Canadians ought to be worried about whether crowdfunding websites could be used to finance hate groups and other extremist organizations, financial crime and security experts warn.
As the so-called “freedom convoy” enters its second week of protests in Ottawa, hard questions are being asked about a GoFundMe campaign set up by convoy organizers and whether any of the $10 million raised so far might have come from malevolent sources keen on wreaking havoc in Canada.
Security experts also say they’re worried about the lack of transparency surrounding the fundraiser and whether any of the donations could end up in the hands of hate groups or people who promote hateful ideologies, including people who attended the protests carrying Nazi flags and the flags of known terrorist groups.
“The way that we’re sort of talking about this now, this event, is sort of like an extremism event. So I would argue that this is sort of a component of extremist financing,” said Jessica Davis, a financial crimes expert and president of Insight Threat Intelligence.
Davis said there’s too little information known about donors to the GoFundMe campaign to say for sure who is behind the donations. This is because GoFundMe doesn’t publish details about donors’ identities or their geographical locations on its website.
Davis also said that given the size of some donations – some are in excess of $30,000 – and the speed that the money poured in, she thinks there’s good reason to wonder where the money is coming from.
“The amount of money that’s been raised, in the short period of time that that’s happened, is very interesting,” she said.
“It raises a lot of questions about the organic nature of that fundraising activity. Were these all people who were interested in the anti-mandate aspects of the convoy? Or was there something else driving interest in the protest?”
1:02 Trucker protests in Ottawa will continue until a ‘clear plan’ for the ‘elimination’ of all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, organizers say
Trucker protests in Ottawa will continue until a ‘clear plan’ for the ‘elimination’ of all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, organizers say
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that the protests in Ottawa are “becoming illegal.” In previous statements he said the government would not give in to the protesters’ demands nor would it be intimidated by people who “fly racist flags” or engage in acts of vandalism.
On Thursday, members of the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee voted unanimously to call representatives from GoFundMe to testify before Parliament.
The motion was put forward by NDP MP Alistair MacGregor. The committee called for representatives from the company to testify “as soon as possible.”
The focus of the hearing will be to determine how GoFundMe plans to make sure none of the money raised is being used to promote extremism, white supremacy, antisemitism and other forms of hate.
The committee also wants clarity about how the funds already dispersed to protest organizers have been used.
GoFundMe suspends campaign
GoFundMe suspended the “Freedom Convoy” fundraising campaign Wednesday evening.
A note on the company’s website says the fundraiser is “currently paused and under review” to ensure it complies with GoFundMe’s terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.
A separate statement released by the company says it prohibits content that reflects or promotes behavior in support of violence. GoFundMe added that in the case of the convoy, the organizer met its requirements for setting up a campaign and “the fundraiser did not violate our terms of service at the time of creation.”
“As the activity surrounding the protest evolves, we have been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients and that the fundraiser remains within our terms of service,” the company’s statement said.
GoFundMe also said it is maintaining close contact with the fundraiser’s organizers and collaborating with Canadian law enforcement. If it is shown that the fundraiser does not align with the company’s terms of service, it will be removed.
Whether funds will be dispersed to the organizer or returned to donors was not specified in GoFundMe’s statement.
James Cohen, executive-director of Transparency International Canada, said that, in general, online crowdfunding campaigns have raised concerns about money laundering and something known as “threat financing” – a secretive form of fund transfers in which nefarious actors receive the money they need to carry out campaigns that can be harmful to national security.
Cohen said that in the case of the convoy fundraiser, GoFundMe has “done the right thing” by pausing fund transfers and investigating whether some of the concerns raised by politicians, police and security experts can be substantiated.
“Apparently the key indicators here are they are not sure of the source of funds in some cases, and sometimes the disbursement of funds doesn’t match what is advertised (for the convoy) on the fundraising website,” Cohen said.
Role of law enforcement
Local politicians, including Ottawa mayor Jim Watson and city councilor Catherine McKenney, have denounced the protests as violent and threatening.
