Alleged G20 attack plotter Byron Sonne is finally on trial
After a year and a half, “The Anarchist of Forest Hill,” Byron Sonne, is going to trial. Sonne is accused of planning an attack on the G20 summit last summer, after police found chemicals used for building bombs in his basement (his Flickr page is littered with pictures of police, whom he calls “bacon”). But Sonne’s lawyers claim that he was simply conducting a review of the summit’s security infrastructure and the chemicals were for unrelated experiments. (Probably not helping his case: the picture on his Flickr page of two hook-like tree steps that he describes as “for climbing G20 fences, or for helping to get a grip to pull them down.”) According to the National Post, Sonne’s defence also argued yesterday that his Charter rights were violated when police detained him without cause (the issue of Charter rights seems to be something of a trend among G20 fallout stories.) Unfortunately, many of the juicier details are blocked by a publication ban (luckily, Denise Balkissoon penned a lengthy piece in the May issue of Toronto Life on Sonne’s back story). Read the entire story [National Post] »
I’ve known him indirectly for a long time and I read his blog. He was playing around with building a microwave death ray that actually looked plausible (and I am technically literate) and suggested at one point that it would be really cool if he could use it to take out the electronic controls of airplanes flying by. I almost reported him to the police at that point. I don’t find it surprising at all that that law enforcement felt that there was good reason to search his home.
Not always obvious but Byron has always had at least one foot in jail. He’s hazardous.
I’ve known Byron *directly* for a long time, and I must comment that ‘jal’ above is lying.
Byron has never said any such thing about affecting airplanes; he is a very moral person who has always explicitly made clear that he never wishes to harm anyone or risk people’s safety. Everything he’s done in this case is an intellectual experiment, however ill advised some may think.
If it wasn’t for people like Byron who continually probe the boundaries of what is acceptable or tasteful, we would not enjoy the freedoms we enjoy know, much less know the boundaries of what our freedoms actually are.
‘Jal’, you stink like a Capo in WWII, the kind of person who would turn a friend in at the slightest whiff of discontent with state policies. People like you are shameful human beings, and internet trolls. I hope your friends know what kind of a person you are.
I also know Byron personally, and I knew him before all this started. The author of this article has not spent a day in the court, obviously.
I’ve been to all the hearing under the publication ban, so I can’t speak too freely for fear of violating the publication ban. I would ask that anyone interested in an unbiased story to go look at the transcripts of the hearings and follow the details now coming out in the trial.
The author of this article is, intentionally or otherwise, grossly misleading in his statements. As for Jal, he’s talking from his behind.
I’m not lying and I’m not a troll. I’m someone that’s been concerned by his blog for a long time. It’s convenient that it’s not public anymore. But I do also remember him being upset that a company wouldn’t sell him scary large capacitors without him providing an explaination of what he was going to use them for.
I don’t support the police actions at G20, I think there were human rights violations. However I don’t Sonne was one of them and the spotlight on him takes away from the people that really were harmed.
Tell me Max and Digimer, do you drink whatever kool-aid he offers?
Stephen,
You have made some statements as though they are facts which are provably untrue. You do realize that when this case is over, should the courts indeed find Byron innocent as I expect will be the case, you could be liable for defamation?
I’d strongly suggest you go back and review your source material. You will find it lacking and you may well wish to restate your comments. If you wish to maintain you statements, I’d equally strongly suggest you cite your sources. Something I am confident you are unable to do.
Madison
I’ve known Byron directly too. I was at school when he made that fake bomb threat. I’m suprised a hazardous materials team didn’t show up at Kristen Peterson and Byrons house.
Jal and Ricardo – undoubtedly members of Toronto’s finest …. errr infamous … police goon squad.
Toronto Police … one boot on the back of innocent citizen’s necks, the other down their own throats!
Madison Kelly and Digimer are one and the same. And she continues to pine away for this anarchist and would-be bomber.
Now that Kristen is out of the way, wouldn’t it be romantic if byron and Digimer got together? They both have the same hairline, so they won’t have to invest in a hairbrush.
Is that defamation?
Someone relaying something that was said to them in confidence is not defamation Digimer, so stop trying to shut down free speech by threatening legal action that you can’t afford and that you won’t win. It wouldn’t surprise me that Byron would fantasize about bringing down airliners with a homemade ray gun- And he did plant a fake bomb, so he has a history of violent threats.
