I’m surprised at myself that I’m venturing into politicizing even a portion of this blog. shortweird is meant to be a means for me to self-promote and post silly cavemen videos. But I find myself having to do at least something to add my voice to what I hope will be a growing number of Canadians who watched with confusion and disbelief as our biggest city erupted in unnecessary violence on the weekend of the G20 Summit of 2010.
On a global scale, I fully admit that Canadians lead a sheltered life when it comes to police action violence. I will fully admit that most of this is peanuts when compared to what we know happens in too many places in the world. I won’t profess to be any kind of expert on world affairs, politics or civil disobedence.
What we Canadians are is a complacent bunch. We enjoy many rights and freedoms many people around the world do not. I don’t know how to bring freedom to those around the world who do not have it. But I do know that the only way I know how to help bring about that change is to be involved in a dialogue that prevents what happened on June 26 and June 27, 2010 from happening again.
I am under the impression that there is an attempt by some of our leaders to dupe us. I don’t think the majority of police officers on duty that weekend wanted to hurt innocent people. I think they found themselves in an us-vs-them scenario because of the decisions and strategy of their leadership which follows a line all the way up to the Prime Minister’s Office.
When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern. | Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
After you watch the first clip, mentally insert the sound of my mouth dropping open.
Kudos to Meghann Millard for getting this out there; you can see a 9 minute unedited version at the following link: http://www.vimeo.com/user4146683
And below, a photo journalist describes his experience following the black block as they rampage through the streets of Toronto during the G20 Summit.
This is not the only video I’ve come across where eye-witnesses report seeing police stationed close by, watching the black block from a distance at a number of locations, allowing the vandals to do their work, and then affording them time to disperse into a crowd of peaceful protesters, reportedly brazenly changing out of their black clothing and leaving it in piles. Then, once the destruction is over, the riot police move in en masse, assaulting innocent protesters with batons and pepper spray.
Why were unarmed, non-violent civilians assaulted (and I use that word specifically and deliberately) while violent rioters are allowed to jump all over police cars and set them on fire? In this age of immediate twitter, youtube and facebook video sharing, why haven’t I seen even one video surface that shows the cops swarming any of them? This is the question that has burned itself into my mind.
Other witnesses claim to have seen police cars left unattended at Bay and King. Aside from needing to go on a donut run, why would police officers leave cars unattended during a heightened state of security in the downtown core, when it was fully known a violent, destructive group of protesters were in the area?
You can draw your own conclusions but what I like about the previous clip is that it offers a non-judgmental over-view of these events and offers a legitimate, civilized call to action at the end.
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But here is a piece of cynicism and resignation at the very top. Again, my mouth drops open:
We attend summits all of the time and we know the unfortunate reality is that these summits attract a certain thuggish criminal,” he said. “We’ve seen it in other cities, we are going to see it again in the future. | – Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Globe and Mail – http://tinyurl.com/25yncyw
So… just because it happened before, does that mean it needs to happen again? Is it okay for a world leader to be so resigned and casual about being partially responsible for an event that brought violence to a peaceful city, and brought such unrest? We are lucky that nobody was more seriously physically injured. The stories are only now just beginning to come out in regards to the emotional and psychological impacts on those who were detained innocently.
It’s not okay to say “we’ll see it again in the future” when it comes to something like this. This is leadership intent on keeping the status quo. And that’s not leadership. At least not the type of leadership I want.
Mr. Harper – I would ask you why it wasn’t the ‘thuggish criminals’ getting the business end of clubs and pepper spray on any of these videos and instead, all I’ve seen are generally peaceful (some loudmouthed and mouthy, yes – hell, there’s at least 1 or 2 of them I’d have liked to tell to shut up) protesters getting surrounded by riot police? Is that what my tax dollars paid for?
What if I suspect these ‘thuggish criminals’ you mention are actually tools of the state to help the government justify it’s $1B price tag for this summit?
Do I really need to accept that we need to see this kind of scenario here in Canada again in the future?
Does your vision of Canada include a police state?
Will I vote and make my voice heard come election time? Yes.
I understand that it’s important for world leaders to meet face to face. I’ll even go so far as to say, yes, you should keep on doing Summits. However… in future, consider spending $1B on healthcare or education, maybe? And here’s a hint – next time you and the world leaders hold a summit and see each other face to face, do it somewhere away from a city where “thuggish criminals” aren’t drawing paychecks from the police and bashing the faces off peaceful protesters.
Or maybe look into a little thing called ‘skype’ that I hear is quite popular and… uh… free.
And in closing – getting this blog back to it’s intended purpose, I urge us all to remember that the greatest tragedy of the weekend might have been this guy not being allowed to help plug some money back into the Canadian economy.
The original youtube clip seems to go down from time to time, so I found a few links to it, and I’ve also got a hyperlink for a repost of the clip I found on Ebaum’s world! Yay innernetz! (Sorry, you might have to sit for 20s for a commercial before the real clip plays) So click here to get to it on ebaum’s world and I’ll leave my original link to youtube below just in case it goes back up sometime.
fock. that is insane. moving to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches… 🙂
Donut run, Marcel? Donut run?!
I am extremely frustrated by what seems to be a shared sense of disdain for the police among members of my community. They were under orders not to engage with violent protesters like the Black Bloc. I think they were handed a logistics nightmare and most of them did the best they could. Are there some bad cops out there? For sure. Are there cops that abuse their powers? Undoubtedly. But anyone who feels that the police used unnecessary force against them or trampled on their civil rights are still entitled to file complaints with the Toronto Police, the OPP or the RCMP. It’s not a police state when the police are still accountable to the citizens.
