G-20 Summit in Toronto

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I find it interesting that the 'riots' have not made international news. I think the earthquake made more news in the us.
It's sad to hear that protesters were cheering on the goons. They might as well be laughing at themselves since the violence really seems to trivialize legitimate protests. After the OCAP march and the 'shout our for justice' rally I couldn't tell you what people were/are protesting. The least Blac Block could do is have a position related to the G20. Maybe they thought it was a WTO summit. Then maybe there actions might make more sense. The real losers here are the protesters with legitimate causes who are now completely trivialized. All there work was for nothing, used as cover for some disenchanted sociopaths.

 

[insertrealname]

The Nuit Blanche analogy is simply callous. Most of these businesses, whether franchised or not, whether or not they have insurance for these kinds of damage, employ people, often on an hourly wage: those people will not be working until the damage is fixed. So, as others have already remarked, the material damages are only the tip of the impact of this kind of disorder.

As for my misidentification of the black-clad, masked, red flag waving demonstrators as "Black Bloc", I'm still wondering: I could hear the first sounds of glass breaking around Queen/Yonge from where I stood about 100m north of Richmond just when that black-clad block of people reached Queen/Yonge--but of course I could be easily mistaken.

 

[insertrealname]

The real losers here are the protesters with legitimate causes who are now completely trivialized. All there work was for nothing, used as cover for some disenchanted sociopaths.

It's worse than that: I think governments generally benefit from the confusion in public opinion of legitimate concerns (e.g. social equity & conditions, the environment) with random violence, since it provides an extra excuse not to tackle the real problems, and changes the focus to the apparently more immediate problem of maintaining public order. Will it surprise anyone if provincial/federal parliaments spend a lot of time on revisions to public order legislation over the next year or two? And that their interactions with public interest groups will be even more narrow, debate with just those that meet some kind of ideological taste test. After all, "this must not happen again!". Best then, to sharpen the laws...

 

[Jonny5]

Letting groups run around the perimeter smashing windows is likely a part of the security plan.
Lessons learned from previous summits are that if you try to contain violent protesters too much, violence will escalate rapidly. That's when serious injuries and deaths and arson starts.
They want people away from the fence causing minor property damage, not at fence where there will be physical confrontation.

 

[PinkLucy]

I started watching media coverage of yesterday's march as soon as I got home from participating in it;I didn't see a single video of the thousands of people (like me) who marched peaceably,not a SINGLE video. Predictable; peaceful marches make for boring newscasts. Unlike Friday's march, the visible police presence on University was relatively minimal. I thought that was a brilliant strategy on their part. What wasn't minimal and very visible were the packs of thugs, dressed in black, racing south ahead of the march and then doubling back. My friends and I stopped in at Peter Pan for something to eat and found ourselves in voluntary lock-down as we watched the tail end of the peaceful march degenerate into panic as those black shirted thugs raced back from Spadina. The officers stationed next to the restaurant donned their riot gear and it went all down hill from there. Thanks to the staff of The Peter Pan for providing shelter and for the complementary white wine. I'm so sorry that the media and the thugs got what they wanted;a long violent show on prime-time.

As a protestor, I think you'd be pissed at the ones who caused all the foolishness. You likely had a legitimate grievance and/or point you wanted to make, and those goons denied you the chance.

 

[Cooool]

Honesty, I am sickened by every hippie that decided to go out and protest. My favourite part was how they act so self-righteous, telling everyone that they are going to be "peaceful" and how it's their god-given right. But they knew as well as anyone else, that crowds were going to get rowdy, and any criminal acts would be hidden amongst the massive crowds of protestors. I generally don't sympathize for protestors because usually no one even cares what they have to say. It really seems like nothing but a bunch of high-school drop outs using this event as an excuse to get rambunctious.

 

[toraerach]

I find it interesting that the 'riots' have not made international news. I think the earthquake made more news in the us.

Last year at the G-20 summit in London, one innocent bystander was shot by the police. It didn't make much news here.

By international standards, the riots yesterday were fairly tame. Fortunately, this means that the international press (at least from what I've read in the British and American press) is focusing on the issues being discussed at the actual summit, issues that are arguably more important to your average G-20 nation citizen than issues discussed at similar summits pre-Recession.

