On the subject of property damage, it's worth noting some real people (ie not just faceless corporations) are hurt by this. A CBC journalist I respect tweeted yesterday:
NatashaFatah Friend's report: Gerrard+Yonge small jewelery store completely smashed up. The poor old man/owner looked completely broken. #cbcg20 #g20
On the front of Police excessive force, a TV Ontario journalist witnessed a Guardian newspaper reporter being beaten and arrested without evident cause and arrested late last night. He reported it in a series of tweets starting with this one:
i saw police brutality tonight. it was unnecessary. they asked me to leave the site or they would arrest me. i told them i was dong my job.
There were also moments of humanity on the line, as attested here:
kimfox Protester asks police offer how he's doing. Officer confesses he doesn't want to be here and misses family. Very human exchange #cbcg20
This morning, Police raided a U of T residence and have arrested over 70 people. They arranged to parade each person out past the media to waiting buses. Many of them were in sleeping attire, many without shoes on. Police claim there were weapons and black clothing found in the vicinity of the residence, but I still find it difficult to imagine that they had actual probable cause to arrest all these people on positive ID that they were involved in crimes yesterday. More likely this is a classic "police sweep" where these people will be held and released within 24 hours without charge. This prompted this tweet which I don't know if it is correct, but if so, is a major statement on the undemocratic nature of the police response here:
durabilite RT @ieai: The #G20 is the largest mass arrest in Canadian history(550+ arrests), beating the 1970 War Measures(465) and 1981 bath raids(286)
This morning, some twitter traffic indicated a protest march started at a park near my home, headed to the G20 detention facility (dubbed "Torontimo" by some wags). I took a few pictures of the march as it went along Queen Street east.
The protest started in a park named for a revered labour leader.
It went east along Queen street initially. The pink banner reads "free our comrades."
This guy appears to be some kind of reactionary counter-protester. He's wearing a button for a conservative mayoral candidate, and his t-shirt said "fuck anarchists" or something like that.
I notice the police aren't wearing helmets nor carrying batons and shields. Yet, anyway.
At least a half dozen civilian pattern vans driven by police trailed the protest.
A nearby house expresses their views of the whole event.
Possibly a police helicopter hovers overhead.
Same as the picture at top of the post, a local bank branch had been boarded up just in case.
My local starbucks closed for the same reason.
This protest is evidently a peaceful one. I did not follow it to its destination at the detention centre, and wisely so as violence did erupt as Police employed rubber bullets, and arrested a number of (according to some reports, specifically targeted) protesters.
I don't have a lot more to add to all of this. My impressions are no doubt based on selective information. The Police at times seemed to demonstrate excellent restraint and at other times, fell short of the demands of their role in a democracy. The mass arrests most alarm me, especially if most of those arrested are simply released later today. It's hard to exercise the democratic right to protest if the police can just lock you up for 24 hours at whim.
As for the vandals who I claimed were likely anarchists yesterday, I have seen nothing to indicate I was wrong about that, and some evidence to bolster it in the form of various videos of the vandalism taking place by black clad persons. It's possible they were agents provocateur, but that is an extraordinary claim requiring appropriate proof (beyond that incident in Quebec). There are definitely fringe element protesters who have radical visions for the effects of civil disruption and possibly just joyriders who have no political point but simply like vandalism and mayhem. Any large gathering attracts a certain number of crazies too, and while none of this is the fault of the peaceful protesters it is a real challenge for them. You can't reach the public at large if a protest turns destructive. Almost no one listens anymore and police overreactions become justified in the eyes of many. I have no idea how you fix this problem if you're a protest organizer, but it does need fixing.
The fall out will be significant in Canada, Toronto is not a mass protest city and is very unused to rioting. |
