the Somali guys with the video are okay

.

a colleague brought up that same point at the office today when discussing today's article you posted. Anthony Smith was gunned down, the Pakistani guy on the cover was fatally wounded and now that Gawker reached its 200k mark, yet the purported video owner can't be located hope he doesn't end up dead.

 

Ps. Safferz well done for staying on top of this.....

[Safferz]

You're welcome Yunis Just waiting for Crackgate's inevitable implosion, I just hope it won't end violently.

 

 

[AfricaOwn]

Chimera;956064 wrote:

I must be the only one who feels sad for this guy, the man is finished, all those years of career construction up in smoke.

You're not the only one -

 

The man has a loyal nation riding for him in Toronto :

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/27/ford_nation_stands_by_their_man_porter.html

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/27/mayor_rob_fords_popularity_unaffected_by_drug_allegations_and_denials_poll_finds.html

[Safferz]

Rob Ford’s former staffers’ emails, telephone records ordered destroyed: sources

Emails and telephone records in Mayor Rob Ford’s office are in danger of disappearing, the Star has learned.

 

By: Daniel Dale City Hall, Kevin Donovan Investigations, Published on Wed May 29 2013

 

 

Emails and telephone records in Mayor Rob Ford’s office are in danger of disappearing, the Star has learned.

 

The electronic records, which may reveal knowledge of discussions of the video scandal, were ordered destroyed this week. Sources say people who were told to delete the records are balking at the order.

 

One source the Star spoke to was alarmed at the potential loss of “evidence of attempts” to locate and retrieve a video of Ford smoking crack cocaine and making homophobic and racial slurs.

 

The records in question were held on the City Hall server and belonged to departed staff members Mark Towhey, George Christopolous and Isaac Ransom. Towhey was fired for telling the Mayor to seek addiction help; the other two resigned Monday after their communications advice was ignored.

 

Asked by the Star whether emails of Christopoulos and Ransom were destroyed, Ford’s acting chief of staff, Earl Provost, said, “I'm sorry, you should talk to Sunny about that.” Sunny Petrujkic is Ford’s acting press secretary.

 

When Star reporter David Rider interjected, “But you would know if,” Provost said, “Sorry Dave, I can't talk to you about that. Sorry.”

Petrujkic did not respond when asked if there was an order to destroy the emails of Christopoulos and Ransom.

 

“I'm busy with this,” he said gesturing at reporters waiting to go into the mayor's office for a press conference.

 

Officials in the information technology department at the City of Toronto are required to maintain the computers and ensure that information — which is all subject to freedom of information requests — is preserved.

 

The Star established earlier this week that discussions were held within Mayor Ford’s office regarding the possible whereabouts of the video. Logistics director David Price asked Towhey “hypothetically” what should Price do if he knew the location of the video. Towhey’s response was to tell Price to go to police. Towhey ultimately contacted police, gave a statement, and Price did the same.

 

Toronto Police have only said they “are monitoring” the video situation.

[GaraadMon]

 

 

Lol. I know this kid from Edmonton. His Facebook page is blowing up right now.

[Safferz]

Blackflash;956802 wrote:

 

Loool. I know this kid from Edmonton.

lmao!

[GaraadMon]

The man of the hour:

 

Abdihalim Salad

[Safferz]

Blackflash;956808 wrote:

The man of the hour:

 

Abdihalim Salad

I'm crying, how did he get behind Denzil Minnan-Wong like that? At a press conference? :D

[GaraadMon]

Safferz;956809 wrote:

I'm crying, how did he get behind Denzil Minnan-Wong like that? At a press conference?

:D

I don't know, but I always see him pictured with NHL players and politicians on his Facebook account, he's adept at being in the right place, at the right time.

[Safferz]

Word on the street is the Toronto Star will reveal tomorrow in a front page story that Rob Ford knew about and told his staff the exact apartment number and address where the crack video was being held.

