City
G20 Toronto protest on Friday
Activists and police faced off on Friday afternoon in the tensest and largest G20 protest to date. Thousands of marchers promoting everything from feminist issues to liberating Palestine snaked their way through Toronto's downtown streets under the watchful eye of police in riot gear.
Unlike Thursday's relatively calm rally by Native groups and their supporters, Friday's march had a chaotic atmosphere and at several points was on the edge of turning into a full blown riot.
The afternoon started as a peaceful gathering by women's and feminist groups at Allan Gardens but quickly descended into a confrontation with authorities.
Fariah Chowdhury, an organizer with No One Is Illegal, began the march with a fiery speech strongly denouncing the police, G20, and security fence.
"How many of you are here today because you're pissed?" she screamed to the crowd. "We're angry because we don't need a few to make the decisions which impact the lives of the many," she yelled.
Then John Clarke, a leader with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty added fuel to the fire, saying: "We're not looking for peace, they've given us war, and we're going to give them war back!"
One of the tenser moments of the afternoon was at Yonge and College when, according to those at the scene, several people were arrested after getting into a dispute with police. Protesters shouting "No justice no peace, fuck the police" crowded the officers.
Then someone threw a glass bottle, leading officers to close their facemasks. But then, as quickly as the incident developed, everything was over and the march continued along College. At another hot moment, cops donning full riot gear intercepted activists trying to move south on Simcoe, and rumours started to spread that sound canons were being deployed.
Surprisingly, large numbers of people were prepared. Ear plugs were abundant, and many started to brace themselves for the piercing sound; however, it all turned out to be a false alarm.
Despite some of the angry rhetoric, the protest also had an atmosphere of a party. Samba Elégua, a Toronto-based percussion group, played drums while marching to dancing protesters. At other times, vans blasting House of Pain - Jump Around gave the event a feel of a surreal street party.
It was equally strange when Kevin Clarke, one of Toronto's fringe mayoral candidates, stopped by Allan Gardens to give some advice to activists. "Don't protest in the heart of downtown because you're falling into the hands of those who oppress," he told people gathered in the park, and then left after several minutes.
Overall, a serious confrontation was avoided during Friday's march, but it was only a warm up for what we are supposed to see on Saturday and Sunday. Brace yourself, Toronto.
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Writing and photos by Tomasz Bugajski. Videos by SupportLocalScene and steelerdan29.
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If these dudes are so passionate about having their voices heard by the political players in town this weekend, why didn't they go march in Huntsville? It's likely because Huntsville doesn't have as many cool bars, restaurants and coffee spots where the angry mob can hold their after-parties. Bunch of angry misguided posers.
The "enlightened" mass was chanting:
"Hey Hey U.S.A., How many children(s) did you kill today?" followed by refrain of "Free, Free Palestine!!" Why no songs about the oppression of women or gay people in Sharia-law based cultures? Where is the moral indignation about idiots who blow themselves up on buses and fly planes into buildings full of innocent people? I guess people are too busy making Israeli apartheid signs to notice these other issues?
And all this while the trans-gendered chubby Philip Seymour Hoffman clone shook his booty in the faces of riot police, and people waved Legalization flags, and danced up a storm as they made their way up College Street.
Ridiculous.
I agree with many of the protester's causes but promoting violence, even if you feel you aggressed upon, makes you almost as bad as those your protest against.
The most poweful weapon these movements have is moral superiority and they should not give it up quickly.
Your comments - RIDICULOUS and MISINFORMED.
It's become part of the yearly gong-show routine; world leaders land in G20 city. City becomes epi-centre of every single protest-worthy cause in the world for 5 days, they clash violently with police, world leaders eat fine foods and chit chat in fancy hotel, world leaders leave, protesters leave, and the cycle repeats at the same time the next year. Total waste of time and money and energy for EVERYONE involved.
I was there. I saw it happen. Hardly makes me misinformed. You can disagree, but you are not right because you think you are.
Your comment that"its Canada". Yes. It is. In my Canada, I don't have to worry that the US consulate offices on University Street will be harrassed or have stuff thrown at it by a few nutjobs in the crowd because it is so trendy to despise American foreign policy these days. You tell me if that crowd would have just been about their right to "free assembly" if they got within lobbing distance of the consulate. Next thing you know, 50 militant yahoos in the crowd act out, police retaliate, and today we are crying about police brutality towards the innocent protesters.
