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Montreal Gazette
11-06-2025
- Montreal Gazette
Men arrested in Côte-St-Luc in October charged with possessing incendiary material
By Two men who were arrested in Côte-St-Luc last October after incendiary material was allegedly found in their vehicle have been formally charged, though one remains at large. Abdou Khadre Sene and Artemio Cabrera Pazos were scheduled to appear in a Montreal court Tuesday after they were each charged June 5 with a single count of possession of incendiary material. Quebec's prosecution service said Cabrera Pazos appeared in court and is scheduled to appear again in August. However, Sene did not appear and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The city of Côte-St-Luc said in early October an officer from its Public Security department had spotted suspicious individuals in a vehicle parked outside a synagogue around 2 a.m. and called police. At the time, Montreal police said officers stopped a suspect vehicle nearby and found incendiary material inside. The two occupants of the vehicle were arrested that night and released with a promise to appear. Police and prosecutors declined to comment Wednesday about why it took more than eight months to lay charges. Rabbi Reuben Poupko of the Beth Israel Beth Aaron — where the suspicious vehicle had been parked — said two Molotov cocktails were found outside the synagogue later that morning, during the celebration of the Jewish New Year. 'All of the violence that we've seen in Montreal and beyond, the firebombing of synagogues, the shootings at Jewish schools overnight, the recent attacks in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania); Washington D.C.; Boulder, Col., obviously, is evidence of a climate of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions and for the court to have ever granted these individuals release with a promise was absurd and a dereliction of duty,' Poupko said. Police declined to comment on whether the two men may have been linked to any incendiary devices found outside the synagogue, or whether the investigation remains ongoing, citing the fact that the case is before the court. But police spokeswoman Mélanie Bergeron said in response to a question from The Gazette that nothing suggests the men are linked to a terrorist group. The two men face a maximum sentence of two years less a day and or a fine of $5,000. A search of court records shows Sene faces a series of charges in another case, including receiving a material benefit from human trafficking, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping. Three minors arrested the same night in the neighbouring Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce borough, who were also found in a vehicle with incendiary material, have also appeared in court. Prosecutors said one has pleaded guilty to possessing incendiary material and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, including a nine-month curfew, and is banned from possessing incendiary materials, explosive substances, lighters or matches. A sentencing hearing for one of the other two is scheduled to take place this month, with a sentencing hearing for other scheduled for July.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
That Time L.A.'s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Called in a Bomb Threat on His Own City Hall
"False flags" are a staple of conspiracy theories. Many infamous attacks and threats, the theory goes, were cooked up by the government itself to spread fear and justify crackdowns. But a bomb threat against Los Angeles City Hall turned out to be exactly that kind of scheme—albeit a poorly cooked up one. Brian K. Williams, former deputy mayor for public safety, pleaded guilty on Thursday to calling in a bomb threat during a meeting on October 3, 2024. According to his plea deal, Williams used Google Voice to place a call to his work phone, then told the Los Angeles Police Department chief of staff and texted other officials that the "caller" had threatened to blow up city hall. Williams implied that the threat was sent in by a pro-Palestinian activist. "I'm tired of the city support of Israel. I have decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the Rotunda," he quoted the non-existent caller as saying. The meeting was during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and a few days before the anniversary of the October 2023 attacks on Israel. After police searched city hall and found no bomb, Williams showed them the call record from the Google Voice number. He then texted other officials to say "There is no need for us to evacuate the building." But the investigation of the threat didn't end there. The Los Angeles Times reports that detectives "conducted surveillance that led them to conclude that Williams was responsible for the bomb threat." They then turned over the investigation to the FBI, which raided Williams' house in December 2024. He was placed on administrative leave immediately after. As deputy mayor for public safety, Williams oversaw the Los Angeles Police Department as well as the Fire Department, Emergency Management Department, airport police, and seaport police. He was promoted to the job in February 2023 from his previous post as executive director of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission. Williams "not only betrayed the residents of Los Angeles, but responding officers, and the integrity of the office itself, by fabricating a bomb threat," Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said in a press release. "Government officials are held to a heightened standard as we rely on them to safeguard the city. I'm relieved that Mr. Williams has taken responsibility for his inexplicable actions." Inexplicable indeed. The plea agreement didn't explain William's motive, and his lawyer Dmitry Gorin simply told the Los Angeles Times that the "aberrational incident was the product of personal issues which Mr. Williams is addressing appropriately, and is not representative of his character or dedication to the city of Los Angeles." It's one thing for the government to exaggerate dangers, mix up different kinds of threats, or get swept up in mass panic. It's another for a government official to make up a lie from scratch. Yet that's what really happened in Los Angeles. The post That Time L.A.'s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Called in a Bomb Threat on His Own City Hall appeared first on
