Protest police state tactics in Toronto TONIGHT (Mon. June 28)
June 28, 2010 - 1:20am
EMERGENCY RALLY: PROTEST POLICE ABUSE OF POWER
DATE: Monday, June 28th
TIME: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
PLACE: Toronto Police Headquarters, 40 College Street
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=122237507819100&ref=mf
Protest police abuse of power and show your solidarity with those who have been arrested. Be there to defend our rights to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom to dissent!
Please invite your friends on Facebook, social media, by e-mail and any other means!
Another announcement with updated info about tonight's protest at police headquarters, 40 College Street, 5:30 p.m., Toronto.
Speakers:
Naomi Klein
Ben Powless
David McNally
Abeer Majeed
Testimonies from people who've been brutalized by police
Over the past two days, police have rounded and arrested up hundreds of people. They have been denied access to lawyers, telephones, food and water, and held in deplorable conditions in makeshift steel cages. Many have been beaten in the streets and in their homes; shot at with rubber bullets and tear gas; some have been sent to hospital with severe injuries. Hundreds are still in custody as of Sunday night.
We need to get our people out. We need to take our city back from the armed fortress that it has been turned into.
There should be nationwide protests about this.
Saw a note from a friend of mine from Toronto on facebook that he was actually detained in handcuffs at Queen and Spadina for 3 hours. He wasn't a protester. He was at a bar watching a soccer game and went to catch a streetcar, started taking a few pics on his cell phone cam and basically was cordoned off from all sides by police, unable to escape. The cops made an announcement that people who "surrendered" would be processed faster so he and his girlfriend basically volunteered to be arrested thinking it would get them out of there. Instead, it just meant they were separated from the main crowd, put in plastic cuffs and forced to sit on the ground in the freezing rain for two hours before finally being put onto a bus and then released with no charges. He wasn't even asked for ID or anything.
Thanks, will spread the word.
Me and the young goats will be in attendance.
See you there.
here's my wonderful experience with the police yesterday and how they fucked with my camera.
G8/G20 Communiqué: The police's interview with me.
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/statica/2010/06/g8g20-communiqu%C3%A9-police%E2%80%99s-interview-me
I think I will be attending!
Apparently there have been riot cops gearing up in the area since 7:30 a.m. radiorahim and I will still be going. After watching police thugs attacking peaceful protesters and bystanders yesterday, nervousness is understandable, but please don't let fear stop you from coming if you were thinking about coming out. Rights have to be defended - they're never given.
The updated announcement is below - you'll see a lot of well-known names on it. That gives me some hope that the cops won't deploy their goon squad tactics on peaceful protesters today.
Also, I really, really hope that everyone attending will be absolutely peaceful (well, except for the undercover cops -- I guess no one can predict what they'll do or what trouble they'll try to cause). Let's not give the cops any excuses to pull any crap, and lets shut down any of their provocateurs who try to pull shit tonight.
JAIL SOLIDARITY RALLY! TORONTO CONDEMNS POLICE VIOLENCE
Monday, June 28th, 5:30 p.m.
Police Headquarters, 40 College Street (at Yonge Street)
SPEAKERS: Naomi Klein, Judy Rebick, Sid Ryan, Ben Powless, David McNally, Abeer Majeed, Dave Vasey, Deborah Cowen, Nate Prior, MDC, and testimonies from people who have been brutalized by police.
Over the past two days, police have rounded up and arrested hundreds of people. They have been denied access to lawyers, telephones, food and water, and held in deplorable conditions in makeshift steel cages. Many have been beaten in the streets and in their homes; shot at with rubber bullets and tear gas; some have been sent to hospital with severe injuries. Hundreds are still in custody as of Sunday night.
We need to get our people out. We need to take our city back from the armed fortress that it has been turned into.
We will let the police know that we will not tolerate the arrests, beatings and attempt to intimidate the people of Toronto. Our community stands with the people whose lives have been disrupted by the G20 and by police violence. We will demand that all those arrested be released, and released now!
I did not witness the mass arrests downtown last night, but what I saw in quiet residential neighbourhoods was just as disturbing in its own way.
I live in the east end of Toronto, near Greenwood and Danforth. Around 2:00 p.m. Mrs. Ramone, my 3 kids (ages 9, 11 and 3 ½) and I hopped on our bikes and rode downtown with the intention of joining a non-violent protest. My 3 ½ year old son, Jack, was in a co-pilot seat on the back of my bike.
We arrived at King and Bay shortly after 3:00. A wall of nervous looking riot police with shields, batons and tons of weapons prevented anyone from getting any closer to where the G20 were meeting. A small group of Christian pacifists were staging a sit-in in the intersection, singing Christian peace songs, surrounded by around 300 anti-G20 protesters, supporters, witnesses, tourists etc.... A solitary asshole in black, with a mask and megaphone, urged the crowd to attack the cops. I am pleased to report that he was ignored by most and heckled by a few of us until he left. However, by the time he left the wall of cops had grown to massive proportions, and they continued to surround the peaceful crowd after their buddy in the mask had moved on.
At around 4:00 we were joined at King and Bay by about 20 activists on bikes chanting "peaceful protest!" and "whose streets? our streets!". I recognized a few activists in this group, which appeared to be spontaneous and essentially leaderless, and we joined them, travelling slowly north on Bay. This group soon swelled to several hundred as most of crowd from King and Bay joined those of us on bikes. At Queen we turned west, passing in front of Nathan Phillips Square. Police stopped us on Queen St., for no particular reason, then relented and let the protest proceed west towards University and Spadina.
Up to this point we had seen nothing but peaceful protest and we had seen no abuses by police. By this time (around 5:15) my kids were hungry, so we decided to turn around and head home, biking east on Queen.
At around 5:45 we were passing a police staging area in a mainly residential east end area near Queen and Logan. My kids asked to stop and look at some police horses parked in a row with their riders on a small side street. While we were looking at the horses a small group (6-7 people) of animal rights activists began to quietly approach carrying home made signs and handing out pamphlets. When they got within about 10 meters the mounted police, and other police on foot, began moving towards them. Within seconds two of these quiet, peaceful activists were on the ground with their hands in cuffs behind their backs.
A small crowd began to gather and few people quietly asked the police "why are these people being arrested?". When they refused to answer I yelled (I can be very loud) "hey, why are these people being arrested?" At this point several of the mounted police swung around to face us and one approached me (still on my bike with my youngest child in the co-pilot seat behind me) very aggressively, coming close enough that I could have touched the horse. He barked at me: "move it, or you'll be arrested too". I'm a big guy and a seasoned activist who's not easily intimidated, but I really felt that my kids were in danger at that point, so we did move a few feet back, onto the sidewalk, but I continued to yell, demanding to know why people were being arrested for peacefully protesting and why they had threatened to arrest me. Meanwhile the crowd had grown and many, clearly stunned by what they were witnessing, began chanting "this is what a police state looks like!" Amazing, because these appeared to be simply local folks, not activists.
By this time my kids were quite frightened and I was really angry. I knew we had to leave or risk having the kids see their father arrested, or worse. We biked on and a few blocks later passed two frightened looking young women sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk with hands cuffed behind their backs, with several cops standing over them. I stopped a few feet from them and asked "why are these people being arrested?". A cop yelled at me "what you're doing is really stupid. Do you want your kids to see you get arrested?" I asked "Is that why these women have been arrested, because they asked you why people are being arrested for nothing?" One of the young women in cuffs looked at me and softly said "thank you".
We carried on home, my blood boiling. We got home around 7:00, just as the heavy rain started, and I turned on the tv and watched CP24, the local all news channel. They showed mass arrests happening at Queen and Spadina and I realized that the large group we had been with earlier on Queen West was being arrested, along with lots of by-standers who were not even part of the peaceful protest. I realized that what we had witnessed on our way home was going all over the city. CP24 (hardly a left news source) reporters were expressing amazement at the scale and apparent randomness of the arrests, noting that hundreds of people, who had done nothing illegal, were left to stand in the rain in handcuffs for hours.
I see no connection whatsoever between what the Black Bloc and their fellow idiots did on Saturday and the massive police state crackdown of Sunday night. I've never seen anything like this in my city, and I hope I never see it again.
Joey, amazing. Thanks for sharing that
I feel that what took place in Toronto this weekend is a sign of things to come! When the police can enter into someone's house and put a gun to their head without asking questions, then you know that we are experiencing what we have read in history books!
As I have commented elsewhere, I do not understand why people are perplexed at all this violence. Their country was founded on violence, with that violence being exported on a daily basis.People do not realise the violence in toronto is same violence that their system dishes out elsewhere on the planet.
I am sure that these actions by the authorities will become common place once people begin to protest. If you never protest and you continue your lifestyle of consumption,going on vacations and mowing your lawn, then you do not have to fear.
What i find astonishing with all this, is that we are all paying taxes so we can get policed! The more I ponder our system and way of life, I continually realise that the peoples before the europeans were much more advanced and democratic. Oh well, the original peoples were here for over ten thousand years, it will be interesting to see how long the european way of doing things will last?
Im gonna try to be there
I'm covering it for rabble.ca on Twitter
@rabbleca
@krystalline_k
There should be nationwide protests about this.
Indeed! Canada Day would be the ideal forum to "take back our Canada" with clear and precise demands for action (whether public inquiry, a royal commission or whatever). STained Canadian flags should be waved on July 1st with demands that the state do its laundry.
Joey, thanks for that.
I think most of you have heard what happened in my neighbourhood, when a young couple woke up at 4am on Saturday with cops pointing guns in their faces. The cops arrested the man and held him in custody for an hour or so, handcuffed, before they released him. It was a house divided into units, and the cops were looking for people in another apartment in the house.
I biked past police HQ on my way home from work - the cops are out in force, and they don't look happy. My advice would be to NOT bring young children to this (if I could make it, I'd bring my girls - they're twelve and fifteen, and adult sized). But maybe leave the little ones at home.
I posted my experiences mainly because what I saw was far away from the mass arrests witnessed and reported on by many in the downtown core. Given the timing, it appears to me that an order was issued by police brass sometime after 5:30 p.m. yesterday to begin mass arrests of peaceful protesters all over the city. It does not appear to have been an isolated case of rogue cops in one location suddenly rounding people up.
Hmm Im bringing my 12yr old stepdaughter but the little Bacchane will not be going, much to OGs dismay Im sure
BE CAREFUL!!! JUST HEARD THAT RIOT COPS ARE ALREADY THERE AND PICKING PEOPLE OFF!!!!!!! FORWARD WIDELY!!!!!
people should absolutely still go! Just don't go alone, bring a camera if you can, be safe, look out for eachother. DOn't let them frighten us out of fighting for what's right!!!!!!
To everyone going, good luck, this is important. And stay safe.
why are you still here, one would think you would be there cytizenh
Good luck guys.
i second that, with you in spirit....be safe
According to the Star, at least a thousand people are rallying at police HQ on College right now. College closed between Yonge and Bay.
Just got back, was there at just before 5:30, and there was at several hundred protesters by then (when I left for the protest, about 20 minutes earlier, 1010 was reporting that there was "one protester"?) ... I left around 6:30 (my legs can't take standing on pavement anymore) and the whole block between Yonge and Bay was pretty well packed.
The cops were three deep in front of the police station and had the east end of the street (College and Yonge) blocked off with a line or two of riot police (they were letting people in and out though.
I got off at College subway stop and came up through the Mall area just south of College ... the underground area was crawling with riot police as well (groups of twenty or so sitting at tables in the food courts, in front of the coffee shops, standing in the connecting hallways.
Hard to tell standing in the crowd at street level, but I'd guess at least 1000, but wouldn't be surprised if there was much more that that.
Just back myself. I'd echo No Yards estimate of the turnout .... and add 400+ police to the count.
You had to walk a gauntlet of them on each end of the street, and even though the subway and pedestrian mall under College Park.
Oldgoat was there, with two kids in tow.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Until somethng better comes along, here's my shaky, poor sound quality video of Judy's speech at the protest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiURTmNkMS0
I just sent this letter to the CBC ombudsman:
RE: Labelling left-wing journalists "activists"
Vince Carlin
Ombudsman
CBC
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6
28 June 2010
Dear Mr. Carlin,
This morning Pamela Wallin interviewed Jesse Rosenfeld (http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/ID=1532039797) and introduced him as a "blogger and activist," despite the fact that Mr. Rosenfeld has worked as a journalist both in Canada and internationally for several years. Mr. Rosenfeld objected to Ms. Wallin's characterization and responded "if you call left-wing critical journalism as activism then yes, I am an activist."
