Anarchist group claims responsibility for Ottawa bank firebombing

An anarchist group claimed responsibility for firebombing an Ottawa bank Tuesday and vowed to bring its cause to the upcoming G8 and G20 summits.

The group, which identified itself as FFFC, posted a video of the bombing online, accompanied by a message criticizing Royal Bank of Canada for being “a major sponsor of the recently concluded 2010 Olympics on stolen indigenous land.”

The message also denounced the bank for being a “major financier” of Alberta’s tarsands while calling itself one of the greenest companies in Canada.

It goes on to read: “The games in Vancouver are now over, but resistance continues. An RBC branch can be found in every corner of Kanada (sic) . . . The G8/G20 ‘leaders’ and bankers are meeting in Huntsville and Toronto to make decisions that will further their policies of exploitation of people and the environment.

“We will be there.”

In the short video — filmed around 3:25 a.m. — two people can seen inside the foyer of an RBC branch in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood.

Seconds later, the people run out the side door as fire explodes throughout the building, shattering the front window.

The video is shot from across the street.

No one was hurt in the blaze, which was put out before it spread to neighbouring buildings.

Damages are estimated to be about $300,000, according to local media reports.