Const. Joel Demore, Ottawa police officer, named on hacked city site

The City of Ottawa website was hacked Friday evening, and for an hour it named an Ottawa police officer who was involved in the investigation of an Ottawa teen who allegedly called in faked emergencies across North America, a practice known as "swatting."

The hacked site was online for an hour, from about 6:30 p.m. ET to about 7:30 p.m. It showed a dancing banana and named Const. Joel Demore of Ottawa police west district investigations.

"Joel Demore: You laugh at us, you are scared of us, does this help your laughing?" the hacked website read. "We can destroy everything, this is a flex of our power. Please, test us. You know what we want."

The officer's email address was also published.

By 7:30 p.m., a blue screen with the words "This Account Has Been Suspended" replaced the hacked city website.

Ottawa police said Friday evening that they're investigating. The website was restored on Saturday afternoon, city officials said.

Father claims hacker group has evidence of son's innocence

Last week, the father of the teen in the swatting case — who cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act — protested the charges against his son on Parliament Hill.

The boy, 16, is facing 60 criminal charges relating to at least 30 fake emergencies that were allegedly called in to police forces across North America, sometimes requiring a SWAT team response.

His father told reporters on the Hill Nov. 12 that his son is being framed for the incidents and that he and his son are victims of harassment, but that Demore isn't taking them seriously.

"I was at my wit's end, and then I got an email, and the email was from Anonymous, the hacker group," the boy's father told reporters. "And it says … here's the evidence to free your son.

"And … the people helping me have guaranteed me that more evidence is coming."