Additionally, in a photo blog of today's demonstration against police brutality during the G-20 protests (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/g20streetlevel/2010/06/g20-protests-continue.ht...), internationally acclaimed and bestselling author and journalist Naomi Klein was identified in a photo as an "activist." Is it currently CBC's policy to label leading left-wing journalists as "activists" and other diminutives? I wonder if CBC would stoop to call Senator Mike Duffy or your colleagues at Fox News "activists." I find this habit of the CBC's disrespectful and dishonest, and it represents an attempt to discredit these journalists and pre-emptively undermine their established and well-informed points of view. I demand that the CBC stop this incredibly unprofessional policy immediately.
Sincerely,
What the CBC has become is crying shame. It's a husk, with dimwits occupying the vast hollow. Even CBC radio has been on a downward arc.
Just got home. Yeah, it was pretty packed between Yonge and Bay. To be honest I couldn't hear much of the speeches. I was near some drummers who were actually pretty good, and was eavsdropping on the media types talking to eachother. Some of them got pretty badly treated over the weekend.
I saw LTJ and Papal Bull, but missed all the others somehow. Totally randomly and small-worldish, I ran into three people I had met in Philadelphia two weeks ago. Also a couple of people from my work.
Went in to Fran's to use the bathroom, thus feeling obligated to buy a beer, and in that short time everyone buggered off down University. A bit embarrasing, I left the place and absolutely everyone but the cops was gone. "excuse me officer, I seem to have lost my mob"
Nice march up and down to city hall after we ran down Bay St. to catch up. The cops seemed to be trying to behave themselves, but I was really keeping my antanae up. Mainly because I had my kids with me, and even though they're both in university, they're still my kids, and we weren't there to be any kind of martyr for the cause. Got to Queen's Park. Totally pooped. Went home. On the N side of the building were a lot of cops on horses, and more with full riot gear. As we got up to Avenue Rd., a TTC bus filled with cops was turning toward the demonstration.
Best sign/placard of the event, witnessed at Queens Park...." Anyone up for scrabble after?"
Oh yeah, a bunch of the protesters on bicycles were getting together to ride down to the detention facilities on Eastern Ave. I don't think the cops will be amused. Good luck to them.
Excellent, Catchfire. Marginalization takes many forms.
Love the letter, Catchfire!
At Queen and University, someone was pulled out of the group. We stopped. Those of us closest to the back started to say, "Let him go!" Other demonstrators further along heard us, and came back.
We remained there, repeating the demand.
And they let him go.
We then continued along to City Hall. I had to leave soon after that.
Great letter, Catchfire. And Joey, thanks so much for sharing that. Thugs thugs thugs!
Oh, and I don't know, maybe I'm bad at estimating crowds, but the entire street AND the entire sidewalk were packed like sardines, full of people, between Yonge and Bay. And the sidewalk dips into a very large open space in the middle of that block. There's no way there were only a thousand people there. I'd say thousands.
thank you all......great action writer...
Im back too, and it was interesting. Didnt see any of you at all but it was packed. I was on the west section of the demo so I got some pictures of Judy speaking and crowds. Saw a Tshirt I liked "with no power comes no responsibility" which made me chuckle.
My stepdaughter enjoyed her first protest and took a ton of pictures and sent them from her phone to her friends in Pittsburgh (home of a previous G20 summit)
Thank you for sharing your story, Joey. What must go through a cop's mind, I wonder, as he threatens to arrest a father in front of his kids - orders or no. I hope your kids are doing ok.
At Queen and University, someone was pulled out of the group. We stopped. Those of us closest to the back started to say, "Let him go!" Other demonstrators further along heard us, and came back.
We remained there, repeating the demand.
And they let him go.
Yeah, I was right in the middle of the group. It must have been something for the police to see several thousand people turn their gaze on them.
Either way, it was spectacular. It was energizing. I of course bumped into OG and the goatlings. I watched Michelle's FB updates fairly closely! I also spoke with quite a few people were there on the weekend and dealt with some serious police shit.
But I have to say, the entire time...It was weird. I've never looked at a cop and only seen a cop. I always used to see a working person. I'd look around and see cops everywhere. Cordoning it off. When we were at City Hall, I was in another world. I'd look around and see glass and big blue fences holding us in. Cops on all sides. When we got to Queen's Park, it was worse. I saw a line of cops on the foot of the legislature. I looked back and saw them surrounding us to the west and the south. I couldn't see east. I just suddenly felt tense. I eventually relaxed when I thought 'well, if they've not started shit yet...they won't.' But still. I didn't see a working person wearing a uniform. I just saw a uniform. Someone. Something. Something that was being paid to be out there to, at the crackle of a radio, turn a baton on me. Something out there to hurt my friends. To hurt my family. It felt like all the cordial encounters with police in the past had melted away. It was just cops. This sound stupid and potentially put-down-ish, but as a white straight (and ostensibly to my grandma - good catholic) male...I'd never felt so vulnerable and threatened before. I'd never looked at a cop and thought 'that person is out to hurt me'. See the faces all blend together.
What really struck home for me was seeing some of the same cops that were on videos this weekend committing crimes and still walking free. What really struck me was a cop and her buddies sitting at Union joking about what they did this weekend. No remorse. Nothing.
God help us.
welcome to the world of the non-white male, papal bull...that is how many 'others' feel all the time and everytime they see a cop.
That is why solidarity is so important, "as first they came for.......and then there was no one left to save me"
Yeah, I was right in the middle of the group. It must have been something for the police to see several thousand people turn their gaze on them.
Either way, it was spectacular. It was energizing. I of course bumped into OG and the goatlings. I watched Michelle's FB updates fairly closely! I also spoke with quite a few people were there on the weekend and dealt with some serious police shit.
But I have to say, the entire time...It was weird. I've never looked at a cop and only seen a cop. I always used to see a working person. I'd look around and see cops everywhere. Cordoning it off. When we were at City Hall, I was in another world. I'd look around and see glass and big blue fences holding us in. Cops on all sides. When we got to Queen's Park, it was worse. I saw a line of cops on the foot of the legislature. I looked back and saw them surrounding us to the west and the south. I couldn't see east. I just suddenly felt tense. I eventually relaxed when I thought 'well, if they've not started shit yet...they won't.' But still. I didn't see a working person wearing a uniform. I just saw a uniform. Someone. Something. Something that was being paid to be out there to, at the crackle of a radio, turn a baton on me. Something out there to hurt my friends. To hurt my family. It felt like all the cordial encounters with police in the past had melted away. It was just cops. This sound stupid and potentially put-down-ish, but as a white straight (and ostensibly to my grandma - good catholic) male...I'd never felt so vulnerable and threatened before. I'd never looked at a cop and thought 'that person is out to hurt me'. See the faces all blend together.
What really struck home for me was seeing some of the same cops that were on videos this weekend committing crimes and still walking free. What really struck me was a cop and her buddies sitting at Union joking about what they did this weekend. No remorse. Nothing.
God help us.
Indeed.
Just got home from this. Absolutely beautiful. Just stunning. I'd say at least 2500 people. SO peaceful. Amazing energy. Almost everyone who was in my cage at the prison was there. We are not afraid. THe support was amazing. Afterwards I got spooked by the mounted police gearing up at the North of the Legislature building. Took off with a friend. Someone during the march came up to me and told me that a police officer had pointed at me and said "that guy in the blue checkered shirt....". Felt pretty scared. I had been on the news a lot this weekend, and hanging out with some of the higher profile organizers. A lot of my friends were getting picked off on the streets by plainclothes all week... me and my friend ducked into a bar, got some food and beer. Apparently my revolution also includes drinking?
Please allow me to say what I have to say, I used to believe in the white male privilege concept and I still think the theory has merits, but I want to talk about how that kind of talk might be counterproductive to our causes.(please note, i am Chinese and a trans female and i have absofuckingultely witnessed white male privilege)
Are you sure it is a straight white male experience to not be intimidated by the police, my boyfriend is a straight white male who grew up in a small town and he was treated like crap by the police all the time. The kind of white male privilege, which I can sympathize with, is the exact type of discourse that alienates the very people you want to be in solidarity with. Alot of the poor white people resent being represented by certain white people who speak with academic terms like white privilage , call it bitterness, resentment, or what not, but i think there would be a better chance of winning the support of working class if we tried to use or at least understand their languages, just my opinons. I am not telling anybody to do anything, i dont wish to nor have the power to.
And i totally supprot all the peaceful protestors and stand against the pigs who grossly violated your rights. It is disgusting. I wish i could be there to show support but i had to work at a call centre in the evening.
i am working class and so is my partner.....
...if your partner is from a small town, I will bet dollars to doughnuts he was from the 'wrong side of the tracks', and it had nothing to do with "working class" roots per se...
for example, there is several white guys is this small town who sorta have no white male privilege, but that is not because they are NOT "working class" they are the sons of single mothers.
White male privilege is an issue, and I am fucking tired of perople saying "we can't alienate them", we sure as hell can if they are not allies, and if the majority were, women's equity would have long ago been reached.
Having said that, empathy is what I was meaning, for those who do not know what it is like to live in fear of the copps all the time.
A quick follow up to show the contrast, one day later, same location, same protesters, different police tactics. They were obviously ordered NOT to attack citizens today.
So no problems at all. None.
Monday June 28, 2010, rally at police station, College St.
Here is something amazing.
The march on Mon June 28, went down University with no problems at the US embassy at all. (unlike the days before when it was surrounded literally with hundreds of riot cops with 4 ft long clubs, who did nothing but provoke anxiety and aggression).
But later it basically spontaneously went into the City Hall area from Queen. I was right at the front, and it was pretty spontaneous, people were walking there, standing, and then started to go into this tiny little entrance for the Jazz Fest.
Somehow, several thousand people managed to march into a tiny little entrance of the Jazz Fest, right past tables with trinkets. It appears that literally not one trinket was even bumped over by accident, by hundreds of people with bicycles, and thousands walking!
Later on Monday June 28, at Queens Park there were probably more than twice the numbers of people than before, and nothing happened, because the police were given new "orders" not to attack people. (of course all the riot cops were still there, but were hidden by Ryerson and other areas).
The days before, even less people at Queens Park, and the police called in a literal army of full-power riot police, horses, and then they attacked people constantly, and provoked them.
Today, they left people alone, and nothing happened. Why? Guess what, if the police had sent 400 riot police to Queens Park again today, and attacked with horses, the same thing would have happened, as people don't want to be attacked.
Instead, the police were ordered to be present a heavy, but standard police presence, and no one was provoked. It ain't rocket science.
Some people argued with the police about what happened on the weekend, and the police, humanly, argued back a bit. There was some communication, not a big drama either way. But some local communication.
But when the full-power riot squad attacks a peaceful protest, they provoke people to resist. Give people some space, and let them be calm, and nothing usually happens. (not always of course).
Also, the head of "security" on CBC news, showed that G20 "security" was run out of a room in Barrie Ontario on computer screens!
No wonder the police leaders had no idea of what was really going on on the street, and were given such incompetent and ridiculous "orders" in their ear-pieces.
Some guy watching a TV screen in Barrie, is moving a few riot squads around like a chess game, and ordering them to attack! To him its a video game.
Regardless, these Robocop remote-control police tactics have to end forever. Their job is maintain the peace, not to attack people and create riots! There is no question, the police attacks created the rioting, except when the bb-vandals ran down Queen St from Spadina. I was there, I saw those few vandals plan something, and then run down Queen, that was unprovoked.
That is when the police should have stopped them. But as proven, they let the vandalism run for miles and miles, for over 2 hours, 3:30-5:30. Too late, but of course that was part of the police plan, let them run amok, then come down with an army of riot police. That justifies the expenses.
http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/06/g20-police-let-rioters-run-amok-and-then-struck-back-hard-all-activistsTonight, I even spoke with the head of police security right in front of the police station, as the rally gathered. I asked him why there were no police on Yonge for so many hours, as the few dozens vandals ran around. He said all his officers were "deployed" and that is why Yonge St was left unprotected for hours. Can you believe that, when they had thousands and thousands of them, no where to be seen, behind some fence.
