Written September 2008

See the leaked Toronto 18 - 'Terrorist Camp' Video here. 

One question came to mind when I watched this video: This is a joke right?

What is called to be one of the ‘most incriminating’ evidence against the Toronto 18 was conveniently ‘leaked’ to the media just before the verdict of one of the youths being charged is to be laid down (on September 25^th at the Brampton Courthouse). Watching this video makes me think of past videos I have made with some friends of mine back in high school. In those videos we had bibi guns which we were firing at every direction (at an isolated place of course in a wooded area). Of course, keep in mind that bibi guns are far more dangerous than any paintguns which are anything but dangerous. In those videos we had a bunch of hip hop and rock tracks playing in the background as we imitated action scenes from a movie and, yes, guerrilla fighting. The lyrics for the songs we played can be effectively described as aggressive and hostile – otherwise known as “gangster rap”. While we did not tape it, late at night we all went to an empty parking lot driving around the car we all came in aggressively.

As to what exactly is to be found incriminating in these leaked videos regarding the Toronto 18 escapes me. There is nothing incriminating at all aside from the handgun that the mole Mubin Sheikh brought to fire himself. Therefore, is it the flag waving? The music in the background? The paintball guns? The wrestling in the snow? The marching? What exactly is incriminating in these videos? You have got to be kidding me. If that’s the case, then I should have been arrested a long time ago along with my friends. 

If context barely matters I would be in huge trouble. I have icon grenades lining this website. I have songs where I say that I would slit the Prime Minister's throat. The list goes on. Of course, any rational mind would realize the context in which these things are being done in. If this is the type of evidence that the case against the Toronto 18 (now 11) is based on then the crown is clearly in trouble. It also highlights why the trials of 11 men are continually postponed -- 3 in solitary confinement for almost three years now at Don Jail (a prison condemned for terrible conditions by lawyers, human rights activists and judges). Not to mention the fact that preliminary hearings were avoided by the Crown and other questionable oddities that line this case.

In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood