G20 defendant Ryan Rainville is attending his first court appearance on April 12, 2011 on charges related to his involvement in the G20 demonstrations that rocked Toronto late last June, 2010.
He is currently charged with assault police with a weapon and an obstruction of justice charge. He also has pled to three counts of mischief over $5,000 and a breach of peace charge and was held for over 90 days before finally being released on bail after a hard fought battle by his lawyers and supporters for his release.
Rainville did have two counts of dropped off his docket — one count of wearing a mask with intent (to commit a crime) and one count of intimidation of a member of the justice system.
In court, Rainville gave an account of his actions during a militant G20 march on Saturday June 25, 2011, telling the court room that he hadn’t originally intended to inflict damage on property during the demonstration.
Identified from photos taken on June 25, 2011, and placed on a G20 Most Wanted List by the Toronto Police G20 Investigative Unit, Rainville was arrested in August, 2010, near Waterloo, Ontario where he was living and taken back to Toronto where he spent three months incarcerated at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario.
Ryan Rainville is a self-proclaimed anarchist and Indigenous rights activist from Southern Ontario with roots in Saskatchewan’s Sakimay Nation.
Regarding his actions during that demonstration — which included evidence and testimony of Rainville attacking three separate police vehicles during the afternoon — the prosecution highlighted the incident where it charged that Rainville knowingly attacked a parked police vehicle with the butt of a flagpole while Toronto police officer Sgt. Graham Queen was still trapped inside by the crowd of demonstrators who had surrounded the vehicle during its snake march through the city.
To counter, Rainville told the court that if he had known that there was an officer in the vehicle at the time he broke the window, he would have never attacked the vehicle in the first place. He also noted that he ensured that the two other police vehicles he attacked that day were empty before he proceeded.
In a pre-trial interview, Ryan Rainville stated, “I continue to be committed to speaking out against the daily injustices perpetrated by capitalist exploitation and colonial assimilation. As an Indigenous man, it is my responsibility to continue to use my voice to speak the truth and to contribute to the cause of justice and freedom for all peoples. While criminalizing voices of dissent is part of the ongoing post-G20 crackdown, the repression of Indigenous resistance is part of the ongoing legacy of colonization for 500 years across Turtle Island.”
According to Indigenous supporters of Ryan: “As native people, our bodies and our minds are constantly under attack from the state. Their power rests on our degradation. Their violent exploitation of the land and water feeds and profits the colonization of every poor and oppressed person.”
More background info here: Activist Communique: Rain Rainville — 83 days in jail and counting
Next Court Date: Tuesday May 31
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Old City Hall Court (60 Queen St W) – rm 111
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Callout for your support in court for G20 defendant Jaggi Singh
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Old City Hall Court, 60 Queen Street West
Courtroom 123
TORONTO
[Note: The hearing will begin at 10 a.m., but there is a security check for everyone who enters the courtroom, so you’re encouraged to arrive at 9:30 a.m. The hearing could continue on Friday, April 29 as well, but that will only be confirmed at the end of Thursday, April 28.]
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“Sometimes you put up walls not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.” – Anonymous
On THURSDAY, APRIL 28, Jaggi Singh, a member of No One Is Illegal and la Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC), will have an important court hearing related to his G20 criminal charges. The court hearing should take most of the day, and might last the next day as well.
The details of the hearing cannot be made public at this time. However, full details of the nature of the hearing will be made public on April 28 itself.
The April 28 hearing does relate to Jaggi’s remarks at the G20 security fence at a press conference organized by No One Is Illegal on June 24, 2010, just a few days before the official beginning of the G20 summit in Toronto. Those remarks are available online in two segments: i) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymRoN54CCc; ii) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc (start at 0:30).
PLEASE CONSIDER attending court, for a morning, afternoon, or the whole day, as a way of showing community support for Jaggi, his actions, and his words, as well as for all G20 criminal defendants.
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