I am proud of our police, proud to be Canadian, and proud to live in a country where you can assemble and not be shot or imprisoned because of your beliefs on religion, politics, or sexuality. The angry mob must have us mistaken for the Hamas led government of the West Bank, or Iran, or Syria, where these terrible things actually happen. Go and round up some of these protesters to speak out against these countries and their "misguided" politics. I dare you.
These fringe groups all have a million different goals and views but almost 90% of them fail to see the root of the problem, thus if fixed would lead to remedy all of there concerns (the control of capital by very few people, and Banks).I will be out protesting, but I will be critical of useless protesters and the useless govt leaders all IMO are part of the problem. They simply just want to live there fantasy of dancing to drums in the streets and fighting with cops, then come back on Monday and relive there fantasy through youtube and twitter... it's pathetic.
Why would anybody be suckered into protesting when its convenient for Harper, The G20 screws over the planet every other day of the year, it is no exclusive to just these 3 days of the summit. all these groups (Govt leaders, Cops and Protesters) want is a party, none want..real change.
Today I can say that Toronto looks like Asuncion, South American capital in time of the Nazi dictator Alfredo Stroessner!
Back in the 60s, 70s, 80s the Paraguayans were very afraid every time the Little Red Riding Hood (Police red truck) was visiting the neighborhoods of Asuncion – Paraguay
Many Paraguayans ran away of the oppression searching for a country with Freedom of expression, thoughts, Freedom of assembly and to protest against anything we believed were not right. Few Paraguayans arrived to Canada looking for the “Freedom”; many years after, Stephen Harper the Prime Minister of Canada has transformed Toronto in a PERFECT copy of Asuncion with police forces all over the place chasing their own citizens.
If we dressed in certain type of color, if we did not have our National ID on hand you probably will end up in the Investigation department of the National Paraguayan Police and they tortured you and to forced you to sign a DECLARATION where you affirmed you were conspiring against Stroessner Government or affirmed you were a communist!!!!
There were prohibited any type of political meetings of any political parties because those were also plotting against the dictatorship government.
Here we are today with similar situations Torontonians been arrested in the overnight by the Toronto Police to avoid the massive protest against the G8, G20 waste of billions of Canadian dollars which came out of the tax payers money.
Marches by feminists and gay rights activists this weekend are fine but clearly are tangential to the summit (the biggest threats to women's and gay rights are in the Islamic world but I've yet to see those protests in Canada--I wonder why)
The reason is most Canadians see issues with capitalism but unlike the extreme bozos they don't want the system torn down and hardworking Canadians subsidize them even more than we already do. So these protests will be watched by the majority who will say little, support even less and be thankful when it's all over. And nothing will change. That is the fault of the protestors and their extreme views, not the fault of the police or G8 or rest of Canada.
Is it unfortunate the cops are lifeless scum who will beat anything that moves? yes. but how is anybody surprised? People need to understand Harper has more tools then the citizens and his force will always be the most violent. But when you fail to have people unite and fight then you just get people getting the skulls smashed in. There's no reason there can't be 40,000 people strong to fight off this. But nooope. People just want to party for freeDUMB WAaaahooooo!
Sigh I better get going now, I wonder who will pummel me first the cops or the protesters
Now that is the purpose of protests - to get noticed - but when you have 100 people speaking for this, 100 speaking for that, there is only but one message you get across to these people, and that is that your angry.
Well let me tell you guys something you may not already know...They KNOW we are angry, but they also know it doesn't matter, because we don't know how to get together for One cause. These protests are many issues mixed into one big pot of chaos. Who will be heard out first? Who gets to be louder? So its no wonder these leaders don't do much to address the issues that bother us. If we had one clear cause, we would have one voice, and thats when they have no choice but to listen, because its only one message! But what is this One cause?
Well for starters, everyone should be talking about how Canada just spent around $1B dollars for these summits. Take a look at the previous countries that have done so. Not even close to the same amount if you check it out or have heard already. What could $1B afford to people in Canada? Well, lets say you spent $25M on addressing poverty in Canada, obviously not enough, but right now its not even there for that purpose. No $25M went to paying police officers, making fences around our city, giving these politicians top of the line hotel rooms, etc....
Anyways, i hope you get my point. We need to better organize protests and have people gather and listen first to what should be protested about. Have people on megaphones telling people to keep the peace, and that screaming F**K THE POLICE won't work to get their message across.
So yeah, i believe for a good some of people protesting, they do it just for the sake of yelling at someone about the problems they have no control over. Many Canadians have never seen a protest in their life and are just going out there for the fun of it....
