Mel Lastman received death threats and he hung out with the Stones! (Image: KMazur/ WireImages for Molson Sports & Entertainment/ Getty Images)
Criticizing the mayor is one thing, and we recognize that sometimes even a little violent rhetoric and some obvious hyperbole help to get a point across (for instance, when Glenn De Baeremaeker accused Rob Ford of trying to kill him by removing bikes lanes, a statement for which De Baeremaeker later apologized). But going as far as actually threatening to kill the mayor? Seriously, Toronto, that’s not cool. There have now been two threats against Mayor Ford, for which the police have laid criminal charges—however, former mayor Mel Lastman insists it’s just part of the job.
“This happens. This part of the job,” said Mr. Lastman, 78, from his Toronto home. “The first time [I received a death threat] was the night after I was elected.”
Police have arrested two men for death threats against Mr. Ford: one last month, from a man who called the city’s information line; the second this week by a man who used Facebook and Twitter to threaten Mr. Ford. There is no record of arrests in the threats against Mr. Lastman.
“There are some nuts who called in,” Mr. Lastman recalled, adding that police took the threats seriously and tightened his security.
Let’s get this straight: death threats (albeit not ones that rise to the level of criminal prosecution) are according to Lastman simply a condition of being the mayor? We can’t help but note that death threats from the mayor must then be a frill (or in the current city hall lingo—gravy). In one of Lastman’s weaker moments, he threatened to kill then–CBC reporter, now-councillor Adam Vaughan. Lastman believed that Vaughan had leaked embarrassing information about the mayor’s wife, and responded by shouting on council’s floor, “Leave my family alone! If you don’t leave them alone, I’ll kill you!”
Okay, so we all go a little nutty every once in a while. But seriously, stop threatening Rob Ford, people.
• Rob Ford not the only mayor to receive death threats, Lastman says [National Post]
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