I asked him why it took so long. He said they could not get around. I told him I could walk anywhere in minutes.
He actually said I personally should have arrested the vandals, as a citizen. This is the attitude of the head of police security, right in front of the police station for the protest today. That is his plan and attitude, let the citizens arrest vandals.
What a joke. They should have moved to contain any vandalism right away, not leave the city core. The only rational conclusion is that they police bosses decided to let the vandals trash downtown, to keep them away from their fence, and to justify their expenses.
As N. Klein said tonight, they send media releases out as the police car was burning, saying that justified their billions spent. The fact is they let it burn forever, so everyone could get a photo of it.
The police also attacked the crowds with full knowledge that the attack would provoke the crowd further. Obviously, the police big-wigs wanted riots to justify all the money they got, so they provoked the crowds. (except for the first attack by the bb-vandals on Queen).
The bottom line is it was either a plan to hijack lawful rights to protest, or absolute incompetence by the police bosses, or both.
Thanks goodness the citizens marched tonight, and nothing happened at all. It actually shows that the aggressive Robocop police attacks are the thing which can create a riot. Police power must be controlled, and kept in check.
It was very important to have that spontaneous walk through the city, as a peaceful protest. Its the overkill riot-police, and the police attacks on citizens, that can spark people into self-defense aggression.
Of course the police experts know this, that is their business. Its the police bosses, the guys who ordered the police to stay away from Yonge St for more than 2 hours, they are to blame. They are also to blame for later sending in a riot-army to attack citizens. They provoked all of it.
Again, today was a case-study. Same places, same people, different result. What was different? The police did not attack people with an army of riot police.
If the police would have attacked again today, with the riot police and horses, the same thing would have happened, in terms of a long stand-off, and the rest of it.
But the police were ordered to stand-back, I heard the orders being given, to NOT form lines, to stand back casually, and lay-off.
What is the conclusion? The entire script of attacking the citizens with an army of riot police to provoke riots was planned. On top of that, there were horrible incompetence in the orders given to police, to attack blindly.
The reality is that most of the protests on the weekend could have been like today, angry, loud, but peaceful, if the police would have backed off properly. But no, the police did 2 tactics...
- zero police for miles and hours
- an army of riot police attack people.
They decided against using appropriate middle-power crowd management techniques, like they did today. That is the only rational conclusion. The police planners, with some senior politicos wanted a bunch of riots, so they made it happen.
The amazing thing about the rally/walk/protest tonight, is that there really wasn't a "leader" at the front. Sure, there were a few folks trying to keep things rolling, but it was a geniune peaceful civil rights march, the right to not get arrested for no cause, and/or beaten for walking the streets.
Whoever is behind this attempt to increase police powers, have to be stopped, before they take it to the next level.
I was only a citizen oberver the last few days, as TO is my home. But after the outrageous police abuses, and the terrible/incompetent police tactics that must have been a deliberate plan to create riots, I made the choice today to stand up for the most basic right of a citizen.
As a side-bar, the regular police were also propagandized for months about the "violent agitators" that were walking the streets. They were also propagandized all weekend through their ear-pieces with false information, and had to follow orders. So the police brass not only dehumanized the public, they also dehumanized their own officers, as each officer had to follow orders from the ear-piece, and not exercise common sense.
I saw the peaceful protestors down by Commerce Court on late Sat night, they were the same type of people as today, basically. I left that group of protestors, and went east, and saw all these riot police getting dressed as they got out of the vans. There were rushed, yelling at eachother, and very tense and even afraid. Their ear-pieces were telling them that a huge band of maniacs were coming to attack them. Meanwhile, the protestors were the peaceful group Steve Paikin was with.
So its the police brass in Barrie watching a video screen, or in a helicopter, telling cops they are being attacked by a mob of killers. Meanwhile, the group is a tame group of unarmed citizens.
The police tactics used were either the worst tactics one could imagine through gross incompetence, or the police brass wanted to provoke the city into a lockdown. Rational thinking concludes the police brass planned out the tactics to do exactly what they did, as that is good busine$$ for them.
(a few more comments here)
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2010/06/toronto-burning-or-it http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/06/g20-police-let-rioters-run-amok-and-then-struck-back-hard-all-activistsi am working class and so is my partner.....
...if your partner is from a small town I will bet dollars to doughnuts he was from the 'wrong side of the tracks', and it had nothing to do with "working class" roots per se...
there is several white guys is this small town who have no white man's priovilege, but that is because they are NOT "working class" and are the sons of single mothers.
he was also raised by his single mother and also dirt poor, and i mean, government housing poor. Anyways, i am not saying he represents any angry white poor male voting bloc i am not privy of that information- its just something i am throwing out there for discussion sake.
exactly my point takeitslowly, and I knew it, as class placement plays its role, especially in small towns, moreover the "higher placed white boys will blame the lower placed ones, they purposefully hang out with, when they get into "trouble".
Hence the "lower class" boys get the 'rap sheet' and all the police attention.
BTW I edited my post you quoted for clarity...and spelling
I like this graph from the Globe and Mail which helps put what went on during the G20 into some historical perspective:
At Queen and University, someone was pulled out of the group. We stopped. Those of us closest to the back started to say, "Let him go!" Other demonstrators further along heard us, and came back.
We remained there, repeating the demand.
And they let him go.
Yeah, I was right in the middle of the group. It must have been something for the police to see several thousand people turn their gaze on them.
Either way, it was spectacular. It was energizing. I of course bumped into OG and the goatlings. I watched Michelle's FB updates fairly closely! I also spoke with quite a few people were there on the weekend and dealt with some serious police shit.