Last piece of advice for those that want it, need it or care:
Devote yourselves to gaining a proper education, and through your school or university or college, bring groups together that will get together for one cause and march once a week or two down to queens park or even take a trip to Ottawa for a day and do some real protesting...Make that a habit, so much so that you make the news, then get support from others, make a radio station, and then you will be heard out. Show the government and these leaders that you care everyday about these problems, and not JUST when they show up for 3 days...
Good luck to all getting the truth across.
C.T.W.
Don't be so goddamn ignorant.
To compare a Canada to a a facist country shows a lack of understanding of basically the entire world.
People are allowed to gather, state their views and be themselves in this great land of ours.
There is no right to vandalise and damage the property of others. The police are there to protect the average person.
Not the people who flew in to protest global warming and carbon emissions
Actually, maybe we could get all these protestors to go to China and air their views. Maybe then we could see how well they are treated
Anyone out there still want to defend them because they've done a fine job discrediting themselves and grabbing all the attention. As far as the media goes all the other messages will be lost from now until the end of the summit.
But while we're on the topic, care to direct us to evidence that the "protestors" were distancing themselves from this violent group because they have been marching together downtown all day and I'd like to at least credit the regular protestors with having enough intelligence to know who was in their midst. The split only occurred in the last few hours.
Roll with the pigs; expect to get splattered in mud.
personally i think people who have total disrespect and disregard for the laws of the land should not be afforded protection by those laws. the police should do what they have to do to keep these scoundrels under control.
They are protesting about yess FREEDOM, BUT did you know that America is going to depopulate everyone? Monsanto is a company that uses a "terminator" gene so farmers have to buy seeds every single year, thus causing poverty and hunger in America AND Canada. Monsanto are monopolizing seeds themselves, actually privatizing the DNA of life which means the seeds cant be re-cropped at the end of the season to re-plant for next season. Monopoly with food means control of the population. One of many reasons why we protest.
The music industry is filled with BULLSPIT nowadays. It causes the younger generation from realizing the truth because they dumb it down. When I say they, I mean the higher ups which approve of this type of music promoting sex, money, and fame... which is what mainstream music is all about. Why do you think Tupac, and Micheal Jackson died?
Both of them realized the truth and were spreading the message. They were stopped by the higher ups and were warned that if they didnt stop, not only would their careers would be ended, but their life would be too. Tupacs response to their warnings was his album, "7 day theory" under the alias, "Don Killuminati." Which is ironic because the illuminati is the cause of all these problems.
Micheal Jackson didn't stop speaking about the truth and illuminati and they killed him. Believe it or not, you can search the truth if you want. Youtube it if you're willing. "ILLUMINATI, MUSIC INDUSTRY AND WHY MICHAEL JACKSON WAS KILLED"
WAKE UP PEOPLE. REALIZE THE TRUTH.
Admit it, you people can't exist without your equally idiotic right wing fascistic counterparts, even if you have to help create them. Grow up.
I'm headed to Ottawa with a bunch of my friends who have realized the truth, and I'm going to protest. You should research a bit and maybe one day I'll invite you.
Good day you product of a dumb'd down society.
I'm glad some of you believe you're getting a point across! Now get your head out of the whole you dug and look around. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE PROTESTING!! Its a joke to say that you come with a message when you wear a mask to hide your shame and a back pack with a change of clothes. Give me a break!! You can get your message across in a protest to Ottawa or Washington any day of the week and if its effective the media will discuss it and has. This is just a stupid reason to put enough pressure on exausted officers who've been defending our rights to speak all week and watch them push back.
If your amoung the crazy's destroying our city or those defending them you deserve to get beaten. God know if you were my children thats just what I'd do!!
I'm glad some of you believe you're getting a point across! Now get your head out of the whole you dug and look around. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE PROTESTING!! Its a joke to say that you come with a message when you wear a mask to hide your shame and a back pack with a change of clothes. Give me a break!! You can get your message across in a protest to Ottawa or Washington any day of the week and if its effective the media will discuss it and has. This is just a stupid reason to put enough pressure on exausted officers who've been defending our rights to speak all week and watch them push back.
If your amoung the crazy's destroying our city or those defending them you deserve to get beaten. God know if you were my children thats just what I'd do!!
This is like a club, only few are permitted, and get to choose what they feel is right for the rest of the world, based on their understanding of it. Decisions are made than administrated where they please with our proper consent. If you want change you got to start at the grass root and include everyone that's what you call democracy.
I would also like to address the ignorant generalization that "all cops" beat innocent people, overreact, or abuse their power. Certainly there are a few bad eggs in the bunch, but you will find that in every large group of individuals. It's the same thing as generalizing all the protesters by saying they are violent and without purpose. Many of those people have genuinely good intentions and worthwhile causes. It's the few bad eggs that ruins it for everyone else.
