'UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS'
Hackers cause stir with Harper choking-on-hash-brown hoax
JANE TABER
OTTAWA— Globe and Mail Update
Posted on
It turned out to be a hoax. Mr. Harper hadn’t had troubled swallowing a piece of hash brown after all.
Under the headline “Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast Incident,” the release said that Mr. Harper had been rushed to “Toronto General Hospital this morning after an incident at breakfast.” That was a clue to the veracity of the story, given Mr. Harper was back in Ottawa Monday for the budget release.He later confirmed that the Conservative website, on which the fake news release was posted, had been hacked – or as he preferred to say “unauthorized access” was gained.
It said he was brought by helicopter to hospital after his wife called 911 and that he had choked on a hash brown while having breakfast with his children.
His security staff had performed first-aid, the report said, trying to unblock the Prime Minister’s airway. It went on to say his condition would be monitored.
Asked of the alleged incident, a spokeswoman for the University Health Network – which includes Toronto General Hospital – declined to comment on whether Mr. Harper had been seen at the facility, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Adding fuel to the fire was a tweet from Chris Alexander, the newly-minted Tory MP for Ajax-Pickering and who is considered a rising star.
“Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast Incident,” he said. And that had the Twitter-verse abuzz.
Later, however, he tweeted that he too was a victim of the prank. “My Twitter account was hacked this morning: previous tweet absolutely false. Apologies to all.”
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