City
Police release G20 most wanted list
Toronto police have released a most wanted list in connection with the G20 riots and vandalism that took place on Saturday, June 26. The list -- if it can really be called that -- is comprised of a series of photos of possible suspects. By and large, these photos were sent in to the TPS G20 investigative team webpage by citizens who witnessed the events on the day in question.
Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux claims that the arrest of Ashran Ravindhera earlier today on charges of arson and mischief over $5,000 was helped by the release of an earlier set of images of potential suspects on July 7. Many of the photos revealed today also appeared in this prior press release.
As the CBC story on today's press conference notes, there's a definite sense that the TPS and activist groups like Canadians Advocating Political Participation (CAPP) and Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN) are engaged in a PR war. The TCMN, of course, has their own webpage that solicits the public to submit images and videos of police brutality.
So in response to this request and the continued calls for a public inquiry, it would seem that the police are turning up the hyperbole in order to remind everyone that not all the protesters were peaceful (as if a reminder were necessary).
I doubt that anyone has a problem with the police or activist groups engaging the public to help identify those responsible for the violence over the G20 -- it's actually a good idea -- but my fear is that the one-upmanship from both sides may end up being counter productive. Although the TCMN has plethora of videos documenting suspect police behaviour and the TPS has received thousands of photo submissions of violent protest, the more the two sides become invested in battling one another, the sooner the public will lose faith in each group's ability to accomplish its goals.
Image from Toronto Police Services (the whole set is here).
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Just sayin'
and NOW the police want OUR help?
It should be enough that the CCLA and Amnesty both called for a public inquiry to get one to happen. If these groups can't get it together to get an inquiry happening, how are these hastily put-together rallies going to do anything? We need groups that can effect the political process, and so far, all Dalton and Harper have done is just issue a dismissive "NO" when asked about public inquiries. It's completely disheartening. So yeah, any faith I had in politicians is gone as well. (If I ever had any.)
Instead, I expect to see poorly-attended rallies with "9/11 was an inside job" and GLAAD placards.
In addition, it's not clear that all of the suspects are committing crimes (at least from the photo set provided). One guy has a black bandana and is standing in front of the car. One guy is shown holding his bicycle.
During the G20 weekend, I witnessed police officers taking photographs of protesters. They took many photos and even a video of my friend, who was simply yelling slogans louder than everyone else.
Take caution. The police may be using the guise of vandalism to gain the trust of the public in assisting them identify protest organizers, leaders and rabble-rousers.
1 billion dollar bullsh!t is way too much. HST, environmental tax..are we what? slaves?
This is a most wanted list. These are pictures of the people on it. Nowhere does it say that they were photos of them being caught in the act of a crime or that these photos depict crime. They are simply pictures of the suspects.
And just as it was fine for hundreds of wannabe YouTube stars to take photos/videos of the police, it was fine for the cops to take their pictures.
this camera's were supposed to have excellent zooming capabilities so they could capture the images of faces pretty easily. for the millions spent of them one would expect this capability?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenimagery/4740148263/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalpunditorg/4746015941/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jthomson1985/4739307438
you can't have it both ways but god love the internet for giving a voice to the morons that think you can.
Agreed. This is way worse than the Holocaust, Cambodian, Rwandan, Sudanese, bosnian genocides, Nanking massacre, the Crusades combined. THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ANYONE ANYWHERE IN HISTORY OMG LET'S ALL COMMIT SUICIDE BECAUSE HARPER IS AN A$$HOLE HOLY CRAP!
FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY NOW! TO THE TOP!
Citizen: "I wish you damn students would stop your whining, this isn't a holocaust concentration camp or anything. yeeesh.
Student: *bleeds to death
_________
Dear "Really?" this is a tired and simple argument. It's this sort of lazy argument that can justify all sorts of injustice put upon citizens by authorities.
But I agree, it is also stupid to say that this "is the biggest ever crime again humanity."
Not to take all of this out on you folks here using this "there were worse atrocities" argument. I direct this to every human being who ever uses that bs.
Pictures of cops standing around within striking distance of the Black Bloc while they were doing their thing. I'm talking the same frame.
I wasn't there, so I can't confirm if this was the case. But one side of the argument is extremely insistent that this happened, so there must be proof of it.
Anyone have a link?
I want one of guys in black running away from the scene or at the scene of vandalism with cops looking on doing nothing. I've read reports that this happened, but have yet to see actual proof.
In both cases, everyone here complains and cries about how the police handled it all.
They let you loose, you cry. They contain you to avoid a repeat of said looseness, you cry.
