I watched in disgust on Saturday the footage of the rampage by black clad protesters as they wantonly vandalized stores and businesses in the downtown area of Toronto. I saw police cruisers vandalized and set on fire. For a while, I was willing to reluctantly consider that the almost $1billion in security costs may have been money well spent.

The question also arose in my mind though, with all that money spent and the massive police presence in Toronto — just how did that group of 100 or so vandals manage to run roughshod over areas of Toronto? It became rather apparent the police were far more intent on protecting that fence than the downtown area outside of it.

Ah yes, that fence, the same one that Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair asked the provincial cabinet to pass regulations which allowed police officers to violate our rights and freedoms to protect. The regulations which were supposed to only have effect five metres from that fence. The regulations which appear to have been applied throughout the city to accommodate whatever police state tactics the cops chose to deploy.

I read in the Toronto Star on Sunday morning that the police were aware of at least one bus load of people from Quebec who were headed to Toronto for what appeared to be exactly what we saw on Saturday. That begs the question — if the cops knew they were coming, why did they let them arrive? Being unable to prevent their arrival, why was some of that massive police presence not used to keep a close eye on them and nail them as soon as they started something?

Even being willing to understand the cops can’t be everywhere at once, doesn’t account for what unfolded by Sunday. During Saturday night I caught a couple of things on my Twitter feed I found disturbing. The first was the report from Steve Paiken of TVO about Jesse Rosenfeld who reports for the  British newspaper, The Guardian, being beaten and arrested.

The second was live footage from a young man at the Eastern Ave detention centre around 2am. He was filming a peaceful protest which the police had surrounded. The people present were ordered to leave but no opening was provided for them to do so. A young man was filmed asking the police how they could leave, there were willing to leave but wanted to know in which direction they were allowed to go, they were met with a wall of silence from the cops. The footage ended as the police moved in, presumably the young man joined the rest of those in the detention centre.

Sunday, I setup a #G20 search column on my Twitter client and followed some of the links which appeared there. Several times I watched video feeds of peaceful (usually sitting) protesters being surrounded and advanced on by riot clad police. I didn’t hear in any of those feeds police clearly telling the protesters to move or which direction they could depart in.

They were advanced on and seemingly random people grabbed and arrested, people were pepper sprayed and clubbed. This is how a democracy allows free expression? These people were not near the precious security fence, they were well away from it. In many cases, bystanders and accredited media were rounded up along with protesters.

There are some who would argue that people should have stayed away. That would have been sensible, however, the right to free and peaceful assembly is fundamental to our democracy. You also might want to explain how staying away would have helped this homeowner from having his home invaded, jerked out of his bed and being arrested apparently without warrant. The person they were after lived in the other part of the house and apparently police were so sure of who they were arresting, they lacked the knowledge the house was actually two apartments.

As the day drew to a close yesterday police surrounded another peaceful protest at Queen and Spadina, once again boxing people in so they had no where to go. As the crowd finished singing “O Canada” the police line charged at them without warning. Media, including mainstream media, were ordered out of the area, some were arrested. The police arrested several members of the crowd as they stood penned in for about three hours in pouring rain and then eventually released the rest of them.

Today Chief Blair claims that dozens of people heading to that protest were arrested carrying molotov cocktails. Excuse me while I disbelieve that line in view of the behaviour which went before it on the part of the police.

The crowd there was small enough and the police presence large enough, that even if someone had managed to get into the area to cause trouble, they could have been spotted quickly. If Blair is telling the truth, then why didn’t the police create a funnel for people to leave after their bags were checked? Why hold them in pouring rain, apparently just for the fun of it?

Over 900 were rounded up off of the streets of Toronto, held in reportedly deplorable conditions and denied their basic rights of phone calls and contact with legal advise. It appears at this point it is likely the vast majority of them will be released without charges when the cops get around to it.

The police and political leaders who bear responsibility for unleashing this on the public are claiming the police did an admirable job, that the cost was worth it. Really? This attack on free assembly and expression well away from the security fence was worth it? Just how far are Canadians willing to go before they recognize what we are losing?

These so called leaders claim the G20 can’t be held in a more remote location as there would not be room to accommodate the 10-20,000 (depending on who’s talking) delegates who attend. If it is important for the 20 leaders to have this face time, fine.

Did it occur to anyone that 500 to 1000 person average entourage is excessive? Trim the attendance list and take these gatherings to more remote secure areas where Canadian’s rights and freedoms wont be coming under attack.

These Articles May Be Related:

notice: The content of this post contains my opinions and my right to express them. I will respect your right to express your opinion in the comments as long as you’re not abusive and you respect my right to my opinion.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Related posts