‘Imminent and worrying words’ were posted before Polytechnique memorial, trial told

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The Montreal police were monitoring what Jean-Claude Rochefort was allegedly posting online for about a month before an item containing “imminent and worrying words” emerged the day before the 30th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.

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Rochefort, 73, is on trial on charges alleging he incited hatred toward women over the last four months of 2019. He is alleged to have posted several items on blog platforms criticizing feminists while praising Marc Lépine. Lépine murdered 14 women and wounded 14 other people on Dec. 6, 1989, at École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. Lépine killed himself and police found a letter inside his jacket stating he intended to kill feminists.

On Tuesday, the second day of Rochefort’s trial, Superior Court Justice Pierre Labrie heard evidence from Christopher Audy, a Montreal police investigator assigned to look into items posted by a man who called himself Rick Flashman. The investigation began in September 2019, after security personnel at Université du Québec à Montréal filed a complaint saying the person known as Rick Flashman was threatening Quebec universities. UQAM was preparing its participation in the commemoration to mark the 30th anniversary of the massacre.

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Two UQAM professors who taught courses in feminism and anti-feminism were mentioned in the blog posts.

The blog platforms Rick Flashman was posting on were owned by Google.

According to Audy’s report, Google rejected his first request to be supplied an IP address as he tried to learn who Rick Flashman was as well as his home address. As part of his request from him, Audy sent Google examples of the posts. Examples included a doctored image of Lépine holding a handgun saying: “To all of you, INCELs out there, I have this to say to you: never give up, never surrender, have no mercy, don’t forget it is their fault, they started it. Never give up hope, you’ll be avenged.” The blog referred to Lépine as “an INCEL lord.”

“We have recently received your emergency disclosure request dated Nov. 5, 2019. Although we understand the sensitivity and importance of this matter, after a careful review we are unable to assist you with your request at this time,” Google wrote in its rejection of Audy’s request. “The emergency disclosure process is for situations in which there is imminent harm that will come about if disclosure is not had, and there is no time to secure legal process. From the information provided on the emergency disclosure request form, it does not appear that there is an imminent threat to justify disclosure of information in the absence of legal process.”

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A justice of the peace turned down another Montreal police investigator’s request for a court order to supply the IP address because it wasn’t clear whether they had jurisdiction.

The nature of the investigation changed on Dec. 5, 2019, the day before many people were expected to gather at the memorial for the slain women at École Polytechnique. Audy’s report says he spotted a blog post, allegedly written by Rochefort, titled “Preparing for Dec. 6.” The post was accompanied by a photo of a person dressed in a suit and holding a rifle. Lépine’s face was photoshopped onto the person’s body and several women were visible in the background.

“The publication talks of polishing rifles and celebrating Lépine for the hero that he is. What’s more, in other recent publications there is a display of a countdown toward Dec. 6, 2019, which renders his recent words of him worrying and imminent, ”Audy wrote in his summary of the investigation.

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Audy sent Google an emergency request, before 10 am on Dec. 5, 2019, for Rick Flashman’s IP address. Eight hours later, Google supplied him with the IP address, two email addresses attached to it and the name of the person’s internet provider, Bell Canada. Within an hour, Bell supplied Audy with Rochefort’s home address in the Mercier—Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

Rochefort was arrested and made his first court appearance the same day as the 30th anniversary of the massacre.

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