Description text and video produced by Manly Media:
A photo Journalist describes his experience following the black block as they rampage through the streets of Toronto during the G20 Summit.
20,000 police and security officials and a $1 billion security budget were not enough to stop 75-100 black block anarchists from smashing windows and torching police cars during a 1.5 hour rampage. The Black Block were able to rampage through the street for 24 blocks until they reached the 'official protest zone' where they quickly changed clothes dispersed through the crowd of peaceful protesters and then left the site.
The police were fully aware of the rampage and watched the black block from a distance at a number of locations. It wasn't until they had dispersed into a crowd of peaceful protesters who thought that they were in a sanctioned area that the police took action beating innocent people with batons and spraying them with pepper spray.
Why was this allowed to happen? Police abandoned police cars at Bay and King when they didn't need to, why? Was this allowed to happen so the Harper government could justify an outrageous security bill when there was no credible terrorist threat (according to CSIS)? Who led this group of vandals? Were they infiltrated by government paid provocateurs as was the case in Montebello where police with masks and rocks attacked their own riot squad?
Links:
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5G7aCgXtWg
[2] http://rabble.ca/print/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/06/features/g20-toronto-did-black-block-get-green-light-rampage#comment-1157826
[3] http://rabble.ca/print/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/06/features/g20-toronto-did-black-block-get-green-light-rampage#comment-1157879
[4] http://rabble.ca/print/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/06/features/g20-toronto-did-black-block-get-green-light-rampage#comment-1157992
[5] http://rabble.ca/print/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/06/features/g20-toronto-did-black-block-get-green-light-rampage#comment-1161752
[6] http://rabble.ca/user
[7] http://rabble.ca/user/register
Hmm..It makes alot of sense to question the possibility that some of these rioters were working from the inside.
Afterall,they supplied the images the government wanted Canadians to see to justify their insane security bill.
If it's been proven that this tactic was already used in Montebello and the fact that cynicism always paints the clear picture of our corrupt system/government...then I believe that this was carefully orchestrated.
Sadly,the voting booths won't change our modern global corporate world.
The options are very few and peaceful demos are not going to change anything.
Bleak and cynical but soberly realistic.
Justify the price-tag. Legitimize militarization during protests. Stifle dissent. Have the public support clamp-downs. Discourage bystanders from being politicized.
But the police, once started, went too far. Ben Powless suggests many have become politicized. Polite, friendly Canadians having nasty thoughts about their government and enforcement apparatus... who woulda thunk it?
Even though the government has a new boogie-man, the Black Bloc - even though it's a tactic and not really a group.
At least the police have learned and didn't wear police issue footwear like in Quebec City.
The entire premise is faulty. The vandalism doesn't "justify" the billion dollar budget for the simple reason that the vandalism was not what the budget was for.
The billion dollars spent on "security" had absolutely nothing to do with protecting police cars and plate glass windows in downtown Toronto. It was all about protecting the vandals and hooligans who were meeting in the Convention Centre - the so-called G20 "leaders" - from having to see or hear anything from the Canadian public while they were in town. It was about keeping people away from the Security Fence by letting them occupy themselves elsewhere with a little property damage.
The undercover police provocateurs weren't egging on the protesters to go to the Fence; they were helping to encourage activities far away from it!
The crime and justice business realized a few years ago that security and terrorism offered an opportunity for expansion of their industry unparalleled since recreational drugs were made illegal. This is even easier because instead of getting parents to worry their kids will be corrupted by dope, you get the rich class to think they might be under attack.
"There you are, take this billion dollars, do whatever you want to keep us safe. Come back for more when you need it."
Overtime and six figure salaries for everyone involved.
Read about Global TV's supplemental coverage achieved by cutting in footage of Vancouver demonstrators when showing videos of Toronto's dangerous demonstrations.
Read Northern Insights "I'm Wondering" for details.