Related: Civil liberties association to sue police on behalf of G20 arrestees | Four detained journalists file complaints of assault, sexual threats against G20 police | Inside the G20 Eastern Avenue Detention Centre | Toronto Police Lied: No five-metre rule existed in G20 security fence law | Outraged G20 protesters rally against police abuse and arbitrary detention | 20 G20 detention reports: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ | The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

CBC News
July 1, 2010

More than 2,000 people demonstrated in Toronto and Montreal on Thursday against the arrests of nearly 1,000 protesters during last weekend’s G20 summit in Toronto.

About 1,000 protesters gathered at the Ontario legislature before marching south on University Avenue and then along a route that look them past Toronto police headquarters and back to Queen’s Park.

Groups including Canadians Advocating Public Participation called for an independent public inquiry into the way security was handled during the recent summit. Some also called for the resignation of Toronto police Chief Bill Blair.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has described the arrests as unprecedented, disproportionate, arbitrary and excessive.

“The CCLA is planning to help people who are seeking compensation to [initiate] a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Ontario,” Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel for the association, told the Toronto Star. “We have a couple of plaintiffs.”

Protesting police ‘intimidation’

In Montreal, more than 1,000 people, including women’s rights groups, union representatives and a provincial politician, marched to protest what happened in Toronto.

“We’re here to denounce the police and the police state that we lived in [in] Toronto, the oppression, the police oppression and intimidation,” said Dani Royier of Convergence des luttes anticapitalist, a group opposed to capitalism,

Olivier Lamour Lafleur said he went to Toronto to protest peacefully but was arrested soon after the protests began. He said he spent 36 hours in a holding cell.

Several police vehicles, including vans carrying riot police, followed the Montreal marchers Thursday but there were no major incidents and only two protesters were arrested.

In Winnipeg, more than 100 protesters marched through a neighbourhood street festival on Thursday to show support for those arrested during the summit.

And in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday night, a small group of protesters gathered at police headquarters following a call to action by a group known as Common Cause, which describes itself as an anarchist organization. No one from the group would provide an identity at the rally, and members refused to be interviewed by the CBC.

‘Stand up for free speech’

However, Margaret Villamizar, who went to Toronto police headquarters on Monday to protest against the large number of arrests during the G20, said she attended the Windsor rally for one reason.

“I’m here to stand up for free speech,” Villamizar said. “I think a lot of people’s rights were violated in Toronto. I think it’s a sad day for our country. I think the prime minister has sent a message that if you want to stand up against globalization or anything else he deems fit, he will use the police to crush your opinion.”

On its website, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it wants an independent inquiry to address:

• The dispersal of protesters at the designated demonstration site in Queen’s Park late last Saturday afternoon.
• The detention and mass arrest on The Esplanade on Saturday night.
• The arrests and police actions outside the Eastern Avenue detention centre last Sunday morning.
• The prolonged detention and mass arrest of individuals at Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue on Sunday evening.
• The conditions of detention at the Eastern Avenue detention centre.

The association says it also seeks the repeal or amendment of the Public Works Protection Act and reforms to ensure that Criminal Code provisions relating to “breach of the peace,” “unlawful assemblies” and “riots” are brought in line with constitutional standards.

Source | See also under Protest: Outraged G20 protesters rally against police abuse and arbitrary detention | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

Related: Outraged G20 protesters rally against police abuse and arbitrary detention | 20 G20 detention reports: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ | The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Tim, BlogTO
June 29, 2010

The G20 detention centre at 629 Eastern Avenue was opened to media today. Staff Sergeant J McGuire did the honours walking a few dozen reporters through the now vacated maze of a building. We were told that the facilities had been cleaned up a bit since the last prisoners were released but half eaten cheese sandwiches, toilet paper and paper cups littered the floors and holding cells and the stench of urine was almost ubiquitous throughout.

Before the tour started, one of the cops (not McGuire pictured above) waiting with media begged “when is it going to be over?” to which a 680 news reporter responded “that depends on you….but….please, make it stop.”

We soon proceeded to start in the area near the back of the building where prisoners were first unloaded and placed into holding cells. We saw the portable orange toilets (with no doors/privacy for security reasons) and were told the washroom facilities were made available when a prisoner asked to use them. Many still stank and had toilet paper left on the seats and floors. Toilet paper was obviously provided to prisoners but only when it was asked for (in other words, rolls were not automatically supplied in the stalls)

In this first area, it wasn’t uncommon for prisoners to wait for hours while they awaited to be seen in the prisoner management trailer overseen by two sergeants.

