GARY DIMMOCK
The retired civil servant who firebombed an Ottawa bank in 2010 has been denied parole after refusing to reveal the identities of his masked accomplices in the “domestic terrorism” attack that they filmed and posted online in a catch-me-if-you-can style video that went viral.
The alleged accomplices were charged with arson the same day as Roger Clement, but their charges were dropped because there wasn’t a reasonable prospect of conviction. Clement, now 60, took the fall alone and will likely spend his full three-and-a-half year sentence in federal prison.
“You have not disclosed the identity of your accomplices to the police and told the (parole) board that to do so would violate your principles,” the parole board noted.
“You claim, on personal principle, that you will not provide information regarding your criminal activities, including the names of those involved in your offence, and this demonstrates ingrained criminal values,” the parole board said.
The parole board also said Clement, whose last job was at Canadian International Development Agency, has been “unwilling to be transparent since your arrest” and his release would pose an “undue risk” to the public.
Clement’s guilty plea in 2010 precluded a public airing of some details about the firebombing of the RBC in the Glebe that have gone unreported until now.
His prison file reveals fresh details about the case and notes that police have flagged him as an “anarchist” in an Ottawa-based “radical organization … suspected of domestic terrorism.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was briefed about the arson in 2010 because Clement and his accomplices said in an online video that they firebombed the RBC in the Glebe for its connections to the Alberta oilsands and Vancouver Olympics.
According to Clement’s prison file, he met with two accomplices up to three times a week for two months leading to the firebombing. Much of the planning was about how to gain media attention, notably with an online video of the firebombing, which included a voice message threatening an unknown presence at a G20 Summit.
In Clement’s own words, according to prison files, he poured gasoline in the bank machine lobby, and then an accomplice lit a Molotov cocktail and tossed it inside, which ignited a massive explosion that caused $1.6 million in damage.
A third man stood outside as a ‘lookout’ and videotaped the brazen attack. Clement said they decided to firebomb the bank at 3 a.m., “when there were not likely to be cleaners in the bank or passers-by in the street.” Police told the Citizen at the time they were grateful nobody died in the firebombing.
Clement and his two accomplices hit Bank Street around midnight and spent three hours in several pubs before executing their plan. Clement told parole officials he had no idea that the blast would be so big, and admitted he felt “fear” as he fled the scene. He likened his intentions to “causing an inconvenience on a slightly higher level than a strike or sit-in.”
On the same morning, prison files reveal, Clement went to an Internet cafe on Somerset Street and logged on to a so-called independent media website and uploaded the firebombing video for all to see.
What he didn’t know was that he had been tailed by police to the Internet cafe, who watched as Clement uploaded the video. The joint police operation by RCMP, OPP and Ottawa Police, included an undercover police agent who had infiltrated the group months earlier.
Because they had an undercover police officer socializing with the anarchists, police were able to start following Clement within hours of the firebombing. The police conducted 24-hour surveillance of the firebombing crew and were able to dig up Clement’s laptop in Peterborough, where the retiree had buried it after wrapping it in layers of plastic bags and duct tape. Police also uncovered enough ammunition to send out an internal briefing note saying Clement and his accomplices may be prosecuted for terrorism.
The Citizen reviewed a copy of the internal briefing note on the day they arrested Clement and his alleged accomplices. The internal briefing note said Clement and two alleged accomplices may be charged with terrorism. They were never charged with terrorism though a top Mountie told the Citizen that the RCMP investigation would leave no stone unturned.
The parole board denied Clement release in March, saying he had little or no insight into his crime. He told prison officials that he had too much free time and too much stress in his life at the time of the firebombing. His mother had died, and his father and sister had committed suicide, leaving him to take care of his mentally-ill brother alone.
Clement posted the firebombing video at the Internet cafe hours after the attack, and claimed responsibility for it under the group called Fight for Freedom Coalition, a group known to CSIS, the country’s spy agency.
Clement rented the 2010 Acadia SUV that was used as a getaway car in the firebombing. Days after the firebombing, the Citizen tracked down Clement with the help of APTN (Aboriginal People’s Television Network). In the interview at a Bank Street pub, Clement denied any involvement but acknowledged that he had rented the SUV in question, and admitted that he used his own credit card to do so. The Citizen had reviewed the rental agreement one day before meeting the firebomber.
In the late-night May 26 meeting, Clement told the Citizen had nothing to do with the firebombing. He did, however, tell the Citizen: “I’ve been told not to talk. I’m worried and I need to talk to my lawyer.” He later pleaded guilty.
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