Rob Ford video: ‘I need f—ing 10 minutes to make sure he’s dead’
Josh Visser, 07/11/13, Last Updated: 07/11/13 4:23 PM ET, Source
A new Rob Ford video has surfaced that features the mayor ranting incoherently about an unidentified person, apparently threatening to “kill” and “murder” him.
“I need f—ing 10 minutes to make sure he’s dead,” Ford says in a video posted on the Toronto Star website.
“I’m gonna kill that f—ing guy. I’m telling you, it’s first-degree murder.
“I’ll rip his f—ing throat out. I’ll poke his eyes out. . . . I’ll make sure that motherf—er’s dead.”
Rob Ford in a video clip first released by the Toronto Sun Thursday.
Ford came out of his office minutes after the video was released and said he saw the video and admitted it was authentic.
“I was very, very inebriated,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes. All I can do is assure the people that I…I don’t know what to say, I just wanted to come out, I wanted to, you know…”
He took long pauses between his statements, clearly having difficulty speaking.
“It’s extremely embarrassing,” he said. “The whole world is going to see it. I don’t have a problem with that, but it is extremely embarrassing. I don’t know what to say. I’ve again and again apologized.
“When you are in that state…I hope none of you have ever or will ever been in that state. That’s all I can say.”
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaks to the large crowd of media as he responds to a new video which surfaced which appears to show him stating "I'm gonna kill that f**king guy" in Toronto on November 7, 2013.
The Toronto Sun initially put up a shorter clip of the video, saying someone was looking to sell a longer version. The Star said it purchased the video for $5,000 and that it was secretly filmed on a cellphone.
The context of the mayor’s rant is unknown as is the person he is speaking about. He appears to be in a living room, with several people off-camera.
When asked for context the mayor only responded that he was “extremely, extremely inebriated.”
He mentions he is angry at a person who has called the Ford brothers “liars, thieves.”
The political crisis surrounding the mayor has seemingly reached its boiling point, after one of his top allies called for the province to remove him from office.
Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly said he did not know the context of the video but hoped the mayor was speaking “metaphorically.”
“I want to understand myself what the heck is going on,” he said.
Kelly also said it is widely accepted that the mayor is in denial about his personal problems.
Denzil Minnan-Wong said he plans to amend a motion that is calling on the mayor to take a leave of absence, so that it would also petition the province to intervene in the crisis around the mayoralty.
“Extraordinary measures are needed in extraordinary times,” he said.
Minnan-Wong and Councillor Peter Milczyn are calling on Mayor Ford to apologize for “misleading” Torontonians about a video which apparently depicts him smoking crack cocaine.
Ford admitted earlier this week that he has smoked crack cocaine after months of denials. He also acknowledged that there is a video of him that is “ugly.”
He has long denied that any such video exists.
Hours after admitting to his drug use and his drinking problem Tuesday, Ford vowed to stay on as mayor and run again in 2014.
His brother, Councillor Doug Ford, had gone on a ramage against Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair earlier this week, calling for the chief to step down after he said he had seen the Ford video and was “disappointed.”
Counc. Ford has not spoken with the media since his brother’s admission. The mayor had said he hid his problems from his brother.
With files from Natalie Alcoba, National Post
