RCMP buff in Ontario spent 2 weeks in jail following N.S. massacre

Warren Thwing collects model trains and Avro Arrow paraphernalia, posters and stamps. The keepsakes at his home in Kingston, Ont., span aviation, hockey, Star Trek and car racing. But by far his biggest haul is of RCMP memorabilia. 

"I have always been a lover of the Mounties," he said in an interview with CBC News. "I wanted to join the RCMP years ago, but I was that short on the height requirement — it was five foot eight, and I was a half-inch short."

Instead, he channelled his fervour for the national police into its gear. He says he's spent thousands of dollars, largely on eBay and at collector exhibitions, on hundreds of items, including three complete uniforms, crests, shoulder insignia, caps, collar pins, epaulets and a Stetson hat. On his mantle are RCMP figurines and two commemorative Royal Doulton ceramic busts.

He dressed up in the red serge uniform he bought and had portraits taken in his house; he posted the photos online and framed them for his wall at home. His Facebook timeline is full of well wishes and congratulations to the Mounties for various anniversaries and accomplishments. 

Thwing says he never imagined his passion — police are calling it an obsession — would one day go south.

At 6:30 a.m. on May 7, 2020, Thwing was in bed, listening to the radio, about to start his day. 

"All I heard was one — pardon the expression — one hell of a bang, and smashing glass and things. And my house alarm."

SWAT team members in commando gear bashed down his side door and rushed into his house and his bedroom, rifles drawn. His home security camera captured seven officers, though Thwing says he remembers closer to a dozen.

WATCH | Home security camera captures police raid Warren Thwing's home in May 2020:

When they told him they were there to execute a search warrant for impersonating a police officer, Thwing said, it made no sense to him. He said he asked an officer, "Why didn't you ring the doorbell? And he said, 'You had a gun.' I said, 'Yeah. It's locked up.'"

Decades ago, Thwing had inherited a chipped and tarnished antique revolver from his grandfather, he said. Thwing said he's never fired it and owns no bullets. 

Thwing was handcuffed, taken to a police station and charged with one count of impersonating a peace officer. He was given a first court appearance later that day. 

Under normal circumstances, Thwing's collection of RCMP items might never have drawn the eye of authorities. But just 2½ weeks earlier, on April 18, 2020, another man who had acquired an authentic RCMP uniform massacred 22 people in and around Portapique, N.S., including a Mountie. He eluded police for 13 hours, in part because he was driving a decommissioned RCMP patrol car purchased at an auction and refitted to look like the real thing. 

In the weeks following, Nova Scotia Mounties scoured social media for anyone who had posted pictures of RCMP gear. The force told CBC in an email that "RCMP officers in Nova Scotia were monitoring social media platforms concerning the use of RCMP uniform items by non-RCMP employees."