But I have to say, the entire time...It was weird. I've never looked at a cop and only seen a cop. I always used to see a working person. I'd look around and see cops everywhere. Cordoning it off. When we were at City Hall, I was in another world. I'd look around and see glass and big blue fences holding us in. Cops on all sides. When we got to Queen's Park, it was worse. I saw a line of cops on the foot of the legislature. I looked back and saw them surrounding us to the west and the south. I couldn't see east. I just suddenly felt tense. I eventually relaxed when I thought 'well, if they've not started shit yet...they won't.' But still. I didn't see a working person wearing a uniform. I just saw a uniform. Someone. Something. Something that was being paid to be out there to, at the crackle of a radio, turn a baton on me. Something out there to hurt my friends. To hurt my family. It felt like all the cordial encounters with police in the past had melted away. It was just cops. This sound stupid and potentially put-down-ish, but as a white straight (and ostensibly to my grandma - good catholic) male...I'd never felt so vulnerable and threatened before. I'd never looked at a cop and thought 'that person is out to hurt me'. See the faces all blend together.
What really struck home for me was seeing some of the same cops that were on videos this weekend committing crimes and still walking free. What really struck me was a cop and her buddies sitting at Union joking about what they did this weekend. No remorse. Nothing.
God help us.
Yes, you're all starting to really see why others refer to them as pigs. They're not there to help you; they are there to hurt you, to keep you in line. Seriously, after all the pig violence, who here would have been the least bit sorry if things had happened to the pigs?
I'm making no excuse for Chief Blair's actions or comments, but the main difference between the weekend and Monday, to me, is who was in charge. Authority on the weekend was ultimately under RCMP Chief Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil ,head of the ISU. MacNeil's previous gig appears to have been running the air marshalls program on domestic, transboder and international flights.
On an individual level, its about POWER. And power corrupts humans, very easily.
Looking closely at the faces of the police at that peace rally against police tactics, some were very bitter. They were gritting their teeth.
The "police state" chant, some of them were mocking it...saying..."yeah yeah me too lets end the police state so I can go home..." Some were mocking protestors who asked why they didn't have name-tages, etc.
The reality is that many/some police do have a personal dislike and contempt for protestors and other deviant hippie types who don't follow orders, and it seemed to come unglued on the weekend. They don't like those kind of people, and certainly aren't going to risk their own safety to protect the "animals from the animals". That is probably why a senior Toronto police commander told me I should have arrested the vandals. Its an ugly truth, but that appears to be the ugly reality, in many cases.
The Yonge St business Assoc on CTV said that only 40 businesses were damaged, and his main concern was loss of business for 800 businesses over the entire week.
He also said the business owners had 2 issues:
1) Why were there no police anywhere on Yonge at any time? (this is a fact I have said since hour one, there was literally, literally, not one single cop on Yonge before, during, or after the vandals were there. Just a few 90 lb kids in black smashing things, being filmed by a hundred people, then no police for the rest of the night).
2) compensation
So probably the business owners are the ones who will expose the bald-faced lies by the police commanders. The fact is, that the police commanders abandoned Yonge St on purpose. Watch the videos, and you see a few skinny pale kids in black smashing windows, being filmed by a bunch of TV people.
Again, no police anywhere on Yonge, from top to bottom. And they were not there for the rest of the night either. The investigation into this, will expose what the police did, and perhaps why they did it.
Its the Yonge St merchants who are the victims of the police negligence.
The sign at Steve's Music was MELTED by the fire that was ALLOWED TO BURN on police orders for an eternity. Whoever in the police ordered the firetrucks to stay away, could have caused Steves Music to burn to the ground, which could have burnt the block down. The horrible truth is that some maniac in the police department head office, was prepared to let Queen St burn to the ground if some wackjob torched a store. Did the police commanders think they were in Bagdad? This is the reality of the situation. Some police commander, one assumes it was #1, was prepared to allow a part of Queen St West to burn to the ground, and not send in a firetruck.
Guess who would get the blame for that? Next time, the police would be given Martial Law type powers, to create a military style curfew.
Notice how the peaceful protest on Monday against the police tactics, with lots of normal police present, caused no damage whatsoever to anyone. Thousands of protestors of police violence, were able to walk into City Hall through the Jazz Fest entrance which was about 10 FEET WIDE, and surrounded by booths selling trinkets, without anyone even bumping over a trinket from a table. Its was a couple thousands protestors in a china shop, with bicycles, and didn't break a piece of china. That is a fact.
Something very sick happened with the police powers over the weekend. It was right on the edge of city blocks going up in flames, by ONE crazy person torching a store, and it being allowed to burn to the ground on the pretext Toronto became Bagdad, due to "protestors"...which was a lie, a brazen lie by someone at the top in the police command center. The facts show that someone wanted a catastrophe to happen, and that would give them a Martial Law type curfew power next time.
This is the factual reality of the situation, when you look at what happened objectively. If you really think about all the angles of this, this is some scary shit. Allowing a fire to spread without calling in firetrucks, claiming it was started by "dangerous radicals", so then martial powers need to be given to the police...
Thank goodness Torontonians came out Monday to show the lies being told by the police commanders. Something has gone terribly wrong here, and the politicos are NOT going to fix it, they won't even mildly criticize the police, they can't go against police power in anyway, or their career is over.
I'm making no excuse for Chief Blair's actions or comments, but the main difference between the weekend and Monday, to me, is who was in charge. Authority on the weekend was ultimately under RCMP Chief Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil ,head of the ISU. MacNeil's previous gig appears to have been running the air marshalls program on domestic, transboder and international flights.
I can't remember if this is the same guy or not, but the CBC's Susan Ormiston interviewed the guy responsible for security of the entire G8/G20 operation at the fortress/bunker in Barrie, Ontario. His explanation was basically that all the cops we saw at the protests had the behind the scenes safety and transport back and forth of the world leaders and their entourage in the back of their minds. While these protests were going on, helicopters were busy transporting these world poobahs back and forth not far from the protests themselves, and keeping the security perimeter secure was their overall priority. Sounds like a lame excuse to treat the citizens of Toronto so badly. That clip must be on the CBC website by now.
Yes, Boom Boom, that was MacNeil - I saw the same interview. He was a pretty sinister character.
Here's the link.
I don't know about that, Bill Blair was in charge of this city. The question will be who made the horrible, idiotic police plan, and who was giving the orders all weekend? Either they were an evil genius out to create vandalism and riots and chaos and violence, or they were utterly negligent and incompentent.
