Police foil plans for terrosim attack in Toronto

[Hachimitsu]

I was hoping I would see a thread for this earlier but I guess not.

Link to Toronto star article
There are also articles by the Globe and Mail and CBC news has been doing extensive coverage.

[Lurker]

I salute the RCMP and CSIS for their efforts!

Anyways, it is really upsetting to hear that most of them were born in Canada, between the ages of 20-23 and has never set foot in Afganistan and Iraq. I guess when you are young (college students) you can be very idealistic and would support anything that you think will help your cause. I think a lot of people went through this stage when they blindly support "idealistic causes" or "ideologies" and would resort to anything even violence just to be heard, then when they look back after a few years, they go, what the heck was I was thinking.

One of the places they raided in Toronto was "Malvern" which is notorious for gang activity/violence. Man, you wouldn't want to go there when sun goes down, even TTC drivers I spoke to get scared driving in that area.

[Hachimitsu]

Yes, Malvern not a good place.

I forgot to mention in my first post how CTV listed not just the cities the arrestees lived in but the streets they lived on along with their full names. Now all a person needs is a phone book to go after some of these people and/or their families.

Edit for spelling

[Lurker]

I was surprised as well that they put the names and address on TV but I guess this is similar to those criminals getting arrested for crimes wherein their picture and address are also annouced on TV. They are treating this as a crime report as well, no special treatment whatsover. In fact, it was not only CTV, which did this, I also saw it on BBC and CBC, think.

[Lurker]

You know what, when we heard this both my wife and I thought this has something to do with the TTC strike last Monday. Remember the TTC went on strike without notice and nobody can give us a straight answer as to why they went on strike. I told my wife, well I guess the RCMP used the strike to check the subway system, they just didn't tell us. The drivers were even clueless as to why they went on strike, some were even picking up passengers in front of our apartment at 6:00 am when the strike was called 5:00 am, then it was back in operation at 5:00 pm but the subway didn't open until 10:00 pm. The court ruled it as an illegal strike in the morning and yet it took them the whole day to resolve it then after a few days, they rounded up the terrorists, right? Just something to think about or maybe it's just a crazy notion.

[Hachimitsu]

From what I saw on the CBC (did not see BBC) they only listed the full names and cities they were from, not the street.

Usually from what I have seen they only put up known convicts locations (especially if they are likely to reoffend). I have never heard of listing the street of residence of a person who got arrested.

[Hachimitsu]

Didn't see that last post, you have a very very very good point there.

I had heard about the strike on Sunday and it did seem like a quick escalation from the release that TTC drivers won't dispute a passenger putting in an incorrect fare. It seemed neither side seemed to know what was going on.

[Lurker]

I usually watch CTV and I think I often hear them state the address of the person who got arrested but not in bold letters though. Remember the bikers who got killed/arrested, they had the names and addresses as well.
I guess CTV will be slapped with a lawsuit for doing this (privacy issues) if this is not something a crime report regularly states or unless the anti-terrorism act we have in place in Canada urges the media to do this.

[Lurker]

Didn't see that last post, you have a very very very good point there.

I had heard about the strike on Sunday and it did seem like a quick escalation from the release that TTC drivers won't dispute a passenger putting in an incorrect fare. It seemed neither side seemed to know what was going on.

I think we are cross posting.

Usually, there is a week's notice for a TTC strike. I heard about the strike, too, on Sunday but I brushed it off. I usually wake up at 5:00 am or earlier, (yup, I know even the birds are not awake yet as my wife always says) then I heard the DJ saying in this loud voice "I repeat there is no TTC this morning! This is not a joke!" I look out the window and I go what the heck, how come there are buses picking up people on my street. (I live on one of those 24 hour bus routes and my apartment faces the street.) That's why it crossed our minds that this news is related to the TTC strike. I don't believe they would go on strike for those reasons alone. Some drivers were clueless as to why they went on an illegal strike. Shutting down transport system is really a big deal, you know.

[axordil]

Lurker--

I'm open to the suggestion of a connection, but not sure where the tie-in would be. What about a wildcat strike would make a terror cell more visible? Increased phone activity as they desparately make new plans? That implies their phones are already tapped, which means they almost certainly had been compiling evidence against them.

[vison]

Well, I'll be darned. This is what comes of not reading the paper or watching TV. I was after peace and quiet, but I should have been paying attention, I guess.

My husband was in Toronto Friday and Saturday. He got home late Saturday night and has gone out to work this morning, so I haven't had time to ask him what the scoop was around the places he was in.

[Lurker]

Lurker--

I'm open to the suggestion of a connection, but not sure where the tie-in would be. What about a wildcat strike would make a terror cell more visible? Increased phone activity as they desparately make new plans? That implies their phones are already tapped, which means they almost certainly had been compiling evidence against them.

Ax,
I think they just staged it as a "wildcat strike" but I think they might have heard "rumours" or a tip that the subway might be a target that Monday, so as not to arouse fears among the riding public they just said they are staging a strike when in fact they might be inspecting the subway system at that time. You know just a diversion. I'm not suggesting this is the case, okay, just something to think about. It was a weird day in fact, that day the mayor declared it as a ride your bike to work day, the mayor doesn't seem to be in a hurry to call it off, the union leader doesn't know what was happening, some TTC drivers were clueless etc...

I leave my car at the subway parking lot and I ride the subway everyday and walk to work from the station. I noticed the trains are not as fast as it normally runs this week, it takes a longer wait time at a certain subway station this week. In fact, there were two incidents this week, one was the mechanical problem, the other, they didn't even say a word about it when they closed a station in the middle of rush hour. My wife was riding the train at that time (the latter) and everybody was scrambling for the shuttle buses. She called me to tell me that she is taking the taxi back to the station where I parked the car and just drive to work cause the train was stopping every 5 mins.

[axordil]

Ah...yeah, a bit of a pattern emerges. They must have been pretty close to trying something.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/world ... r=homepage

NYT article. Evidently they were going the Tim McVeigh route. You can blow up one hell of a lot with 3 tons of fertilizer.

edit--had to break link, was stretching page

[Lurker]

The RCMP is saying that the subway was not in the target list.

[axordil]

Well that's no fun. How are we supposed to start working on our conspiracy theories if they're going to deny...ah, er, never mind.

edit to add: the NYT piece said some would often meet at a popular Canadian donut shop. What is Tim Horton's involvement in this, anyway?