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Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he’s disappointed city administration opted to cancel a nude swimming event at a city-operated recreation centre in the wake of “crackpot threats.”

Nenshi said the threats included a bomb threat, a claim the windows of vehicles in the facility’s parking lot would be smashed with baseball bats, and a warning that licence plate information would be gathered and posted.

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Friday marked the first time Nenshi waded into the debate about the controversial naked, all-ages event planned for the Southland Leisure Centre, during an hour-long appearance on a CBC radio call-in show.

“Let’s be clear. The online petitions — because there was two of them, one on each side — had nothing to do with this,” Nenshi said.

“This is really about mob rule … Some of the folks, both online and in phone calls to city staff and to public servants, were threatening some really unpleasant stuff. There was a bomb threat. There were people who were saying, ‘we’re going to write down all the license plate numbers and post them as pedophiles.'”