Yeah, Lindsay, the donut comment was a low blow. Point taken.
Absolutely, Lindsay. I wasn’t clear in my post perhaps, but I do feel sincere thanks to any and all law enforcement officers who – I’m sure – did act correctly. Obviously, when things go right and without incident, we never hear about them. I’m positive the majority of the officers did their uniforms proudly. I agree with you, it was a logistical nightmare.
I have not heard that they were under orders NOT to engage with violent protesters… my reactions are my own based on emotional responses to videos I’m seeing. I’m not saying I’m right. I don’t mean to sensationalize things or make it seem like I’m blaming the police officers as a whole. I’m not and I’m sorry if it seems that way.
I don’t have the guts it takes to be a police officer. I have not had very many overly negative interactions with any law enforcement officials. (Except for a certain US Customs agent at Pearson in 1998, but I digress…) I personally know an officer who worked the weekend and I don’t doubt it was one of the hardest things he’s ever done. I don’t want this blog entry to be seen to be an attempt to discredit the individual police officers on the front lines.
But I don’t agree with what they were ordered to do, or how they were ordered to carry out their orders.
I feel it’s backwards to have ordered charges on unarmed civilians to disperse the crowds (loud-mouthed, yes, but non-violent) but to allow the vandalism and destruction of public property to be unchallenged, for the most part. I’m glad there were arrests throughout the weekend, but I hope the majority of arrests were people responsible for breaking laws… not for protesting or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time and mouthing off to the wrong cop at a time of heightened tension.
In any case, Lindsay – I know you to be an awesome, thoughtful person and I hear you. I’m not out to paint the entirety of the G20 police force with the same brush. They’re not who I’m criticizing… though this weekend I do strongly believe the police were were misused and misdirected.
Filing complaints with those about whom you are complaining in no way holds them accountable. Such complaints can be and are easily and immediately ignored. If a person gets raped, do they file a complaint with their rapist?
The G20 probe is being handled internally by SMAART, which is made up of police officers. When I hear the words “internal review”, that speaks volumes to me. It’s a review, so no action need be taken upon completion. It’s internal, so no action need be taken upon completion. The thin blue line is not so thin.
SMAART will then deliver a report to the TPS Board, which does provide civilian oversight. However, TPS Board chairperson Alok Mukherjee has already declared his support for police action during the G20, before even seeing the report upon which he is to base a judgment.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/g20/2010/06/29/14559851.html
The police have not stopped distorting the truths of the past weekend. In the CBC story below, they put on display the weaponry they claim to have confiscated from protesters. As the article indicates, they have included weaponry that had absolutely nothing to do with the G20 protests. This is disinformation; disinformation is the cornerstone of the covering up of misdeeds.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/29/g20-police-review548.html
Anyone who doesn’t know that the crossbow and chainsaw were confiscated days before the G20 from a confused man living in his car will assume they were confiscated from protesters and “anarchists”. Oh those Anarchists!
It is crystal clear (to me anyways) that TPS and the TPS Board have already decided what the historical truth will be.
The police will obviously not take responsibility for their lack of integrity – they’ve shown and continue to show this. They’re not going to be accountable for us. Therefore, it is up to us – as citizens who take pride in our community – to take responsibility for putting into place a system that prevents from happening again such negligence on the part of those in whom the public trust is given.
When the system fails us, it falls to us. We are accountable.
Good points, Simon – I would venture to say, though, that pointing a general finger in the direction of ‘the police’ might be less constructive that pointing it further to the people in positions of power within the chain of command. That’s for starters.
I’m shuddering at reading the individual accounts starting to surface from specific individuals, in relation to specific officers. It takes time, patience and diligence, but I do hope specific cases, incidents, complaints and charges do great brought forward…
I’m just interested in specifics, and not generalizations… it’s a tough line to walk, one that most of us are guilty of forgetting… generally speaking…
I completely agree with both Marcel and Lindsay … I can’t agree to the eating peaches though, as I don’t live in the country and the ones in the supermarket at rock-hard still…..
For weeks before the Summit, I heard so many reports on how the the good folks in charge of creating the security plans for the Summit were going to implement security: sound cannons, water cannons, etc.; implements which, in my opinion, were more than humane and very effective when put to use. Each time they were rebuffed by “Human Rights Groups” (I put that in quotes because I never really took note of the name of these groups) who told them they could not use these implements as they could cause injuries and were considered cruel. To quote Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler: “REALLY???”
I want to know when the police started taking orders from bleeding hearts who feel that we should cater to the whims of every law-breaking thug and criminal and deny the peaceful and secure protests of the legitimate protestors whose words were not heard by the leaders due to the over shadowing by these hooligans who have no ultimate agenda to bring change to the world; only the desire and the means to create havoc as they know that the police force, through external political pressures were basically rendered impotent.
It is disgusting that this was allowed to happen because some felt that it would make them look bad to be proactive and be prepared for such events; it was no surprise that the hooligans came to TO, as they turn up at all Summits, but to not allow any means of prevention of this destruction is completely irresponsible, and thankfully no one was killed as a result.
It has been mentioned many times that this was staged to justify the expenses incurred to bring the Summit to Canada … nothing surprises me any more 🙁
It seems my question as to WHY the police let the ‘violent dicks’ run rampant in one area of the city while instead storming innocent people singing the national anthem in another has come to light.
The cops on the front lines were told NOT to engage the violence. What’s wrong with this picture?
It’s all in this Toronto Sun article… surely not the last time we’ll hear about this particular detail:
Click here for the full Toronto Sun Article.