'What is it going to take?': Business owner says police must do more to crack down on arson, extortion
CBC
A group of Winnipeg business owners who have banded together after their businesses were allegedly targeted by arson and extortion say police need to act before someone gets hurt.
The owners have formed an online group chat to share information with each other about the criminals they say have been aiming at them for months.
Group members say they believe they know who's extorting them, and want police to act before the violence escalates.
"What is it going to take? Like, at some point maybe someone gets killed, maybe someone gets stuck in one of these businesses when it's burning," one of them told CBC News.
"If [police] know that these individuals are involved, if you already got them on camera doing certain jobs, if you put the pressure to them, there's a good chance they'll say … who they're working for."
The owner said he was told he had to pay protection money or else his business would be targeted. CBC News is not naming anyone in the group because they fear retaliation for speaking up.
Members say their businesses are set on fire when they refuse to pay protection money to people who threaten them and try to extort them.
They say a recent arson in Winnipeg's Weston neighbourhood shows how the criminals operate.
Footage sent by one of them shows two masked men walking into Logan Convenience early on Tuesday.
One of them douses the floor with what appears to be gasoline as the other forces an employee out of the store. They then light it on fire.
CBC News has verified the video is from the store.
"When I'm watching the video, I'm like, OK, they're going to take the money," the group member said.
"They didn't care less about the cash register. You can see that they clearly were sent in there for one reason and one reason only, and that was to burn that place down."
Some of the owners say they don't want to reopen because they're afraid the extortion efforts will continue. Others have even moved out of the province out of concern for their safety.
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