The RCMP once again pleaded with the public for information today on two men seen acting suspiciously near the Rogers Centre three months ago but insisted they don’t believe Torontonians are facing imminent danger.
Police said a member of the public located a security guard around 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 to report two men acting suspiciously on the John Street pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks.
Local security alerted Toronto police, who then alerted the RCMP’s National Critical Infrastructure Team.
“The incident of Aug. 31 has not been able to be concluded although a significant investigation has been conducted,” RCMP Supt. Lise Crouch told reporters at a news conference in Milton on Thursday.
Crouch says the RCMP would like to speak with the two men seen that day, to figure out what they were doing on the bridge. She said what the passerby described the two men doing “was enough to continue in the investigation to speak with those two males.”
She went on to assure the public of their safety.
“There is no imminent threat we have been able to uncover at this time, she said. She added that at this point, the men are considered “persons of interest” rather than suspects.
“We just want to talk to them to clarify with them what they were doing in that area.”
At the time the two men were seen, the Toronto Blue Jays were playing the Cleveland Indians. Stephen Harper, who was Canada’s Prime Minister at the time, was in attendance at the game, but Crouch said investigators don’t believe his appearance was connected to the incident on the bridge and that his presence did not influence the agency’s response to the incident.
The two men are described as brown skinned, between the ages of 20 to 30, both with a medium build.
One of the men was seen wearing a green and white striped shirt with red trim, blue jeans, blue Adidas shoes with yellow laces and a watch. He was carrying a backpack and sunglasses.
The other man was wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt with purple stripes, dark blue jeans, blue Puma shoes with yellow laces, a watch and sunglasses that were hanging on his shirt buttons.
Crouch said the alert to police and ensuing appeal to the public “has nothing to do with brown skin and everything to do with what they were observed doing by the complainant who called and filed the report.”
Six other unrelated suspicious incidents were reported to the RCMP in the days before or after Aug. 31, Crouch said, but each was followed up and deemed not criminal in nature. Other incidents put to rest around the same time included sightings of cars parked oddly in the area, and people taking photos of areas not considered tourist attractions.
Anyone who knows the two men pictured is asked to call RCMP Ontario division at 1-800-387-0020 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
