Ken Klonsky

Outing the Law: a Website on Injustice

Nuttall, Korody and the RCMP

There are times I begin to wonder if the RCMP is more about publicity than justice. The arrests of John Nuttall and Amanda Korody after a Mr. Big sting operation were clearly the result of entrapment. BC Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce’s ruling to stay the terrorism charges  against the gullible couple was eminently fair and clear sighted. That the Crown is now pursuing an appeal of that ruling is an abuse of taxpayer funds and the judicial process.

Once again, we are faced with the profound limitations of the Mr. Big sting operation and the unusual myopia of the Canadian judicial system that has allowed it, albeit with some restrictions. First of all, in my view, the entire operation in this case was used to burnish the RCMP’s reputation in counter-terrorism. They chose a pair of unwitting targets to set off a dud bomb in a public space during a holiday celebration and gave them what appeared to be the equipment to do it. Could Nuttall and Korody have done this on their own? Would they have done this on their own? Justice Bruce’s decision strongly implied that the answer to both questions is “NO”.  The sting feeds on ignorance. The police officers masquerade as either gangsters or international criminals, causing the targets to fear retribution if they fail to confess to a crime or follow through on nefarious plans. It’s a simple as that.

Now, the RCMP will make great claims about the success of the sting, but wrongly convicted people are, unless released, considered to be a part of this great success. That the Crown is appealing the judgment has nothing to do with protecting the public from terrorism and everything to do with protecting the  RCMP from ongoing criticism.

Where is the RCMP when it comes to solving the murders of aboriginal women; when it comes to arresting radical religious elements and drug dealers responsible for “targeted” shootings cross the lower mainland? The public is far more endangered by this spree of murders than by crypto-terrorists ensnared by Mr. Big. Just this weekend (January 13), two innocent people were wounded, one critically (a fifteen year old boy) in a targeted shooting on Broadway and Ontario St. in Vancouver.

Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay continue to sit in a Washington State prison, the result of this very flawed sting operation.  Consideration given to real suspects was superficial at best. The RCMP seems too comfortable when its officers are not wearing the garb of police. I sincerely hope that the appeals court rules to uphold Justice Bruce’s wise decision.

5 thoughts on “Nuttall, Korody and the RCMP

  1. Thanks ken but it’s been like ten months since the judges retired to make a judgement and no end in sight….we continue to be on restrictions and our lives and reputation ruined not to mention ptsd we suffer now thinking at any time they might kill us.

    1. With regard to our legal system, many things touching the RCMP are corrupt.
      I appreciate your contacting me, John. I’ve spent much time using your case as a perfect example of how the RCMP cares about publicity, more than any other single thing.
      I am sorry for the suffering you’ve endured. It goes without saying that such treatment as you received reflects the power imbalance between the police and the average citizen. They have the time and the funding; we have only the truth.
      Ken
      Ken

    2. I’m happy to learn that you were “acquitted” again, but I don’t know what the “bond” entails. Still, congratulations. I hope you are ultimately vindicated in every way.
      Ken

  2. Yet you claim to only “sometimes think that the rcmp cares more about publicity than justice…the fact is ken, is that you are the one who cares about publicity, that’s your job isn’t it? Writing this propaganda. Why don’t you write the the truth, speaking of which….that the prime ministers office of Steven Harper remember the guy who at that time was trying to push bill c51 was receiving daily briefings about project souvenir from the rcmp and csis, which if you paid any attention to the trial, or bothered to read the transcripts you would have heard that come out of the mouth of the head cop while he was on the stand. Why have no reporters published this information? You claim to have the truth, yet you people can’t even print it. That’s because this goes above your head as well as the prime minister. Who do you think he takes his orders from? But I know you will not publish this letter, Never mind about csis role in this and the fact I was contacted by them as early as 2012. We see how you make a living half of you publish left wing garbage like this to keep us from looking in the right direction. Speaking of right, the other half of your ilk print right wing garbage staining our names across the headlines. You write what you are told to write, and me and an Ana don’t believe a word of it.

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