buildup
Senior Member
I will accept the position of none other than MikeinTO.
Mike. Where do you stand.
Mike. Where do you stand.
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G-20 Summit in Toronto
- Thread starter TO City of Light
- Start date
Torontovibe
Senior Member
What I don't understand is why there were no police on Yonge Street, the day of the riots? I walk along Yonge Street every day and all week there were hundreds of police, every day but when I walked up, about an hour after the Black Bloc had trashed the place, I couldn't see one single officer. I know the priority was the G20 leaders but what about the people of Toronto? If those Black Bloc thugs would have started attacking people, there would have been nobody there to protect them. It seems like the world leaders were the ONLY concern and the police could care less about Torontonians.
I also don't know why the police didn't take the Black Bloc out of the parade earlier? It was clear from the beginning, that those guys were organized and looking for trouble. They all had their faces covered and were quite aggressive in preventing people, including myself, from filming them. When I filmed the parade, 3 of them jumped in front of me, covering up my camera and pushing me back from the sidewalk. It was clear these fuckers were gonna start some real trouble. So why did the police let them go their own direction and stay together as a mob. They should have moved in and surrounded them right at Queen Street. Yonge Street should have been lined with police, as everybody knows that's where rioters always seem to go.
One thing you have to give Torontonians credit for, is the fact that there was almost no looting. When I walked up Yonge Street, I saw lots of stores wide open and I did not see one single person steal anything, even when merchendise was in close reach. If this was a different city, especially in the USA, I'm sure people would have taken advantage of the situation. (Broken windows, lots of good stuff and NO COPS, ANYWHERE!) It could have been much, much worse than it was. I found the people on Yonge Street to be quite calm.
I also don't know why the police didn't take the Black Bloc out of the parade earlier? It was clear from the beginning, that those guys were organized and looking for trouble. They all had their faces covered and were quite aggressive in preventing people, including myself, from filming them. When I filmed the parade, 3 of them jumped in front of me, covering up my camera and pushing me back from the sidewalk. It was clear these fuckers were gonna start some real trouble. So why did the police let them go their own direction and stay together as a mob. They should have moved in and surrounded them right at Queen Street. Yonge Street should have been lined with police, as everybody knows that's where rioters always seem to go.
One thing you have to give Torontonians credit for, is the fact that there was almost no looting. When I walked up Yonge Street, I saw lots of stores wide open and I did not see one single person steal anything, even when merchendise was in close reach. If this was a different city, especially in the USA, I'm sure people would have taken advantage of the situation. (Broken windows, lots of good stuff and NO COPS, ANYWHERE!) It could have been much, much worse than it was. I found the people on Yonge Street to be quite calm.
jn_12
Senior Member
That's all rubbish? Steve Paikin from TVO watched the incident that occured with the Guardian reporter. He's one of the most respected journalists in this country. Here's his account: http://torontoist.com/2010/06/live_g20_saturday.php#1150PM-26
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. • they repeated they would arrest me if i didn't leave. as i was escorted away from the demonstration, i saw two officers hold a journalist. • the journalist identified himself as working for "the guardian." he talked too much and pissed the police off. two officers held him.... • a third punched him in the stomach. totally unnecessary. the man collapsed. then the third officer drove his elbow into the man's back. • no cameras recorded the assault. and it was an assault. • the officer who escorted me away from the demo said, "yeah, that shouldn't have happened." he is correct. there was no cause for it.
i can appreciate that the police were on edge today, after seeing four or five of their cruisers burned. but why such overreaction tonight? • the demonstration on the esplanade was peaceful. it was like an old sit in. no one was aggressive. and yet riot squad officers moved in. • police on one side screamed at the crowd to leave one way. then police on the other side said leave the other way. there was no way out. • so the police just started arresting people. i stress, this was a peaceful, middle class, diverse crowd. no anarchists • literally more than 100 officers with guns pointing at the crowd. rubber bullets and smoke bombs ready to be fired. rubber bullets fired • i was "escorted" away by police so couldn't see how many arrested, but it must have been dozens.
we must make a distinction between the "thugs" who broke store windows and torched cop cars and the very reasonable citizens who • .just wanted to remind the authorities that the freedom to speak and assemble shouldn't disappear because world leaders come to town.