You're truly one of the great thinkers of all time.
Since no one has yet to provide proof (and someone else above this post has mentioned it again without offering anything), I remain skeptical. If this happened, enlighten me. I want to be as outraged as you are. EVERYONE had a camera on Saturday. Where's the proof?
A lot of people have made the argument that the cops should have made their move during the actual riots. Has anyone actually considered what would happen if they did make their move? Here you have a bunch of black bloc protesters surrounded by what I believe was about 10k-20k peaceful protesters (please correct me if I am wrong). If those cops run in to take out the black bloc protesters, chances are it would cause panic; people would start running, which could lead to injuries, the wrong people getting arrested, more panic, and the black bloc protesters getting away. That could also lead to a lot of lawsuits.
Speaking of which, on a side note, for those that have claimed a lot of innocent people were arrested, couldn't those innocent people bring a lawsuit against the parties involved? Do they have a case or not without the results of an inquiry? Just curious.
Anyways, back to my point, has anyone actually thought about what kind of chaos would result in the police attempting to make arrests during a large scale riot surrounded by peaceful protesters? Personally, I feel it would lead to a lot of chaos. I know it feels like they should have made their move, but I don't think anyone here is a police officer, and I don't think it's that simple.
I would like to hear some thoughts on this; no rude responses required, let's talk intelligently for a change. Thank you.
Actually, it does need reminding. If you were to look solely on the articles here about the G20, you would have thought that someone got rodney king'd. This aint america and as much as you hippies want to believe in all the police brutally like they have in the U.S. its not the case. Don't get me wrong I support the cause, but come on now we all live in this city we all know who cares about the issue and who doesn't, and that druggie down the street dressed all in black with his brand name hat and a hammer down his pants is only there to start sh@t.
Just because Bryant got off doesn't mean he bears no responsibility for the accident. Political wheels at work. But that's a different argument since this thread is about G20. Or is it? Same political wheels are churning.
What was probably needed was individual officers standing up to individual perpetrators, and doing it with integrity. Many fewer officers, but more proactive ones. That's a hard job, and I couldn't do it, but I haven't signed up for it. What we got is police taking the easy, but much more expensive and civically corrosive, way. Now we'll have 22 officers plus 4 support staff working for six months (at mega $$$$$s) going through these pictures and videos, because officers couldn't be trusted to stop people in the moment.
Last weekend, when police responded slowly or not at all to celebrating crowds of soccer fans climbing onto vehicles on College St. or at Yonge and Dundas shows that police in Toronto haven't learned much from their G20 embarrassment. It seems typical of how the service often works here: they're busy checking their Blackberrys, looking the other way or making themselves scarce when situations happen, then they react by targeting the wrong people or running stupid PR blitzes.
"Has anyone actually considered what would happen if they did make their move? Here you have a bunch of black bloc protesters surrounded by what I believe was about 10k-20k peaceful protesters (please correct me if I am wrong). If those cops run in to take out the black bloc protesters, chances are it would cause panic"
The police didn't care about causing panics the rest of the weekend when they charged mass groups in Queens Park and Queen and Spadina. I think the COPS panicked!
On a side note, I'm just curious as to how many starbucks lattes and big macs have been purchased by protesters since the G20. Probably enjoyed on the ride home in their parents SUV's as well
I just want these black bloc people to pay for the damage they decidedly did out of their own pockets, not mine.
Whichever side of the G20 fence you stand on that is simply unacceptable.
Good luck getting that inquiry with zero proof that anything happened.
another interesting event that happened early in the AM on June 26 before the supposed 'riot' and pseudo 'black bloc' action...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalpunditorg/4747402374/
Before ANYONE starts to think about it being OK for the police to use pics taken by the press and Citizen Journalists as evidence - please refer to the Washington Post's response to the 1968 D.C. Riots - it may seem dated now but the principal still stands...
for extra reading, refer to Ben Bradlee's 'A Good Life' - page 291, Chapter 12. you can follow from there. Press Rights are Press Rights no matter what country and there should be a movement to make them universal and enforce them.
1. It is not law enfocement's fault that the anarchists showed up and ruined the protest
2. The anarchists (also known as the black block) are more of a threat to society than police could ever be.
3. People can complain all they want about the violent and destructive activity of the black block, but it would have been alot more out of control and way more damage would have been done without the police present.
4. Anarchists were out to cause trouble, and that's the bottom line. They used this protest as a good excuse to trash the city and act like idiots... The police were just trying to do their job.
p.s black guy on bike made a vedio called g20anthen on youtube.com