The one paper I've read that's gotten semi-in-depth about the riots was the Guardian - I would imagine because a Canadian journalist who has contributed to their paper a few times (as recently as Friday I believe) was allegedly punched in the face by a cop and then arrested. What he was doing that lead to that, I have no idea.

 

[buildup]

Everybody got what they wanted.
Police got some action, lets face it - cops love it (and why shouldn't they?).
"We" got to see harmless scuffles of no real consequence. Seeing some scrawny Black Bloc getting his faceplant on raw pavement certainly warms the heart of any taxpayer.
The Black Bloc got to break some windows.
Union members like CUPE got much needed excercise from the look of them.
19 year-old Woodstock wannabees have their coming of age story of resistance (I hope they participate as energetically in volunteer activites as in this)
And the disaffected, unstable, segment get a fresh set of conspiracies to investigate.
And the press photographers have grabbed center stage as always. When they outnumber protesters its embassassing.

 

[W. K. Lis]

There is a report from CTV that non-sewer workers may have used the sewers as escape routes. Sewers are now being welded shut.

A manhole cover flew up from the ground near Queen and James streets, according to two security guards, and they saw two men emerge from the sewers about 1:30 Sunday morning.

The men who emerged from the manhole were joined by two others.

This is one of the stranger tales to emerge from a day of violence and vandalism on the streets of Toronto, with more than 500 people arrested in connection with G20 protests.

The security guards, who work for the Hudson's Bay in Eaton Centre, were keeping an eye on suspicious men hanging around the area on bicycles.

"My co-worker and I were just doing our patrol and checking the windows because a few of them were broken by some of protesters," one of the guards told CTV News. "As we were doing our rounds, we turn the corner and see these two guys coming out of the manhole and walking east on Queen."

The other guard said he was alarmed to see such a sight:

"All I saw was this manhole pop up, this skinny kid fly right out of the manhole at super speed, and he just took off…"

The guard said another man then popped out of the manhole.

"Me and my partner kind of froze, we freaked out saying, 'My God, what just happened?'"

The guards immediately reported the incident to authorities driving by in a court services van. They called in for police backup.

The guard said he saw about 30 to 40 police officers converge on the men.

"Perfect timing, I must say, the police just ran to the corner and waved them down ... They were here in seconds."

He said police were able to stop four people in total. "One guy kept on going, but they got him," he said.

"Let me tell you, I was so freaked out watching people coming out of a manhole cover at 1:30 in the morning. I've lived in the city for 45 years, this is just too weird."

City workers spent Sunday morning welding shut manhole covers in the protest zone, as police prepared for more possible protests and violence.

 

[christiesplits]

The Globe & Mail

Would someone be able to tell me the legality of using unmarked stationary vehicles for police roundups?

 

[Marko]

The Globe & Mail
Would someone be able to tell me the legality of using unmarked stationary vehicles for police roundups?

What difference does the vehicle make, as long as the people doing the arresting / rounding up are extremely clearly identified?

Besides - those acting under authority of law do not even need to be in uniform, as long as they identify themselves verbally or show a badge if requested.

 

[picard102]

Not to mention the fact that you can replace a window or a car, but you cannot replace a human life.

Wouldn't want to live in a world without these sort of people.

 

[Polkaroo]

Why are almost all of the protesters white? Doesn't Toronto have something like 49% visible minorities? Why does the racial makeup of the protesters not reflect the racial makeup of the city?

 

[adma]

adma is right though - these aren't 'anarchists' - they're just a bunch of punks.....and like others have said, this is my city, and if you want to trash it, then f**k you....I hope they get what they deserve...a copper's nightstick across the back of the head....

Thus my "anarchist's anarchist" statement. If they wanted to be more than two-bit poseurs, they'd have to enact something on a 9/11 scale, and be willing to sacrifice themselves in the process.

As it is, they're like failed artists and philistines. The true art of anarchy (such as it is) needn't involve this kind of chicken-scratch doggerel.

 

[Marko]

They like their pretend version of anarchy because the rule of law they claim to despise is what protects them from another stronger, tougher mob.

They'd be cowering in their dorm rooms or parent's basements, or crying for police protection if there was any real level of lawlessness to occur.