Toronto G20
June 29, 2010
This video is just one of many reports from the G20 protests which happened last week in downtown Toronto.
All week I’d been trying to decide whether to head down to Toronto to participate in the g20 protests with my flatmate, a freelance journalist intending on covering the weekend’s event. After much discussion – mostly focused around police brutality - I decided to stay put in Montreal.
After hearing and viewing shocking reports of the weekend, I’m kinda glad I sat this one out. Over 900 protesters were arrested over the course of the week – 600 of those protests occurred over the weekend. Among those arrested were peaceful protesters, journalists and non-protesting citizens.
Police have drawn criticism over their aggressive and brutal tactics towards protesters. And community organisers are speaking fiercely about their experiences, not only on the streets of Toronto where police punched, kicked, hit, wrestled, harassed, intimidated and abused citizens, but also inside the makeshift prison where arrestees were reportedly given little access to food, water and experienced abuse, targeted profiling and violence against women.
Yet despite 900 arrests, thousands of police and $1.2 billion dollars, police did not stop the violent actions of a hundred-odd protesters who managed to smash windows and torch a few (conveniently positioned) police cars.
It is blantly obvious that the police could have stopped this if they wanted to. Yet they didn’t. As the above video shows for the hour that this photo journalist followed the ‘black bloc’ there were no police in sight.
It’s so confusing. Why would they allow such violent acts to occur while intimdidating and harrassing peaceful protesters?
The only explanation I can think of is that: violence favors the politicians…
But allowing such violence to occur does far more than justify the billions of money spent on security. Violence also camoflages the issues being protested by distracting the media with dramatic images of burning cars and smashed shop fronts. The key issues that the majority of protesters are there to talk about – climate justice, anti-capitalism, poverty, racisim, food security, corporate greed, childcare, healthcare – are then safely ignored and the politicians can get along making strategic decisions that perpetuate these issues while benefiting the privledged few.
I’m angry that our rights to voice our opinions and our right to peaceful assembly (let alone basic human rights of food, water and shelter!!) are being rapidly shut down… and so blantly.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association is calling for a public inquiry into the police actions over the weekend. While it’s yet to be seen whether this will take place, I’m certainly curious to see whether the police are up to old tricks again.
In the meantime, we need to continue bringing our messages concerning climate justice, healthcare, childcare, racisim, corporate greed, poverty, hunger, police brutality etc. to our politicians. Let them know that we want to see justice in OUR world.
Alongside mainstream media, you can read more about the protests at one of Canada’s independant news sources Toronto Media Coop
