{"id":11385,"date":"2026-09-03T03:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T07:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11385"},"modified":"2026-09-03T03:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T07:35:22","slug":"wackyjudge-grants-bail-to-hired-gunman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11385","title":{"rendered":"Wacky Judge Grants Bail to Hired Gunman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?kind=link&amp;url=https%3A\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jamie-sarkonak-judge-had-no-business-granting-bail-to-alleged-u-s-consulate-shooter&amp;title=\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>[Despite our elite&#8217;s detestation of lawabiding citizens owning guns, their courts are remarkably lenient on criminals who use guns. An Ontario judge released Zara Jabbi one of several gunmen hired by persons unknown to shoot up the U.S. Consulate on bail. Yet, political prisoner and dissident Les Bory spent 23 months in jail unable to get bail. All he did was shoot off his mouth on his Brantford News podcast and annoy privileged minorities.]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=https%3A\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jamie-sarkonak-judge-had-no-business-granting-bail-to-alleged-u-s-consulate-shooter\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"articleTitle\">Jamie Sarkonak: Judge had no business granting bail to alleged U.S. Consulate shooter<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>He should have been held in jail on the grounds of maintaining confidence in the administration of justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author of the article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/author\/jamie-sarkonak\/\">Jamie Sarkonak<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Published Sep 02, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last updated 21&nbsp;hours ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jamie-sarkonak-judge-had-no-business-granting-bail-to-alleged-u-s-consulate-shooter#comments-area\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jamie-sarkonak-judge-had-no-business-granting-bail-to-alleged-u-s-consulate-shooter#comments-area\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jamie-sarkonak-judge-had-no-business-granting-bail-to-alleged-u-s-consulate-shooter#comments-area\"> 126 Comments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2265294925.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;h=216&amp;sig=8isBExItxVc5RCpsEBuMeA\" alt=\"Toronto Police officers work around the scene of a shooting at the US Consulate in Toronto, Canada, on March 10, 2026.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Toronto Police officers work around the scene of a shooting at the US Consulate in Toronto, Canada, on March 10, 2026. Photo by Cole BURSTON \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can\u2019t know exactly why Ontario Superior Court Justice Heather McArthur <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/12037534\/zara-jabbi-bail-review-decision\/\">decided on Thursday to uphold bail<\/a> for a man <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/12032808\/bail-review-held-1-of-2-alleged-shooters-march-us-consulate-shooting\/#:~:text=Superior%20Court%20Justice%20Heather%20McArthur%20will%20deliver%20her%20decision%20on%20the%20bail%20review%20on%20Thursday.\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">accused<\/a> of shooting up the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, but her reasons can\u2019t make much sense. Perhaps she was compelled by some kind of sob story, or perhaps she convinced herself that whatever stern warning she gave against disobeying bail conditions would resonate with the alleged gun-for-hire. Who knows; that\u2019s all covered by a publication ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is public inspires a whole lot of doubt in the justice system. The crime unfolded one morning in March at around 5:29 a.m.: shots were fired upon the U.S. Consulate by mystery men in a stolen car who filmed themselves in the act. It wasn\u2019t until months later that those believed responsible were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/zara-jabbi-arrest-us-consulate-shooting-9.7239836\">arrested<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/newsletters\">e.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First to be caught was 18-year-old Sheldon Tracey-Stewart, who was nabbed in early June during a series of police raids targeting the crime ring connected with the consulate shooting. This triumph was overshadowed by tragedy, however: Toronto police Const. Marc Pinizzotto was <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11902031\/teen-accused-officer-shooting\/\">shot and killed by a subject of the raid<\/a>, resulting in 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett being charged with murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It took another week to catch our man Zara Jabbi, who wasn\u2019t home at the time of the raid. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/zara-jabbi-bail-review-decision-us-consulate-shooting-9.7322717#:~:text=He%20was%20released%20on%20bail%20on%20July%207%20under%20%22strict%22%20conditions%2C%20as%20mentioned%20in%20the%20Superior%20Court%20decision%20Thursday%2C%20including%20house%20arrest%2C%20GPS%20monitoring%20and%20restrictions%20against%20having%20electronic%20devices.