McKenney, who represents a ward that includes much of the city’s downtown area, said residents feel “terrorized” in their own homes and unsafe going to work, school, or shopping.
Garry Clement, a retired police chief and former director of the RCMP’s proceeds of crime unit, said he understands why many Ottawa residents may not feel like they’re being protected by the police, but he worries taking action against demonstrators could incite violence and further aggression.
“If they try and move the people out, I can guarantee there’s going to be violence,” he said.
Clement also said he expects that law enforcement, intelligence agencies and GoFundMe are likely looking closely at the protests and seeking to identify anyone with ties to hate groups.
“I laud the GoFundMe management for saying that they want full accountability of the money,” Clement said. “If it appears that that money is going to some hate group or something like that, then obviously there may be an opportunity (to lay charges) under the Criminal Code.”
2:23 ‘Get rid of them’: Pressure grows on Ottawa police to clear out truck protesters
‘Get rid of them’: Pressure grows on Ottawa police to clear out truck protesters
Experts like Davis and Clement say there are no indications that the GoFundMe campaign for the trucker convoy is being used to finance terrorism, which is a crime under Canadian law. There have also been no terrorist acts or allegations of terrorism connected with the convoy.
But using crowdfunding websites as a potential means of financing terror and extremism has been flagged as an up-and-coming problem.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental group that monitors countries for anti-money laundering compliance, has reported that crowdfunding is “vulnerable to exploitation for illicit purposes” and can be used to transfer funds overseas by avoiding regulated financial entities.
“There are ongoing investigations involving the creation of false crowdfunding campaigns by violent extremists as a ruse to obtain funds,” a 2015 FATF report said.
“Individuals and organizations seeking to fundraise for terrorism and extremism support may attempt to disguise their activities by claiming to be engaged in legitimate charitable or humanitarian activities ”
When asked if CSIS, Canada’s intelligence agency, is looking into possible threat financing connected with the Freedom Convoy GoFundMe campaign, a spokesperson said the agency doesn’t comment on specific cases.
The spokesperson did, however, say it’s mandated to investigate threats including foreign-influence activities “within or related to Canada that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are clandestine or deceptive or involve a threat to any person.”
The spokesperson stressed that CSIS is not mandated to investigate lawful protests and dissent.
“While CSIS’s work is often undertaken outside of the public eye, we are steadfast in our commitment to work with partners, including other government agencies, every day to keep Canadians safe,” the spokesperson said.
“Canadians can be assured that CSIS takes any allegation of foreign interference very seriously and uses the full mandate of the CSIS Act in order to investigate, advise government, and respond to the threat.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including graphic threats of assassination and torture coupled with racist and homophobic rhetoric.
The indictment does not specify which justices Anastasiou targeted, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said he made the graphic threats as retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.
“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.
Anastasiou has been indicted on 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
He was released from detention late Thursday by a federal magistrate in Anchorage with a a list of conditions, including that he not directly or indirectly contact any of the six Supreme Court justices he allegedly threatened or any of their family members.
During the hearing that lasted more than hour, Magistrate Kyle Reardon noted some of the messages Anastasiou allegedly sent between March 2023 and mid-July 2024, including calling for the assassination of two of the Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices so the current Democratic president could appoint their successors.
Instead of toning down his rhetoric after receiving a visit from FBI agents last year, Anastasiou increased the frequency of his messages and their vitriolic language, Reardon said.
Gray-haired and shackled at the ankles above his salmon-colored plastic slippers, Anastasiou wore a yellow prison outfit with ACC printed in black on the back, the initials for the Anchorage Correctional Facility, at the hearing. Born in Greece, he moved to Anchorage 67 years ago. Reardon allowed him to contact his elected officials on other matters like global warming, but said the messages must be reviewed by his lawyers.
Defense attorney Jane Imholte noted Anastasiou is a Vietnam veteran who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer and has no financial means other than his Social Security benefits.