Its very interesting to see how many who were not on the streets believe the media-spin, but those who were on the streets and saw what happened see reality. That includes journalists, those who were there, saw what happened, and reported it as such. Those other journo's who just watched TV, generally believe the propaganda. Like Rex Murphy, the guy's comments were completely idiotic. If ole Rex would have been down on Yonge St for 5 hrs and not seen a cop, with some punks running around, he might have been scratching his head wondering what was really happening.
Trying to turn a couple dozen 90 lb kids into the a threat 100x worse than the Hells Angels, is pretty brazen Big Lie, but many are believing it. The fact is that normal police, could have put down the entire black-box crew, very easily. If the Hells Angels walked down Yonge St, and robbed 40 stores, who would get the blame?
But that RCMP guy, on TV he appeared to be quite clueless. My gut feeling tells me that someone from their Barrie command center was directing some of the idiotic and insane riot-police attacks by watching a video screen. It was so out of touch with the reality, something was insane about it. When they lined up on College like they were facing WWIII, it was beyond laughable, but not funny. Who could call up 5 lines deep of riot police, for a few hundred people in short-pants? No sane assessment of the situation would result in that.
Just iimagine the ETF and actual firepower that must have been around the corner somewhere. Next time perhaps they will deploy crowd-tasers from remote controlled drone-airplanes.
I'm making no excuse for Chief Blair's actions or comments, but the main difference between the weekend and Monday, to me, is who was in charge. Authority on the weekend was ultimately under RCMP Chief Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil ,head of the ISU. MacNeil's previous gig appears to have been running the air marshalls program on domestic, transboder and international flights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcXhEd_mDt4
Toronto Police and rape threats at the detention centre.
So spent the weekend watch the tube and trying not to be concerned about the friends I knew were there.
Everyone is a-okay, most of the stories are similar to ones already posted. So won't repeat.
One friend was arrested, sort of. Sort of? What do you mean by that?
Anyways here's my addition to tales because I haven't read this written about yet.
So friend was protesting all weekend and on Sunday afternoon/evening found themselves caught up in the Sunday night, pouring rain jail at Queen and Spadina. Stood/sat for the 4 or so hours and watched as several hundred people got picked off and carted away. No one could leave, no one could do nothing except watch as people were taken. If you spoke up about this happening you were taken. Rinse, repeat for hours. Said a good number of people just happened to be on the street or sidewalk, maybe watching, maybe actually trying to get somewhere and they were caught too. Didn't matter whatsoever. Once you were in you couldn't get out. (Way to encourage crowds to disperse idiots, "get out of here, oh sorry you can't ha ha." ) Age range of the crowd was teenagers to many older folks, like the couple in their mid-80s that my friend stood by. Said at least one positive thing were that people respected the older people and helped them to stand out of the rain in the few places that had some coverage and generally helped keep these folks safe and dry as possible.
Anyways near the end some cop gets up because, hey after several hours of being soaked to the bone many, many people were showing signs of hypothermia. Since the weather wasn't bad when the thing started many were not dressed for the it at all. Summer t-shirts and shorts etc etc . Said that many people were just shivering uncontrollably. It was really obvious. So cop gets up and says (summarized) "I've been sitting here watching you guys and see that many are showing signs of hypothermia so I convinced my boss to bring in some buses, they will be heated. " Crowd by this point just wants some warmth and many cheer. By this time things were so screwed and no one knew really why they were being kept or how long it was going to continue (you couldn't ask anything because it risked being hauled off), figured that their fate was going to be the same as the hundreds that have already been taken, they just wanted to be fricken warm at least. At least that's the feeling my friend got.
So then maybe another hour goes by and no buses for whatever reason. Then cop stands up, might have been the same guy who announced the bus thing. Friend said by this time he didn't care, no one seemed to care. By this time the situation was so stupid and ridiculous that some of the cops and crowd were joking with each other in the dark black humor way. Leader cop then says (summarized) "You are all under arrest for breach of peace (or something like that) but you are free to go without any charges. " Then the cops parted and people just started scattering, glad to finally get out of there.
At this point my friend was so glad too that it wasn't until they got somewhere warm that they contemplated the meaning and utter stupidity of the cops last statement. They said by that time there were around 150 people in the crowd. So does that mean that the cops are counting those numbers in the arrest count? If so why? Seriously, these weren't arrests except in word usage only. Some save face sorta of crap maybe but regardless totally ridiculous and just messed up. Not that what happened all over the place this weekend wasn't messed up. This part just adds to what is already being talked about.
Actually, there is probably one error in the quote below. I was right at the front of that march at that time, and in fact the marchers themselves, in a fascinating sense of spontaneous-ish group wisdom, went east toward Yonge. The police did not block going west on Queen. The police had new orders to lay-off. Personally, I felt the sense that some police were hoping it went sour, as then they could say...SEE WE LAID-OFF AND THOSE ANIMALS WENT BERSERK.
It could have gone up Yonge, but did not. And going into City Hall was fairly spontaneous, it weirdly snaked through the Jazz Fest booth, which was a few feet wide. The police were panicking, but the crowd was calm.
On the way back, personally I was concerned it would go down Queen, not because of trouble, but out of sympathy for those Queen businesses, they have had enough. Perhaps others felt the same, and the march turned north to Queens Park, which was the correct place to go. Dalton started it with their secret law, which may end their careers in disgrace.
Let me say this, at the front of that walk, no one was "really" running it. There were a few folks with the green tape, but they were feeling it out as it went, as was everyone else. It was an fascinating feeling, to watch a "crowd" with no leader actually make very wise calm decisions. Like a real democracy.
There was no planning, no police liasons, no nothing. Just people calmly walking and sending the police the message to not attack demonstrators. Personally, I have never seen a group of such diverse people, just feel things out like that. There were guys in business suits at the front, as well as the usual mix of everyone.
That march/walk was the real deal.
It was wise to walk down University, it was wise to zip into City Hall even though it was an absurd route to walk through the tiny Jazz Fest area, but somehow it worked out. And it was wise to end at Queens Park without any problems, and with minimum hassle for those in the area.
It may have traumatized the police bosses on the scene, to see a large group of citizens, with no "leader" and no plan, just take a stroll though their city. That was the same ground the day before was a war-zone, created by the police tactics. The next day, police got new orders to lay-back, and not even forms lines. I heard them getting orders to just observe, and NOT form lines, etc.
