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Canadian serving in U.S. Army to use heist charges as anti-war platform
National Post ^ | Thursday, December 07, 2006

Posted on 12/07/2006 8:20:04 AM PST by Biscuit85

A Canadian who served in an elite U.S. army unit was charged in a Washington bank heist and hopes to use his newfound notoriety to draw attention to atrocities he says he witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Luke Elliott Sommer, 20, is under house arrest in Peachland, B.C., where he is on bail and living with his parents and two-year-old son. Federal prosecutors in Washington state allege he was the ringleader of five masked men who stormed a Bank of America branch in Tacoma in August. The suspects were armed with pistols and AK-47s and stole US$50,000.

A handful of U.S. soldiers disillusioned with their country's war effort have attempted to take up residency in Canada as resisters. Mr. Sommer's case is unique, however, because he is speaking out while fighting serious criminal charges.

Federal authorities in the United States are confident they have a strong case and insist that despite Mr. Sommer's alleged anti-war motivation, the fact remains that a bank was robbed at gunpoint.

"It doesn't take a lot of imagination to imagine the terror and trauma that the people in the bank went through when they were in there and the bank was stormed by people armed with assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Dion said.

"Even if you believe Sommer's explanation of what his motive is, there is no motive that justifies the crime that he's charged with and the harm that he's charged with having caused to innocent people."

Prosecutors allege Mr. Sommer, who has dual citizenship, planned on using the money from the recent heist "to start a crime family in Kelowna, British Columbia."

(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antiwar; bankrobbery; britishcolumbia; canada; criminal; iraq; us; wa; washingtonstate
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1 posted on 12/07/2006 8:20:09 AM PST by Biscuit85
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To: Biscuit85

Just trying to take the focus off himself. I'm sure the libs will run with it, regardless of the obvious reasoning behind it.


2 posted on 12/07/2006 8:24:18 AM PST by USMCWife6869
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To: Biscuit85
"I'm a Canadian," he says, "and I was raised with a different sense of liberal leanings and moral and ethical standards."

Which didn’t keep you from robbing banks.

3 posted on 12/07/2006 8:24:43 AM PST by dighton
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To: Biscuit85

This guy is a pant load. He's probably making up these so-called atrocities he "witnessed" in order to draw attention away from the fact that he's a dirt bag criminal.
And why are elite U.S. Army units accepting Canadians in
the first place?


4 posted on 12/07/2006 8:26:12 AM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (Don't Blame Me! I Voted for Republicans in 2006)
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To: dighton

LOL! The worst thing you can do to some people is let them speak in public.


5 posted on 12/07/2006 8:26:20 AM PST by L98Fiero (The media is a self-licking ice-cream cone)
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To: dighton

Listen up! Banks are tools of the capitalists pigs, man. Keeping the working man DOWN.

Dig! Word out!


6 posted on 12/07/2006 8:27:23 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: Biscuit85

"served in an elite U.S. army unit"

Which one?


7 posted on 12/07/2006 8:28:44 AM PST by edcoil (Reality doesn't say much - doesn't need too)
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To: Biscuit85

He calculates that charges of atrocities will have MSM in full cry to Free Sommer!, the political prisoner.


8 posted on 12/07/2006 8:29:12 AM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them over THERE than over HERE)
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To: edcoil

Rangers


9 posted on 12/07/2006 8:30:04 AM PST by NYleatherneck (It ain't a World War until the French surrender.)
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To: Biscuit85

This loser will become a cause celeb for the liberals and their Hollywood pals.


10 posted on 12/07/2006 8:32:44 AM PST by desherwood7
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To: GMMAC; Clive

headsonpikes' prediction:

Good-bye Peachland - hello Leavenworth!

Oh well, they're both sunny locations.


11 posted on 12/07/2006 8:33:19 AM PST by headsonpikes (Genocide is the highest sacrament of socialism.)
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To: NYleatherneck

He's only 20, if he went in at 18 and after boot camp, schools, etc. He as not a Ranger very long?


12 posted on 12/07/2006 8:40:48 AM PST by edcoil (Reality doesn't say much - doesn't need too)
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To: NYleatherneck

He's only 20, if he went in at 18 and after boot camp, schools, etc. He was not a Ranger very long.


13 posted on 12/07/2006 8:40:58 AM PST by edcoil (Reality doesn't say much - doesn't need too)
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To: Biscuit85
The suspects fled in a silver Audi -- but not before a witness recorded the licence plate number.

Not exactly the sharpest tacks in the box are they?
14 posted on 12/07/2006 8:41:40 AM PST by contemplator (Capitalism gets no Rock Concerts)
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To: desherwood7

maybe they'll cast him in "Con-Air II" !


15 posted on 12/07/2006 8:44:48 AM PST by Rakkasan1 ((Illegal immigrants are just undocumented friends you haven't met yet!))
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation

"And why are elite U.S. Army units accepting Canadians in
the first place?"





He was also awarded American citizenship, it is a common gift now days.
I wish I could pick up an additional citizenship.


16 posted on 12/07/2006 8:55:38 AM PST by ansel12 (America, love it ,or at least give up your home citizenship before accepting ours too.)
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To: edcoil
"served in an elite U.S. army unit"

Which one?

2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

17 posted on 12/07/2006 8:58:34 AM PST by DarthDilbert
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To: edcoil
Which one

I was in...Sang Bang...

Dang Gong...

I was all over the place, a lot of places.

What unit?

I was with the Green Berets, Special Unit Battalions...

18 posted on 12/07/2006 9:00:24 AM PST by VeniVidiVici (What's the one elected position Ted Kennedy has never held? Designated Driver.)
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To: dighton

LMAO!!!


19 posted on 12/07/2006 9:09:14 AM PST by Biscuit85 (I hate CNN!)
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To: fanfan

Ping.


20 posted on 12/07/2006 9:23:46 AM PST by Springman
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