Street/Candid
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – Aftermath Of The $1.2 Billion Police State
Jun 28th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. This past weekend downtown Toronto became a police state. A $1.2 billion police state to be exact. On Saturday, the police were restrained and a violent few took it for granted ruining the peaceful efforts of so many more. On Sunday, the police were less forgiving – both the parties involved and unfortunately even innocent bystanders found this out the hard way. Over 800 arrests were made by the conclusion of the weekend. A startling number as only ~150 had been made by Saturday evening!
This concludes my G20 coverage. To quote a friend from facebook: “What, oh what, was the point? Way to go protestors – destroy your own city, tarnish the reputation of Torontonians, and damage the police property that you paid for. That’ll show them.”
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – Police March
Jun 28th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. Out of nowhere the line of riot police in front of the coffin prop (previous photos) decided to march south and reposition their riot line to disallow the crowd from heading south towards King St. where a much larger mob had formed (see earlier photos). They marched; we moved. Out of the way… fast!!
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – The Death Of Democracy?
Jun 28th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. Notice the prop in front of the police – a coffin with a cross cutout and the word “democratie” written on the front – meant to symbolize the death of democracy and strategically placed to incite the police. But this is what I call restrained and this is what I call democracy. There was a large mob of people behind me - jesting, chanting and some truly trying to instigate a reaction from the riot police. One character even placed this prop in front of the police, but the police did not waver. They did not remove the prop nor knock it down – something we were quite surprised about - and they let the mob have its fun and, more importantly, have its voice.
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Jun 28th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. I have to say that the G20 protests had it all. There were peaceful protesters that had legitimate causes they were demonstrating for. But honestly, I have to say there were also a lot of walking contradictions on the streets that day. Our sentiments while walking the streets were literally at times: “This doesn’t make sense!” “Do they know what they are protesting for?!?”
I think one of the best examples is the poster seen above: “THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE”. But this is a fantastic show of democracy! If you truly think about it, it’s because of democracy that people can freely protest like this and have the police idly observe as long as it remains peaceful – and the police were idle for quite a while even after the black-bloc violence struck. Moreso, the police even escorted the peaceful protests through the city and closed off many streets to accomodate their proposed routes. Compare this to communist and fascist states where the protests are crushed and the people involved are immediately massacred, I’d say this truly is what democracy looks like!
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – The Street ‘Parade’
Jun 27th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. A mob of people wandering down Bay St. merely two hours after the original protest had already passed through. By this time, the main protest which was getting progressively violent was blocks displaced at the Yonge St. and College St. area. It was the original protest that had resulted in the burning of the police vehicle mid-afternoon as well as in the vandalism and breaking of glass windows of corporate offices and private businesses. From what I witnessed, the majority people above were the curious bunch, such as myself – mainly spectators, gawkers and photographers, visiting the locale after the fact when it was safer. The center of the mob, however, at the intersection of Bay St. and King St. did have the spark and excitement of a live protest to it, for we were merely two blocks away from the first burnt vehicle, and thus this area was an epicenter of energy and curiosity. Notice carefully, the BMO Nesbitt Burns logo has also been vandalized!
From my firsthand experience on Saturday afternoon, the police were incredibly well restrained and reserved. In fact in talking to a few officers myself earlier that day, they referred to the protest as the ‘parade’! They were quite relaxed and jovial about having a peaceful movement of people through the downtown core. This was, of course, before a group of individuals started their violent black-bloc tactics.
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – Spectators & Protesters
Jun 27th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. Heading down Bay St. into the heart of the financial district of Toronto and well Canada. The large group of protesters have already passed and remaining is a more minor movement of largely spectators and some residual protesters. All observe in awe. Many look on and take photos of the aftermath. Some try to restart the protesting. It is difficult to tell who is a spectator, a protester, or something more? (Especially when they too come prepared with gas masks!)
G20 Toronto Summit Street Protests – The Police Are Prepared
Jun 27th
Saturday, June 26, 2010. Taken at the intersection of University Ave and Richmond St. The police had parked vans throughout the streets. The vans not only held their gear, but more importantly either completely blocked off strategic streets or made the width of the streets thinner and thus easier to control. Many of the police officers were in riot suits with riot shields and gas masks and there were a few special officers dressed like an intense SWAT team equipped with tear gas launchers and special weaponry, which I think was more of a statement than anything else.