She told the judge that Anastaiou, who signed his own name to the emails, worried about his pets while being detained. She said he only wanted to return home to care for his dogs, Freddie, Buddy and Cutie Pie.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge and up to five years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.
Threats targeting federal judges overall have more than doubled in recent years amid a surge of similar violent messages directed at public officials around the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a man was stopped near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.
ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the successful recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion,” stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.
At a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the recovery.
The 1941 portrait of the British leader taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh is now ready for the last step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the hotel in Ottawa where it was stolen and will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait.
Canadian police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a forgery. The swap was only uncovered months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than the others.
Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, purchased the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for 5,292 British pounds. He says he got a phone call from the auction house that October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait due to an investigation into the Ottawa theft.
Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, said he thought he was buying a regular print and quickly agreed to send the iconic Churchill photograph home when he learned its true story.
“I immediately decided to return it to the Chateau Laurier, because I think that if Karsh donated it to the hotel, it means he really wanted it to stay there, for the particular significance this hotel had for him, and for his wife too,” Cassinelli told The Associated Press.
The famous image was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It helped launch Karsh’s career, who photographed some of the 20th century’s most famed icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.
Karsh and his wife Estrellita gifted an original signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio inside the hotel for nearly two decades.
Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said on Thursday she felt immensely grateful.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everybody involved in solving this case, and ensuring the safe return of this priceless piece of history.”
Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait. The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, faces charges that include forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States in part on Thursday for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.
Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel have clashed in the state capital of Culiacan in what appears to be a fight for power since two of its leaders were arrested in the United States in late July. Teams of gunmen have shot at each other and the security forces.
Meanwhile, dead bodies continued to pop up around the city. On one busy street corner, cars drove by pools of the blood leading to a body in a car mechanic shop, while heavily armed police in black masks loaded up another body stretched out on a side street of the Sinaloan city.
Asked at his morning briefing if the U.S. government was “jointly responsible” for this violence in Sinaloa, the president said, “Yes, of course … for having carried out this operation.”
The recent surge in cartel warfare had been expected after Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, landed near El Paso, Texas on July 25 in a small plane with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Zambada was the cartel’s elder figure and reclusive leader. After his arrest, he said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by the younger Guzmán and taken to the U.S. against his will.
On Thursday afternoon, another military operation covered the north of Culiacan with military and circling helicopters.
Traffic was heavy in Culiacan and most schools were open, even though parents were still not sending their children to classes. Businesses continue to close early and few people venture out after dark. While the city has slowly reopened and soldiers patrol the streets, many families continue to hide away, with parents and teachers fearing they’ll be caught in the crossfire.
“Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It’s so dangerous here, you don’t want to go outside,” one Culiacan mother told the Associated Press.
The mother, who didn’t want to share her name out of fear of the cartels, said that while some schools have recently reopened, she hasn’t allowed her daughter to go for two weeks. She said she was scared to do so after armed men stopped a taxi they were traveling in on their way home, terrifying her child.
During his morning press briefing, López Obrador had claimed American authorities “carried out that operation” to capture Zambada and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo.”
“If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they (the American government) made that decision,” he said.
He added that there “cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions” like this. Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Zambada.
He was echoed by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who said later in the day that “we can never accept that there is no communication or collaboration.”
It’s the latest escalation of tensions in the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Last month, the Mexican president said he was putting relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies “on pause” after ambassadors criticized his controversial plan to overhaul Mexico’s judiciary by requiring all judges to stand for election.
Still, the Zambada capture has fueled criticisms of López Obrador, who has throughout his administration refused to confront cartels in a strategy he refers to as “hugs not bullets.” On previous occasions, he falsely stated that cartels respect Mexican citizens and largely fight amongst themselves.
While the president, who is set to leave office at the end of the month, has promised his plan would reduce cartel violence, such clashes continue to plague Mexico. Cartels employ an increasing array of tactics, including roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, home-made armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones.