It was here that they were told of their rights and food (cheese sandwiches, apples, oranges) and water was made available if asked for. There clearly wasn’t a water shortage (there were plenty of unconsumed cases) but our tour guide admitted that challenging logistics may have prevented water from being dispensed in a timely manner.

The cells were mostly 10×20 although there were some smaller 10×10 ones. I was actually quite surprised how many there were. They seemed to be never-ending as we snaked our way through the facilities. Inside each had a small bench that maybe one person could lie on or 3-4 people could sit comfortably.

Once the prisoners were processed from the initial holding cells they were taken to a separate room where officers met with them in temporary booking trailers. This is where the “paperwork” was compiled (all electronic based) and everyone was subject to a strip search – either a Level 2 (pat down search) or Level 3 (strip search). Contrary to published reports we were told that all female prisoners were strip searched by female officers.

Once this process was complete prisoners were taken to the cells they would remain in for the rest of their stay. Like the other cells, many were littered with paper cups and half or hardly touched cheese sandwiches and some prisoners created messages by arranging the paper cups into words through the sides of the cells.

A separate room contained pay phones where prisoners were allowed to make a phone call. Again, we were told that logistics may have prevented everyone from having access to the phone booths in a timely manner (if at all) but that they were certainly available.

Overall, of the more than 900 arrested this weekend and brought here, approximately 200 were charged and the remainder (more than 700) were released with no charges.

