Newly released footage obtained by NOW shows that when an inebriated Mayor Rob Ford returned to City Hall from the Maple Leafs game on Saturday, April 5, he brought a couple new buds with him. Like him, the gentlemen were both wearing hockey jerseys. Unlike him, they both sported fauxhawks.
The security footage, acquired through access-to-information laws, shows the trio entering City Hall just after 10 pm via the elevator that connects the underground parking garage to Ford’s office. One man takes (or tries to take) a photo of the mayor behind his back.
Although their faces are blacked out, they appear to be the same men with whom Ford hopped in a cab as he left the game. CityNews described one as “a Leaf fan acting as an impromptu bodyguard” after he cleared a path for Ford and pushed away their reporter’s microphone.
According to security reports of the night, the unknown men left City Hall around 11:45, while Ford remained in his office. An hour later, he asked security to call him a cab and escort him through back hallways so as to avoid reporters who were present. He left at 1:30 and took the taxi to Muzik nightclub.
Additional footage shows a man resembling nephew Mikey Ford picking up the mayor’s Escalade at 10:19 the next morning.
Asked the following Monday what he was doing in his office late on Saturday night, Ford replied, “I can do whatever I want.”
Security footage of Ford and friends waiting for the elevator on April 5:
CityNews report featuring at least one of the men:
All security footage of that night released by the City:
With files from Ben Spurr.