[Safferz]

And here it is (why would the Star publish the unit numbers?):

 

Rob Ford video scandal: Mayor Ford said he knew where video was, sources say

The mayor cited “our contacts” as the source of his information, according to insiders familiar with an unusual May 17 session in his office.

 

By: Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Kevin Donovan Investigations, Published on Thu May 30 2013

 

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford told senior aides not to worry about a video appearing to show him smoking crack cocaine because he knew where it was, sources told the Star.

 

Ford then blurted out the address of two 17th-floor units — 1701 and 1703 — at a Dixon Rd. apartment complex, to the shock of staffers at a city hall meeting almost two weeks ago, the sources said.

 

The mayor cited “our contacts” as the source of his information, according to insiders familiar with the unusual May 17 session in his office.

Staffers were alarmed by the implication of hearing so precise a location, sources said.

 

This report is based on accounts given by those privy to what was discussed the day after the Star and the U.S. website Gawker published news of the crack-cocaine video shot on a cellphone.

 

Ford has called news of the video “false” and said: “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist.”

 

Around the table at city hall on May 17 were operations and logistics director David Price, then deputy chief of staff Earl Provost, press secretary George Christopoulos and others. Missing from the meeting was Mark Towhey, then Ford’s chief of staff. Also not in attendance was communications special assistant Isaac Ransom.

 

Towhey was fired last Thursday after counselling Ford to seek help for his health. Christopoulos and Ransom resigned “on principle” Monday, and Provost is now chief of staff.

 

The Star sent emails outlining the allegations, complete with a series of questions, to all people named in this report. As of press time, none had responded to requests for interviews.

 

One of the key questions the Star asked of Ford was how he came to know, the day after the video news broke, of the Dixon Rd. apartment numbers.

 

The Star has visited the units and been told by neighbours that numerous young men are seen coming and going there at all hours of the night and day. Nobody said they had seen Ford.

 

In letters to those at Ford’s May 17 meeting, the Star provided the following scenario for comment:

 

“To all of you who are receiving this letter, please be aware that we are asking these questions in the public interest about a serious matter. We strongly advise you to reach out to us to discuss this story. We want to hear your side of it. Most importantly, if there is anything you believe is not factual, or anything you would like to add, please contact us by this Wednesday at 3 p.m.

 

Here is what we believe transpired on Friday, May 17, the day the story of the video was published on the front page of the Toronto Star:

 

During the meeting, when concern was raised about the existence of a video, Mayor Ford told staffers “not to worry” as he knows where the video is.

 

To the surprise of some present, Mayor Ford then blurts out the Dixon Rd. address, including the two apartment units on the 17th floor, 1701 and 1703.”

 

There were no replies from any of the Ford officials, including his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, who was not at the meeting.

 

The Star’s ongoing investigation of the crack video report shows that later in the day, Price — whose duties include making sure the mayor gets to and from home and work safely — approached Towhey with a question.

 

“Hypothetically,” Price asked Towhey, if someone had told him where the video was, “What would we do?”

 

The straitlaced former military man told Price that nobody should do anything other than contact police.

 

At one point, according to an account of the conversation, Towhey was heard to remark, “We’re not getting the f---ing thing!”

 

His concern was that, if a video existed, someone could be killed for it.

 

Price also told Towhey the video may have been the reason that Anthony Smith, a person pictured in a photo with Ford published in the Star on May 17, was killed.

 

Inquiring further that Friday, Towhey asked Price where he learned the address and apartment numbers. The Star’s research shows that Price replied only “sources” and would not say how he learned the information.

 

The next day, Towhey gave a statement revealing his concerns to Toronto Police. Price was also interviewed. The Star is trying to determine what, if anything, Price did with the information he received from his “sources.”

 

Police have assigned two detectives to interview Towhey and carry out an investigation into his allegations.

 

Several days after these events, early on Tuesday morning at 4:20 a.m., a young man was shot in the leg outside one of the 17th-floor apartments. The Star has looked into this and been told by people in the neighbourhood, and by Toronto Police, that it was an accidental shooting involving people who were drunk and that it is not related to the video.