I think it freaked some of the police out, as everything they had been told in their (bad) training was proven false. By not showing force, everyone stays calm. There is a profound lesson in that, and what was fascinating is there were no "famous" faces leading the march, just a bunch of people who give a shit about what was happening in their home.
News anchors covering Monday evening's protest against police brutality have been shocked by the size of the spontaneous outpouring of opposition to the repressive measures unleashed against the citizenry. As the march proceeded from downtown police headquarters towards the site of Sunday night's "human corral", people heading home from work joined the procession. A cacophony of car horns, stuck in traffic, rhythmically beeped in time with chants of "No police state"! Thousands of riot and mounted police, aware of the symbolism of the march, moved to block the route towards the kettling site.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/poli-j29.shtml
I just had a major WTF moment. The NDP released a statement on SUNDAY by Jack Layton -- that's the day that the police arrested tons of bystanders and peaceful protesters at Queen and Spadina -- saying this:
Sun 27 Jun 2010
New Democrats tonight add their voices to all those calling for an end to the violence and vandalism taking place in downtown Toronto.
Peaceful and lawful protests are important in a democracy and help raise important issues. Torontonians have often marched and protested peacefully on these streets, with virtually no serious incidents.
It is appalling to see the violence and vandalism we witnessed today. There are thousands of people in downtown Toronto frightened tonight about what is unfolding on our streets. And this deplorable incident is also driving people away from our city and hurting so many local businesses.
Criminal activity like this must be condemned, it is simply unacceptable.
New Democrats hope that order can quickly be restored, so we can return to peaceful and respectful dialogue about the critical issues - such as poverty, aid funding and climate change -- that the G20 leaders must address.
I'm hoping that the explanation is that they actually put this statement out on Saturday night, not Sunday night, and it was referring to the black bloc protests on Saturday, as opposed to completely mischaracterizing what happened on Sunday night -- and that perhaps it was put on the website on Sunday and they accidentally used the Sunday date instead of Saturday. Does anyone know when Layton made this statement, or when the NDP released this?
Saturday or Sunday...it figures either way.
Actually the statement was released Saturday evening. It may have been posted on Sunday, but it was making the rounds Saturday at least that is when it showed up in my rss feed. It is confusing though.
Here is a later release
Summits came at a high price but delivered little
Still pretty mamby pamby compared to the Ontario NDP and Peter Kormos though in case you haven't seen it.
http://ontariondp.com/en/ontario-ndp-statement-on-g20-summit/
Oh good. Thanks for clearing that up, Life.
In that case, I agree with the statement. But they should probably change the date they used on the website! :)
According to the latest poll on Rabble, 37% favour some form of violent response to the current system of power. What was the latest polling number for the NDP?
please...
ETA - I think they need you in the baiting thread. Could you please focus though on what is way to serious a topic for your childish antics. All I was doing was providing something for someone who raised legitimate concerns. And if you care to look I was even critical of the NDP which should have made your little heart flutter.
This is a good statement from Olivia Chow.
Good on Olivia, as usual. A great break down of a few of the core issues.
I'd add: what, if anything, could the city have done to block having it here in the first place? We're seeing a lot of retroactive excuses from Miller, but I don't understand why the city couldn't have simply denied the feds the use of the Convention Centre, CNE, or whatever city-owned facility (including the streets) that the G20 needed to function. At least they could have forced it out of the downtown and put a public negative spin on the whole useless and illegit jamboree. I know it's all hypothetical now, but I would like to know what powers the city had to push back with, and whether anyone did it. I was told that Councillor Joe Mihevc said in a meeting that the city was told after the fact that the feds decided to have it here. If true, it only adds to my belief that this whole thing was a set up to screw Reformatory-free Toronto.
Are there any people still detained?
"About 100 protesters have stormed into the 519 Community Centre after trying to prevent police chief Bill Blair from entering the building for a Toronto Police Pride event."
"The protesters, most identifying themselves as queer, accuse the police of making homophobic remarks to gay and lesbian detainees and segregating homosexual detainees in separate cells."
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/830211--demonstrators-storm-poli...
Yeah, thank gawd my community is starting to rethink our kissy face relationship with the cops
http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2010/06/29/Pride-Toronto-Toronto-Police-cocktail-party-turns-ugly.aspx
Ripple, yes, though they've been moved out of the temporary detention centre - and far from downtown Toronto.
Green Grouch, under the constitution, the municipalities are merely creatures of the provinces, so in some way or other this was a deal between Harper & Co and McGuinty & Co.
See. We should have voted strategically in Ontario, to keep the Conservatives out. McGinty's Liberals never would have got in bed with Harper, and secretly passed extentions to police power.
Not good ol' Progressive Dalton.
As others have said, Dalton is now The Man himself. Power corrupts.
Dalton doesn't like agitators either, he snuck in several things very much like this fake non-rule about arresting people was done in secret.
Its all about power, old fashioned power, and how it corrupts, always has, always will.
Further info on our buddy Phonse. He dropped out of St. Francis Xavier to join the RCMP. As an Inspector he headed the National Traffic Program of the RCMP's Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Directorate. As a Superindendent, MacNeil helmed the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program which supplied air marshalls to domestic, transborder and international flights of Canadian airlines. Another promotion led to his being appointed to command the ISU in August 2008. His immediate assistant is OPP Chief Superintendent Brian Deevy.
Based on this resume, MacNeil was probably okay to run the G8 security but the scale of the operation changed when the G20 was moved to Canada and was then dumped into downtown Toronto. His stated mandate was:
- Protecting heads of state, their families and G8 delegates; the
public, including protesters; police officers, emergency personnel,
the environment and property;
- Supporting the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly
in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
- Strengthening partnerships with residents, community organizations,
businesses, various government agencies and other police services.
- Minimizing the environmental impact of police security operations.
Phonse has been running the ISU out of Barrie, originally with a force of 300 officers and later expanding to 600. He was also charged with raising a horde of 20,000 officers and private security. You might recall that they ran into a hitch when one of the RCMP's favorite private contractors had to be fast tracked for approval to operate in Ontario. To what extent and capacity those private security contractors were used is still unclear.