Without police there would be chaos. That is not a society I would want to live in. Canada is an amazing, beautiful, SAFE country. Much more rich and supportive of it's people than many other countries in this world. We should be grateful for what we have. It could be a lot worse.
POWER TO THE POLICE!!!!
By only concentrating on the tiny minority of violent protesters, the media does a great disservice to the public and to our life as citizens in a democratic republic. The media are willingly taken hostage by a few, perhaps infiltrated*, hoodlums and ignore the truly important issues of an increasingly concentrated global power, and its consequent anti-democratic character. It is important to all of us in the planet that we discuss important enviromental, financial, military, health, and other issues and also the composition, agenda, operation and authority of the G20 over the planet and all of humanity. Otherwise we are in danger of falling into a Totalitarian, anti-democratic, global human existence. Please cover these issues, ask hard questions, confront abuse everywhere, be a responsible press, don't just give us a pictures of a dude attacking a McDonald's time and time again, every time there is a global meeting. That is slanted news that is not news, that is propaganda, and a lazy one at that.
____________
*The police-intelligence services infiltration or even organization of Black Block and other anarchist violent protests worldwide is highly likely. There are numerous instances of just such state procedures for media manipulation, so wake up people! Media: do your research, be professional for God's sake.
My all support to the brave street fighters against capitalism.
They drove Spain and all Europe to the poverty, we must stand UNITE more than ever to fight this attacks.
NO PASARAN !!
EL PUEBLO, UNIDO, JAMAS SERA VENCIDO !!
Terrorism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is the latest accepted revision, accepted on 26 June 2010.Jump to: navigation, search
"Terrorist" redirects here. For other uses, see Terrorist (disambiguation).
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.[1] At present, the International community has been unable to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism.[2][3] Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).
Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The history of terrorist organizations suggests that they do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness.[4] Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined.[4]
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if you got arrested you probably deserved it. if you didnt i apologize but the police are doing their best.
and that billion dollars was well spent, if they did not spend that much the city would be in a way worse situation than what it is.
BUT
its over everyone lets move on with our lives, this i canada! lets clean this mess up and punish whoever caused it, all with a smile on :)
Yes we build the most expensive fence in The world which was designed to protect foreign delegations but we ended up protecting this fence and not the City it self.
Police has fulfil their statistics and probably met their numbers of arrested people but how many of real trouble makers did they arrested??
IMO police didn't served the public and did not protected the City just anxiously was waiting to have the opportunity to try out their new "Toys"
Even though I don't agree with people smashing store windows,
vandalizing businesses,or burning cop cars, I also agree that we as Canadians have the right to protest and I think the police were 100% in the wrong for strong-arming citizens who were not participating in violent acts.
You just have see videos and still pictures of police treating good honest citizens like they were animals to realize that the police were the thugs.
I'm not a violent person by nature but I can sympathize with those who lashed out at police for the way they were being treated. I'm not surprised to see police in third world countries treat people as if they have no rights, but this is
Canada & we do have rights here. The police have no right to detain or arrest persons unless they are committing a crime.
I don't care about the self appointed rights police claim to have or our politicians give them in these situations.
The fact remains that unless you have committed a crime the police have NO right to touch, threaten, detain or arrest you.
I could not belive the reports that innocent people were being held in cages not fit for animals let alone humans.
I also heard reports that young persons & woman were having to
relieve themselve in front of other citizens & police with no
privacy.
How about the fact that members of the media were also arrested & held without just cause. Just another example of how the thug police force did not want Canadians to see how they were acting so they tried to limit tv coverage by arresting members of the media.
All of this makes me sick!
I have lost all respect for the police and what little I had for our politicians.
The police should be condemned for their actions and should
pay dearly for the way they treated honest, innocent, defenceless citizens.
The mayor of Toronto & the Toronto Chief of Police should be fired and then arrested for crimes againts the citizens of Toronto.
& They're waiting until the next summit in South Korea to talk about putting regulations on banks and corporations? I bet that will really pan out, holding that next to 'nuclear threat' N. Korea. The North Korea that China says must be 'punished' for sinking that S. Korean boat. And all these sanctions trying to leave Iran defenseless. There will probably be a war declared against Iran or North Korea and then they'll have to push back talking about bank reforms.
Meanwhile, in Canada there will probably be some kind of crisis and they will use it to push economic reforms and other bills that would be opposed if the people weren't distracted.
Just some guesses, there's no way to know for sure as a peasant.