 

An editor from Gawker and two Star reporters have viewed the video, which is being offered for sale by drug dealers. The Star journalists described a video showing a rambling and incoherent Ford smoking what appears to be a crack pipe and making homophobic and racially charged statements. The Star reporters were shown the video by a man who said it was shot on an iPhone.

[Safferz]

Safferz;955547 wrote:

The timeline is more like this:

 

1) Rob Ford smoked crack

2) Rob Ford was recorded smoking crack, with

Anthony Smith

present among others (

Smith was killed in a targeted shooting on March 28th

)

3) Gawker is contacted by a Somali informant in Toronto who is helping the owners of the video shop it around to media outlets, it is then viewed by a person from Gawker and when Gawker mentions this in an email to a contact, the word spreads to Rob Ford's office

4) Gawker breaks the story, officially starting Crackgate

5) Toronto Star releases a story, after two of their journalists view the video. They use the word Somali as many times as they use the word crack, and later edit and apologize to the Somali community

6) Gawker launches the Rob Ford Crackstarter campaign to raise funds to purchase the video, it is currently at $192k and set to hit the goal tonight. However the video owners have gone underground and it is feared Gawker will not be able to make the purchase.

7) Rob Ford fires his chief of staff for telling him to go away and get help

8) Rob Ford, who smoked crack, denies that he currently smokes crack in a press conference

9) The Globe and Mail releases a story they have been working on for

18 months

, saying that it is irresponsible not to share this information now. It is an investigative report that shows the elder Ford siblings' involvement in the drug trade in Etobicoke

10) Toronto Star journalists confirm the existence of multiple copies of the tape

11) The Globe and Mail learns that a Ford staffer was interviewed by Toronto homicide detectives after he/she tipped them off about a connection between the video and a homicide in the city. This staffer and others know the exact apartment building and unit where the video is/was held, and alleges that the video originally belonged to someone who was killed for its valuable contents

Adding to the timeline, for those who haven't been following:

 

12) Gawker raised the $200k to purchase the crack video, video's owners are still MIA so Gawker will hold the funds for one month and plan to donate to a substance abuse related organization if they don't turn up

13) Two aides from Rob Ford's office resign, "on principle"

14) We learned that after the story broke, Ford's operations and logistics director asked the now fired chief of staff "what would we do" if they knew exactly where the video was located. He also tells him that the video may be the reason why Anthony Smith was murdered. Alarmed, the chief of staff tells him he would contact police. He does, telling Toronto police about the conversation.

15) An apparently unrelated shooting takes place in the apartment building and floor where the video is known to be held, injuring one man in the leg

16) Reports that the email and phone records of the former staff members at the mayor's office were ordered destroyed

17) We learn Rob Ford told his staff after the story broke that they have nothing to worry about, he knows where the video is (and he says the exact apartment building, floor and unit)

[Safferz]

Police press conference going on now, they announced charges against a 23 year old man named Hanad Mohamad in Fort McMurray, Alberta for the murder of Anthony Smith.

[GaraadMon]

Police have arrested a second suspect in the shooting death of Anthony Smith , the man who appears in a photo with Mayor Rob Ford provided to the Star by the same people who have a video that appears to show the mayor smoking crack.

 

The RCMP arrested

Hanad Mohamed, 23, in Fort McMurray

, Alberta, last Friday after a nation-wide warrant for his arrest was issued.

He has been charged with first-degree murder and will appear in a Toronto court Friday.

 

Nisar Hashimi, also 23, turned himself in April 4 after he was named as a suspect. He has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the death of Smith and shooting of Muhammad Khattak , the other man pictured with Ford.

 

Source:

The Toronto Star

I guess that confirms our suspicions regarding any Somali involvement in the shooting.

[Boom Boom]

Somali men are worthless. No morals or dignity. Biggest mistake Canada made was letting these animals in this beautiful country.

 

Can Canada deport all Somali men? Can we make that happen?