Signs of G20 paranoia abound, even far away from the locked-down downtown “security zone” where the actual meetings will be held ... last night, walking to the subway, I saw workers slapping up plywood boards over windows ... windows belonging to businesses and office buildings outside the security zone ... once I got on the subway, seven beefy cops (six male, one female) boarded ... all wore baseball caps, with riot helmets clipped to their belts ... fortunately, the police weren’t making a raid: they appeared to be simply in need of a ride and quickly got off the subway at the Queen Street station ... police are understandably edgy about the public transit system: yesterday a subway line was briefly closed down due to a “suspicious package” (police lingo for “something that might be a bomb”) ... the threat fortunately turned out to be nothing.
G20 security mania has infected Forest Hill—a swanky neighbourhood of neatly manicured lawns and driveways full of SUVs in north Toronto ... I happen to live in Forest Hill (though definitely not in a mansion) ... on Tuesday, June 22, police converged on a home but one block from where I reside to arrest a computer geek on all manner of charges, including mischief and possession of an explosive ... the gentleman’s name is Byron Sonne and he is a computer security expert and a member of a high-tech “Surveillance Club” that meets occasionally to discuss computer hacking and electronic surveillance among other issues ... Sonne had apparently been musing out-loud to his Surveillance buddies about monitoring police scanners during the Summit and passing the information on to protesters ... his back-story is fascinating: “In high-school, Sonne reportedly planted a fake bomb that resulted in his school being evacuated, causing classmates to vote him “most likely to become an international terrorist” in their yearbook, according to a former schoolmate,” writes the Toronto Star.
Friends describe Sonne as a mischief-maker who was more prankster than terrorist ... G20 cops aren’t laughing, however ... on June 23, they arrested Sonne’s wife, a visual artist named Kristen Peterson, charging her with possession of an explosive device and possession of a weapon ...
It all might be for nothing, but no one feels like taking a chance in a city that feels increasingly under siege.
