City
G20 protest messages overshadowed by violence and arrests
It's been a truly disturbing G20 weekend here in Toronto. Over 550 people have been arrested and detained, many having been violently snatched by heavily armed police, thrown into unmarked vans, strip-searched, and held in metal cages without water (or criminal charges) for several hours.
Journalists and media accredited personnel from CTV, National Post, and Guardian UK have been arrested without just cause.
Vandals have burned police cars and caused damage all over the downtown core. Excessive use of police powers are being called into question.
In the past 24h, these are the stories being pursued and reported by the media, and little has been discussed about the many peaceful protests and causes represented on the streets.
Let's not forget that these are the people that deserved to have had their voices heard (regardless of how varied or absurd their messages were).
Photos by DdotG (2, kwazy, Lynda ~, gs71to95, apelvin, karon.liu, Bucajack, jthomson1985, @Steve's, 3), chris.huggins, spiro.ca, Samer M, Jackman Chiu, geoffgillstrom, Leeelz (2), *Lemur* (2), Metrix X, PJMixer, Fifth_Business, picturenarrative, sevennine (2), _Rashomon_, robertjames.bell, onlyandrewn3 (2), h3llbringer (2, 3), pinkapples_x, Osei (Ozzy) (2), alfred ng (photos and paintings).
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The title of this article, however, is spot on. The protest message is being drowned out by a group that has no message.
There are always stories where the government and police say that rights will be "temporarily" suspended for the good of all, when all it does is allow warrant-less phone taps (ex: Patriot Act). If you prefer a country where you must give ID while walking down the street or allows warrant-less searches of your house, bag, or self for "the greater good", please move to North Korea.
I will agree though, that the media has really botched the coverage of the weekend, calling the Black Bloc protesters when really they just came to destroy things.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&;code=BUR20100627&articleId=19928
I watched CP24 last night for way too long, hanging on the live feed of chaos, but after all that I haven't learned anything about the events at the meetings themselves, and most certainly not the message of the protesters.
I hope in the coming days of coverage more outlets will try to cover those sides of the event, and lessen with the 'riot porn'. :/
Blac Bloc were hired by the cops or are cops to create more fear to society and to drown the true protesting messages, also to justify the 1billion spent. Propaganda!! Don't believe the hype and keep peace going!
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Yeah and those assholes they just arrested minutes ago with molotov cocktails in their car are plants too.
Get your head out of your ass.
Questions -
Where were the cops when the Blac Bloc were taking over the streets?
Why were they too late to stop them?
Why did the cops leave those cars burning for so long?
Blac Bloc doesn't want their pictures taken? They can't be traced.
Be smart, be suspicious. Know the message.
Do you have any evidence that goes against it?
Questions -
Where were the cops when the Blac Bloc were taking over the streets?
Why were they too late to stop them?
Why did the cops leave those cars burning for so long?
Blac Bloc doesn't want their pictures taken? They can't be traced.
Be smart, be suspicious. Know the message.
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1 why don't you go to cop college, learn about crowd control strategies, risk evaluation etc
2 they ran, they changed their clothes. cops' reaction was unacceptably slow.
3 hard to get a f'ing firetruck safely through an agitated crowd
4 there's plenty of footage of black block assholes changing their clothes. give it some time to come out
Not saying police didn't provoke people but that proof is laughable.
Yeah, the Black block assholes wouldn't think to wear sensible city-trashing footwear, so they must be cops. Righhhhhhhhht.
Anybody can buy f*cking work boots anywhere anytime.
Of course, I'm sure that's all part of the conspiracy. They learned from Quebec and are now buying their plants entirely different footwear than they wear on duty.
Certainly black, chunky soled shoes have never been en vogue. Especially with groups of people intending to do potentially damaging things while wearing all black.
The lack of critical thinking in that article is staggering.
One of the 2 piglets that hauled me to cool off in jail, over MADMIKE Bryant, said to me..."I'd LOVE for you to take a swing at me." Imagine, this young, 20-something punk/cop/arschloche threatening an old guy pushing 60. Man oh man, they sure don't like it when I cock of to the pigs in German.
Instead, there were hundreds of police - in full Darth Vader get-up ready to pounce - blocking access to nearly all major intersections in the downtown core. It almost seems the intent was to prevent images in the news of protesters *at* the summit site condemning the G20 and their policies. By keeping the protesters far away and enticing them to edge closer to the site by means of their provocative display (were the full body-armour and truncheons really necessary in a non-war zone?) the got exactly the reaction they were looking for.
I'm not really surprised by many of the comments here, denouncing the activists and lauding the police. All you have to do is scare people enough and they will accept any restriction on their civil liberties without question. It seems the whole thing was almost designed to play out exactly as it did: the protesters are portrayed as the bad guys, while the harmful (even lethal) policies of the G20 elite get little critical attention.
No doubt someone is going to reply that I must be some kind of conspiracy nut but this is my take on it. And I said it "seems" this way, I have no evidence, but with $1.2 billion spent on security I'm sure the authorities know exactly what they are doing.
So I pulled out my engineering boots, and there it was, checked out my buddies Harley Davidson boots and there it was. managed to find a discount shoe store open on Yonge street and there it was on several different brands and styles. Some were the stomping boots favoured by the protesters, none were police boots. It tells you that the boot is oil resistant.
This is so right wing, no fact checking, no facts all anecdotal
I don't necessarily support the police on this one, but their job was to protect the people and businesses which they had more than enough resources for, and the blew it.
Above all, there should be some significant concern when the government can completely remove your rights unannounced. I was id and questioned walking down church street - completely removed from any protest zone, completely removed from the G20 site. If I had not complied, I may have been arrested - there is something significantly wrong with that picture. We should still have the right to move freely within our city, without being questions - if we are no where near the G20 site.
"I’ve heard some people say that if you made the decision to join a demonstration, or simply go close to one, you have no one but yourself to blame for being attacked by police." Really, so the Selma marchers deserved that? That they couldn't grab a bunch of vandals, even from out of a crowd of mostly peaceful, shows gross negligence. That their response to criticism of their incompetence is to do this to peaceful demonstrators is a crime, that will never be punished.
People should not think modern history is so different from all the other centuries of human history: police and armies are for enforcing the status quo.
Their "evidence" comes in the form of "look at that combat boot! It's obviously part of a uniform! And look at that physique, obviously a trained soldier". WHUT? The pic of the person they claim to have a physique that shows it's not an anarchist looks average and perhaps even female.
And if they were hiring these people destructing property, why would they choose such young'ins? Most of them were in the late teens or early 20s. Hell, if I were to hire "actors" for my cause, I'd go for older people who were more trustworthy to not tell other people about my schemes.
It's kind of sad that you believe it on such weak claims :(
And, btw, armies have more often than not created revolution, change, and opportunity, albeit with a mighty upfront human investment. Get your history straight, james. Fail.
When your children are old enough to make the choice as to whether or not they want to protest, then by all means, let them go. Until then, leave them at home.
Tell that to those Tamils during their protests last year!
Basicamente solo queria presentarme!
Nos vemos
I've been tiresome to be payment and cut clandestinely on spending.