\">granted bail<\/a> on July 7, just a few weeks later. (And thanks to Justice McArthur, he\u2019ll continue to enjoy release.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the raids and arrests \u2014 and an increase in patrols \u2014 the U.S. Consulate was hit a second time. On July 27, at around 4:45 a.m., the occupants of another vehicle shot up the U.S. Consulate <em>again<\/em>. Police stationed nearby were able to respond right away, but the ensuing chase saw speeds above 140 km\/h on the nearby expressway and police called the chase off. Toronto, in all its dysfunction, didn\u2019t have a helicopter to deploy, so the offenders got away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A week and a half later, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/toronto-us-consulate-shooting-investigation-9.7298077\">alleged shooters<\/a> were brought in: 19-year-old Xen-Ul-Abdeen Syed and a nameless 15-year-old. These two were also suspected of pouring gas on a residential driveway in late July and lighting it on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S. has pointed to Iran being behind all this, and Canadian police have at very least connected this group to other crimes against synagogues and businesses. Both shootings at the U.S. Consulate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/toronto-us-consulate-shooting-investigation-9.7298077#:~:text=The%20chief%20told%20reporters%20that%20police%20believe%20the%20pair%20were%20offered%20payment%20through%20encrypted%20messaging%20apps%20to%20carry%20out%20the%20shooting%20%E2%80%94%20something%20investigators%20say%20was%20also%20the%20case%20in%20a%20previous%20shooting%20at%20the%20consulate%20back%20in%20March.\">involved<\/a> payments being offered to the gunmen through encrypted messaging apps, according to police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The upholding of Jabbi\u2019s release would have been offensive if he was merely accused of being a lone-wolf shooter, but it is so much worse in its full context. The soup of allegations related to this group is unthinkable to regular Canadians. Stealing cars, shooting buildings, conducting hybrid warfare against allies, killing police, evading police, etc. It\u2019s indicative of extremely dangerous men who will unleash violence and evade justice where they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As bail is a risk-management exercise, it shouldn\u2019t have been hard to conclude that granting freedom to those accused of such crimes places unacceptable risk upon the public. But we are often cursed with judges, including possibly McArthur in this case, who believe too strongly in the obedience of those thought to be among the most dishonest and violent in the country. In court, they\u2019ll give out a long list of bail conditions and deliver a very foreboding lecture to whatever family member or friend who has offered to ensure the compliance of the accused. And then they\u2019ll be shocked when bail violations occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, it was just early August when a woman was <a href=\"https:\/\/canlii.ca\/t\/kmhtm\">sentenced<\/a> to a year of jail for giving her brother scissors to cut off his ankle monitor while he was on bail, and helping him escape the police who were searching for him. She had been his surety at the time of the crime, meaning she made a promise in court to supervise her brother\u2019s bail compliance and report any breaches. The brother, who was facing gun charges, had been released on \u201cvery strict\u201d conditions because she had assured court she was a \u201cstrong woman\u201d who would carry out her duty. Little good that did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas, even if Jabbi\u2019s defence lawyers came up with a supposedly iron-clad release plan, his judge had a final card that could have been played to keep him in custody. The Criminal Code says that bail can be denied \u201cif the detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice, having regard to all the circumstances.\u201d And then it rattles off some of those circumstances: the strength of the prosecution\u2019s case, the gravity of the offence, whether a gun was used, whether a long jail term is on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jabbi is accused by police of using a gun to shoot up a diplomatic site while being allegedly involved with a gang that killed a police officer. If a judge doesn\u2019t consider the release of such a man to be an assault upon public confidence in the administration of justice, she is extremely out of touch. Canadian courts have a weak reputation for ensuring order as is; decisions like these only bring it lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jamie Sarkonak: Judge had no business granting bail to alleged U.S. Consulate shooter He should have been held in jail on the grounds of maintaining confidence in the administration of justice Author of the article: By Jamie Sarkonak Published Sep &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11385\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6394,6392,6393],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11385"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11388,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11385\/revisions\/11388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}