Niagara man charged in email incident
Police have arrested a Niagara man after members of Hamilton city council were threatened in an email that purportedly referenced the Las Vegas shooting.
At least six police officers searched Hamilton City Hall last week and security was posted outside council chambers after city manager Chris Murray informed police about an email threat he felt was directed at “elected officials.”
Hamilton police said in a release Thursday a 36-year-old Niagara man was arrested and faces charges of criminal harassment as a result of an investigation. The man was not immediately identified because he had yet to appear in court.
Some councillors said last week one email purportedly referenced the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas that resulted in the deaths of 58 people.
Police said they investigated several emails received by a councillor over two weeks, but did not specify the nature of the threat or which councillor received the emails. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 905546-4861.
Coun. Matthew Green said Wednesday night he was planning to file an integrity complaint against a fellow councillor for allegedly revealing confidential information to the media about the threatening email that was only shared behind closed doors.
He didn’t specify exactly what information should have remained off-limits, but called the action a “clear violation of the code of conduct.”
Council also heard Wednesday from integrity commissioner George Rust-D’Eye by letter indicating he would not investigate three separate complaints — including one about Green taking over an infamous February media conference on light rail transit initiated by Coun. Terry Whitehead.
That incident at city hall started with Whitehead publicly calling for an auditor general investigation into the $1-billion LRT project. After the councillor left the podium, Green stepped up to disagree in his own impromptu media conference — only to be interrupted and heckled by former mayoral candidate Edward Graydon. Graydon has filed a complaint related to the incident and is still waiting to hear if Rust-D’Eye will investigate or not.