Etobicoke North Councillor Rob Ford says he was shocked to learn that a man accused of terrorism may have told an undercover FBI agent that it would be easy to assassinate Ford when he was Mayor of Toronto.
The revelation came out during the trial of Raed Jaser on multiple terror-related charges related to a plot to target a VIA Rail train travelling between New York and Toronto.
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Ford, speaking with reporters at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 4, said that was news to him.
“The first thing that jumped to my mind was that it went as far as the FBI and nobody even told me,” he said.
“That’s what bothered me the most. The only other threats that have come in were on the phone, police tracked them down and thankfully they weren’t real. This was serious. These are the type of people you don’t mess with.”
Ford said he didn’t know why alleged terrorists would go after him — pointing out that for a time during his childhood, his parents “adopted” a Moroccan child.
“It bothers me, it really shocks me. I support every race and religion. My dad adopted a little boy in 1982 from Morocco. The Muslim religion — I support them, but the extremists from every race and religion, I don’t support,” said Ford.
Ford said that the alleged would-be assassin’s plan might not have worked.
“They said because I take the subway a lot I would be an easy target on the subway,” said Ford. “I love subways but I think they got that part wrong.”
Ford rarely takes public transit, preferring to drive to and from appointments in his SUV.