Morning Brew: G20 charges dropped for more than 100 protestors while gag order is issued to alleged ringleader, Toronto doctor formally indicted, Scarborough home collapses, another apartment fire
Crown prosecutors have dropped charges against more than 100 people arrested during the G20 summit due to lack of evidence. About 90 of those defendants are Quebecers who travelled to Toronto to protest the summit and slept on the floor at the University of Toronto graduate students' union building. Which is so badass, of course. Police raided the building on June 27, and charged individuals with offences including unlawful assembly and conspiracy to commit a criminal act. The protesters celebrated on the steps of the courthouse in downtown Montreal after their charges were dropped.
And speaking of the G20 summit, accused ringleader Alex Hundert has been prohibited from speaking with the press, according to new bail conditions imposed on him Wednesday. Hundert, who faces three counts of conspiracy pertaining to G20 activities, was arrested last month for breaching original bail conditions that barred him from participating in any public demonstration. His new bail conditions restrict him from speaking with the media, a provision which Osgoode Law professor Alan Young says is going too far. "It's basically putting a gag order on a citizen of Canada, when it's not clear that the gag order is at all necessary to protect public order," he told the Toronto Star. "It really seems to be a very severe deprivation of rights." No word yet on whether Hundert is allowed to look directly into camera lenses or smile at reporters.
A Toronto sports doctor is garnering some international attention after being indicted by a grand jury in Buffalo for smuggling unapproved drugs into the States. Dr. Anthony Galea, the former doctor for the Toronto Argonauts, is accused of smuggling human growth hormone and other unapproved substances into the U.S. and lying to customs agents to avoid getting caught. Galea, who has treated prominent athletes including Tiger Woods, is being charged for incidents that occurred between July 2007 and September 2009. The SUV-meeting-tree incident doesn't seem to be one of them.
In brief:
A house in the east end partially collapsed yesterday, closing down the immediate area to traffic. The house, near Gerrard St. E. and Victoria Park Ave, was having its basement excavated, but no work was being done at the time of the collapse. Luckily, there were no injuries or damage to the surrounding property.
The suspicious apartment fires in Toronto continue; this time, near Jane St. and Wilson Ave. Firefighters responded to a call just after 11:30 p.m. last night, and found a mattress burning in a hallway on the 12th floor, according to police. Two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and 21 units were evacuated due to smoke damage from the two-alarm blaze.
Photo by jugolic in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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