It is interesting that all the talk by Byron’s defense has centered around potato guns and HERF rays (a huge failure by the way which speaks more about Byron’s intelligence), which were related to charges dismissed already. And since no news has come out in the past two days about the real crime- possession of explosive materials- I’m guessing that Byron’s defense is crumbling.
If we are talking predictions, Digimer, I predict that there will be a guilty verdict. Convicted. But sentence will likely be time served already.
Ah, Mr. Belch, good to see you’re still in action.
The funny thing about everything Belch says, and this would be wisely kept in mind by Sonne’s supporters, is that everything Belch says plays into Sonne’s hands. Talking to him regularly, it’s quite in line with the response he was expecting and hoping for.
You see, the last thing anyone in Sonne’s position wants is for people to NOT talk about his case. If everything were entirely positive, then it would be a more boring story. There would be nothing to stir supporters into action. More importantly, the fact that he has his vocal detractors means that support for Byron is mobilized and engaged in responding. So whatever Belch says, he’s always going to do more good than bad due to that very fact alone.
Considered from another angle, Belch is a rather non-credible source and definitely a troll. He has, in the past, reported much inaccurately, whether it’s Sonne’s charges, or (in the past) the state of his marriage to his wife (they were in fact married in a ceremony and not just common law). So take the source at his word; that is to say, his discredible word.
A source such as the one we’re talking about resorts fairly frequently to ad-hominem attacks; such as the hairline comment above, or Sonne being pale after jail, etc. Verbally sparring with Belch is like wrestling with a pig; all that happens is that you get dirty and the pig likes it.
Belch has never been to a day of court much less read much of the material, or he would know that Byron’s defence to date (since the start of trial) has been minimally concerned with potato cannons or HERF weapons. So he’s clearly talking out of his ass here.
Furthermore, violent actions vis-a-vis a fake bomb threat is a red herring. There was never a bomb threat called in, nothing intimating any threat or act of violence, but I grant that I’m splitting hairs here as I’m sure Mr. Belch will heartily contest this point.
I’ve read the materials and notes taken by people at his trial, and Byron’s defence is nowhere near crumbling. If anything, it is in fact getting stronger. The portion of the trial currently under way concerns only the charter/constitutional violations of his rights, which are frequent and rather shameful.
If the warrants aren’t eliminated by the Charter challenges, then trial will proceed on the charges Belch refers to, where Sonne has a very strong chance of prevailing.
Of course, in the long run, none of this matters to Belch, since it’s clear his prime goal is to troll as well as try and capture traffic for his site. In addition, is Sonne is found ‘not guilty’ that won’t satisfy Belch either: he’ll just say that he’s likely guilty but the Crown can’t prove it’s case. If the charges are dropped, Belch will say that Sonne was never found ‘innocent’ and that he’s likely guilty. If Sonne is found guilty, then Belch will say he’s right all along.
So, when the balance of Belch’s comments and activities are viewed this way, he can’t lose, since he will likely never admit he was wrong. Consign Belch to anonymity that he fears, and just ignore him.
Peterson, who for good reason has chosen to remain silent for good reason, is the real weirdo in all of this.
I had always presumed that Petersen wanted out of the marriage because Byron was an anti-social anarchist who rained problems down on the family- that and his lack of employment.
But now that the petition to toss the warrants out of court have failed, additional evidence is going to come to light. Was it something on Byron’s family computer that made Petersen throw in the towel on their marriage?
And Toller, if talking about Byron’s case, his free lawyers, his failed marriage, his freeloading on his exwife, his failed career, and the bomb making chemicals found in his home is good for his cause, then you are welcome. But Byron has told lies and his closest family members want nothing to do with him. His credibility is on trial, not mine, as much as you wish to discredit me.
And I am absolutely right about the hairline too.
He just looks like some kind of Mythbusters kind of guy to me. I see no evidence of of any crime whatsoever.
I’m surprised no ones mentioned that the guy behind the name ‘BelchSpeak’ was arrested, but later acquitted, of statutory rape. I did some checking into it, it’s a pretty messed up story. Apparently they couldn’t prove the girl was under 18.
Funny how he picks on other people, huh?
I wouldn’t be surprised if more paid, or just bored, officers are the first to post on another article. Usually making unsupportable attacks of character.
Our tax dollars go to dishonest and suppressive behaviour everywhere else, why not forums while they’re at it?