A Toronto art student charged in connection with a bomb hoax at the Royal Ontario Museum that triggered an evacuation and cancelled a prestigious AIDS fundraiser has been granted bail.
Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson, 24, an Icelandic citizen, appeared in court on Friday on charges of common nuisance and mischief interference with property.
The third-year student at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto was released on $33,000 bail.
Jonsson's lawyer, Robert Rotenberg, told reporters his client comes from a "very creative family." Jonsson's mother is an established sculptor and his father is a well-known TV personality, Rotenberg said.
Police are still investigating whether the fake pipe bomb was part of an art project. The lead investigator in the case said the incident is "a big deal."
"We see it as an individual who planted this device in a museum, in a public place, and it impacted a lot of police resources and members of the public," Det. Leslie Dunkley told reporters.
"It is a big deal when you tie up police resources, emergency resources and you're blocking off traffic, affecting members of the community."
Dunkley said such acts should be denounced so members of the public don't imitate them.
The accused's friend, however, said the act wasn't meant to cause concern, and the incident has been blown out of proportion.
"The public outcry is against this 'monster' who cancelled an AIDS benefit," the man who identified himself as Dan told reporters.
"He didn't know there was going to be an AIDS benefit. It's not a statement against AIDS benefits, it's a statement against our culture of fear."
College hands out suspensions
OCAD announced Thursday that it had suspended one of its students. Two teachers were also suspended with pay, pending an investigation. The institution said that the act wasn't part of any school assignment or course.
"This incident at the ROM was totally unacceptable and is in no way condoned by OCAD," the school said in a statement.
"The university has taken this matter very seriously and is conducting a full and thorough investigation in co-operation with the police."
The college didn't elaborate as to why the instructors were suspended, but noted they have been co-operative.
A suspicious package labelled "This is not a bomb" was discovered inside the museum's lobby at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The discovery prompted police to shutdown traffic in the surrounding area and to evacuate half of the museum.
The investigation cancelled a fundraiser organized by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. More than 2,000 people were expected to attend the event, for which tickets cost $600 apiece.
A short time later, a video depicting an explosion inside the museum was posted on YouTube entitled "The fake bombing at the ROM, Toronto, 28.11.07."
The video, which suggested at least two people staged the event, was also sent to media outlets.
The grainy footage shows a woman taking photos outside the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. She enters the museum and turns to the camera where she is instructed to say hi to her mother.
A loud bang can then be heard, the woman falls out of the shot and the camera cuts to black with the sounds of screaming in the background.
Jonsson turned himself in to police on Thursday night.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