jn_12
Senior Member
Why the trolling? you're clearly just in here to get a rise out of people. (Also, I should add, your hazing experience isn't something you should be proud of. As a guy who played at high levels of hockey, hazing is never anything to be proud of nor should it be condoned by anyone). Now, as a Canadian who paid for this event here's some things that should concern you from that account:
The group's accounts of conditions inside the detention centre are ones of austerity, antagonism, suffering, confusion, and disorganization. Kimia Ghomeshi recalls "tons of police, most of [whom] weren't doing anything." She says officers routinely replied to requests for information by saying, "I have no idea what's going on...I wish I knew." Detainees were locked in cages, denied access to legal counsel, and in some cases, says Robichaud and many others we spoke to who were detained, ridiculed or ignored when requesting first aid or prescribed medication, including a man who fainted after repeatedly being denied treatment for what he said was diabetes. Taylor Flook was in a cell with a woman who claimed to need medication for her bipolar disorder, which she was denied for three hours. Many of the ten describe lighting that made sleep difficult or impossible, especially in concert with heckling officers and screaming captives. They say detainees who experienced extreme anxiety and panic attacks were released from cages to calm down, only be locked up again after a few minutes. Ghomeshi says the conditions were "a complete violation of our rights."
At least as troubling are allegations of racist and sexist behaviour by officers. Maryam Adrangi relates a conversation between the male officers who photographed her during processing: "'Take another one,' says an officer. Another says, 'Send me one!' A third says, 'let's keep this one [Adrangi] here a bit longer.'" Robichaud claims that an officer commented on a wooden turtle she wears as a necklace, asking if it was her "totem." She says he continued: "That sure as hell didn't help you out last night, did it?" Robichaud claims that officers "tried to break our spirits and ridicule our beliefs." There were toilets in plain view, strip searches, and concerns that at least two detainees who were identified as minors but not permitted to leave.
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Roy G Biv
Senior Member
"punched in the stomach"?? In my day, my Dad would do this to us after breakfast every morning, as a way to remind us of how lucky we were!
"elbowed in the back"??? What a pussy. This is how I proposed to my wife!
/buildup
"elbowed in the back"??? What a pussy. This is how I proposed to my wife!
/buildup
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
at that point of time and when people (as a group) have ignored police orders... as happened continuously over the 3 days of protests... when the summit was over and leaders were leaving town its time to call it a day. If some people dont think that is the case, then they get what they ask for. How many times did we see scenes of jackasses taunting the cops while their friends filmed it for later entertainment? People just milling around, getting in the way of the police doing their job. Its ridiculous to me. If its not ridiculous to you then I guess we disagree... its not important to my sense of freedom to be entitled to act like a fool and taunt / ignore police directives with impunity.
and to answer your slur, no I am not in that camp, but I am in the "No means Yes" camp...
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Roy G Biv
Senior Member
I agree that all of that kind of behaviour is ridiculous and idiotic. Does it legally justify force? If that question doesn't matter to you....
christiesplits
Senior Member
Interestingly, some of the most troubling allegations towards the police response come from two National Post photographers and two CTV producers; outlets not usually associated with Anarcho-marxist drivel.
WillC
New Member
Below is a link to a Facebook page for a demo at Police Headquarters at 5:30. For the last week, we have been such a police state in Toronto, that I don't know if I'll have the guts to go. So if anyone out there does:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132685853418711&index=1
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132685853418711&index=1
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
a great collection of images of the day (if anyone hasnt gotten their adrenaline fix yet)... http://cryptome.org/info/g8-police/g8-police2.htm
Coltaine79
Active Member
Don't go - you'll risk being caught in the "wide net" which TPS Riot Police now use.
http://twitter.com/buhfy
"RT @zoewhittall To all planning on going to protest, riot police are already assembling at Bay & College / have begun ..."
Coltaine79
Active Member
I like your strategy. Speaking using the code-words that Tea Party members understand, and thus taking you to be one of "their own". Good one!
buildup
Senior Member
Jn_12
ok, fair enough. I have occcasionally been guilty of trying to get a rise, but only when I am incredibly frustrated at views I have come across. Let me put a practical question to you. I have read the article above (twice now). And I agree conditions sound very uncomfortable.
What sort of conditions do you think you would have been able to guarantee had you been in charge in light of all the things going on. We need to keep in mind the police are not omnipotently capable of handling and anticipating every contigency, so I ask you to not use use hindsight.
In their planning the police would have assumed this was a short-term (eg 24 hours?) holding facility so that conditions didn't need to be more than austere. Right?
Had any serious violence occured (on the scale of Seattle for example) to people or property the police would have been held accountable.
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AGTO
Banned
So you admit that you're a troll who lashes out when confronted with an opinion that differs from your own.
khris
Senior Member
The G20 Summit and protests are today's update on The Big Picture.