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In quick succession, the man issues a number of claims: that, while he does not know its current whereabouts, he has viewed the alleged video and believes it to be authentic; that he has seen other more innocuous footage of Mayor Ford “hanging out” in the neighbourhood; that Somali gang members who support the mayor are angry at the video’s sellers; and that he and his friends briefly considered making a fraudulent crack video starring an acquaintance and Rob Ford lookalike nicknamed “Slurpy,” in an attempt to discredit the real thing. Slurpy, who was not available to be interviewed by the Post, apparently opted out of the phoney video plan, ultimately deciding he did not want to become embroiled in the simmering controversy.

“We don’t like Rob Ford getting screwed,” the man in unit 1703 says. “We wanted to help him… 85% of [young Somalis] are very upset about these guys with the video.”

It is difficult, in this surreal saga, to know what to believe and what to dismiss.

The man in unit 1703 — who says he is Jamaican, appears to be in his early 40s and admits to having served jail time for drug offences — claims he viewed footage of Mayor Ford smoking a substance that may have been crack cocaine before New York gossip site Gawker broke the story two weeks ago. The National Post has not seen the video and cannot verify its authenticity.

The man offers few details of what he saw in the alleged video, but says it is just one of a number of clips of Mayor Ford he has viewed. In another, he says the mayor appears to be in the back of a limousine with his arms outstretched, possibly smoking a cigarette. He says he will try to arrange for the Post to view some of these clips, which are not in his possession. By press time, he has produced none, and is not answering his phone.