Timeline of Rob Ford video scandal

In May 2013, the American website Gawker and the Toronto Star reported that they had viewed a cellphone video that showed Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and commenting on political issues. Gawker raised money to buy the video, but were unable to acquire the video when the seller broke off contact. On October 31, 2013, Toronto Police announced that they were in possession of the video, "and at least one other". The video was retrieved in the course of an investigation of drug gangs, entitled "Project Traveller". Ford associate Sandro Lisi was charged with extortion for attempting to retrieve the video, in exchange for marijuana.

An image was provided to Gawker and Toronto Star reporters depicting Ford posing with three individuals outside the house where the alleged video was recorded. The individuals standing with Ford were later identified as Anthony Smith, Muhammad Khattak and Monir Kassim, three alleged members of a local gang. The location was later identified as a house on Windsor Road in the Etobicoke area of Toronto. Khattak and Kassim were both arrested in a sweep of an apartment complex near the home in June 2013. Smith was shot and killed in a shooting on the streets of downtown Toronto in March 2013. The home was identified as the residence of a friend of Rob Ford from his high school days. The home was attacked in a home invasion days after Gawker and the Toronto Star published the video story.

Rob Ford consistently denied the existence of the video, and denied that he uses crack cocaine. Ford remained Mayor although several members of Toronto City Council, as well as the editorial boards of the National Post and Toronto Sun and Toronto Star, called for him to step down. The crisis led to the firing of the Mayor's chief of staff and the resignation of a half-dozen of his staff. After the Police announcement, Ford announced that he would not resign from office.

On November 5, 2013, Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors", admitted to hiding his drug abuse from his family, his staff and the people of Toronto, but pledged to continue on as Mayor. And on April 30, 2014 a second video showing Ford smoking crack emerged. Ford took a leave of absence to enter drug rehabilitation from May 1 through June 30, 2014. The original video of Ford smoking crack was released by the Toronto Police Service on August 11, 2016 after the extortion charge against Sandro Lisi was dropped.

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Wikipedia