Source | See also under Rights: Outraged G20 protesters rally against police abuse and arbitrary detention | 20 G20 detention reports: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ | States Must Honor Gun Rights, U.S. High Court Says | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Judge Greenlights Sonic Cannons for Use on Civilian Protest, Further Court Tests Slated for Fall | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | 48% See Government Today As A Threat to Individual Rights | Australian Government to Force Use of State Firewall Package, Block ‘Unauthorized’ Programs | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Torontanamo Bay: Life inside the G20 ‘security zone’ | US supreme court: Human rights advice, nonviolent aid to banned groups tantamount to ‘terrorism’ | How will democracy fare under the G20’s new world order? | UK: Birmingham stops Muslim CCTV, license plate surveillance scheme | Supreme Court upholds restrictions on government documents | Iceland Unanimously Approves ‘Wikileaks Bill’ To Establish Free Speech Press Haven | Ontario’s First Nations to be HST exempt | UK doctors agree to waive privacy of mentally ill gun owners | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | Maher Arar loses ‘last hope’ for judicial review of rendition case in U.S. court ruling | Israeli cabinet approves internal inquiry into Gaza flotilla raid | Pentagon hunts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in bid to gag website | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | Tribunals can rule on Charter claims: Supreme Court | Liberals aim to put a bullet in bill to scrap gun registry | Canada can’t deny suspected terrorists of rights on basis of UN blacklist, lawsuit claims | Accused in Toronto bomb plot not aware: lawyer | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | US Federal Trade Commission considers taxing online speech | Police And Courts Regularly Abusing Wiretapping Laws To Arrest People For Filming Cops Misbehaving In Public Places | Anti-gun registry bill hits snag as committee votes not to proceed | CIA drone killings trouble UN rights expert | Israel to deport all detained aid flotilla activists by end of day | Canada’s inhumane prison plan | 72% of Guantanamo detainees given hearings found to be wrongfully detained | UK Torture claims investigation ordered by Foreign Secretary | Pot activist Marc Emery on his way to US jail | Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet approves bill to ban full Islamic veil | Obama Czar Wants Mandatory Government Propaganda On Political Websites | Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has passport confiscated in Australia | Abuses at US ‘Black Jail’ in Afghanistan confirmed | Young Quebec student strip-searched, stranded in U.S. border ordeal | Storage of newborns’ blood samples raises privacy concerns | Random sobriety tests would breach constitutional rights: Bar association | Marc Emery, ‘Prince of Pot’ will be extradited | MPs divided on Canada-Colombia trade agreement | Keeping America Safe: SWAT Team Storms Family Home, Shoots Pet Dogs, Over Small Bag Of Marijuana | Media can’t shield sources all the time, court rules | Bill would strip terror suspects of U.S. citizenship | Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry | Treat Khadr as child soldier: UN envoy | UK Government cannot use secret evidence in Guantánamo torture case, court rules | Wildlife documentaries infringe animals’ privacy, says report | Tories reintroduce anti-terror act provisions that cross line, former CSIS chief warns | French government prepares total ban on full Islamic veils | Gun activists rally in U.S. capital | Abdelrazik’s bank assets frozen | School laptops took thousands of images of students: Lawyer | Ont. smoking club appeal tossed by top court | Access to information risks being ‘obliterated’: report | Niqab gets 2nd Quebec student expelled | Government Lied: Naked Body Scanners CAN Transmit Images | Internet linking rights case to go before Supreme Court | Recent mass grave of the ‘disappeared’ uncovered in Columbia | UK: Pupils forced to submit to fingerprint scans for lunch, parents not consulted | Isohunt Ordered to Remove Infringing Content | CETA worse than ACTA – EU Trade Negotiators Demand Canada Completely Overhaul Its Intellectual Property Laws | UK: Met Police launch net café spy operation | ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws | Google reroutes uncensored search to Hong Kong, raises stakes in row with China | New ACTA Leaks Complete Picture of Oppressive Global Copyright Treaty | Net produces new generation of human rights activists in China | Canadian sci-fi author, assaulted at border, convicted of ‘non-compliance’ | Ontario street racing rules upheld | Copyright conviction raises privacy concerns | Body scans eventually mandatory, TSA official says | NDP tables torture-prevention bill | Government Internet Censorship Begins In Stealth In New Zealand | ‘Security Certificate’ victim Charkaoui to sue Ottawa for $24 million | Canada ‘regrets’ Israeli settlements | George Jonas: Mr. Bumble’s gun registry | An American Detention Bill You Ought to Read More Carefully | Military trials possible for Sept. 11 terror suspects | United States weighs massive expansion of Internet monitoring | Rights & Democracy dissidents fired | Ontario closer to handing over Ipperwash park to Chippewas | Obama gives Patriot Act another year with no privacy protections | UK: Government fury as judges attack MI5, security services | CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens’ rights | CSIS Agents likely contributed to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Australia to fingerprint, face-scan visitors from Muslim nations | More Details Emerging About School Laptop Spying, And It Doesn’t Look Good | School Spycams Case Explodes As Feds Initiate Probe | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Inuit group blasts Cannon over summit | ACTA Internet Chapter Leaks: Renegotiates WIPO, Sets 3 Strikes as Model | For many aboriginals, the truth of residential schools is irreconcilable: commissioner | Former terror suspect Hassan Almrei wants apology | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Pennsylvania schools spying on students using laptop Webcams, claims lawsuit | Google Books Fosters Intellectual, Legal Crossroads | Khadr’s lawyers dispute government decision | Ottawa reluctantly asks U.S. for assurances Khadr trial will not use evidence CSIS obtained in violation of rights | Google Bans Sale of DVD Critical Of Obama Administration | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | Feds push for tracking cell phones | ACTA Is Called An ‘Executive Agreement’ To Implement Restrictive Copyright With Less Hassle Than A Treaty | Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff | Elite Toronto police squad stops and questions thousands | Radiation Safety Group Says Naked Body Scanners Increase Risk Of Cancer | The government has your baby’s DNA | Men at Work plagiarized Kookaburra tune, Australian court rules | Hollywood loses landmark copyright case in Australia | US Interrogation Squad Doing ‘Scientific Research’ | Winter Olympics on slippery slope after Vancouver crackdown on homeless | Police want backdoor to Web users’ private data | Time Magazine Pushes Draconian Internet Licensing Plan | Winnipeg police caught on video beating man | CBC’s new licencing plan: Pay to Print, Email, and Blog, and outsource enforcement to American Copyright Digital Rights Bounty Hunters | ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | Crotch bomber bill before Congress: Treat all ‘terrorism suspects’ as enemy combatants. Domestically. | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | Obama’s War for Oil in Colombia | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | UK: Airline passengers have ‘no right’ to refuse naked body scanners | UK: Photographers protest over terror search laws | Court approves raw milk co-op | Raw milk farmer vows to fight on | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | China tells web companies to obey controls | RCMP ends search – and Wiebo Ludwig opens his door | Google Considers Leaving China If China Will Not Allow Uncensored Search | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | Body scanners capable of storing, sending images, group says | Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | ‘Unclear’ Whether US Air Security Profiling Violates Canadian Charter: Baird | US implements travel profiling: Tougher air screening for ’security-risk’ countries | For more see The Memory Hole – Rights

Brendan Kennedy, Amy Dempsey, Toronto Star
June 28, 2010

Police followed protesters through downtown streets once more Monday as about 1,000 people rallied against alleged police brutality and the detention of people without charge during the G20 summit.

The crowd buzzed with talk of conditions in the Eastern Ave. detention centre: cramped and filthy cells, mismanagement and disorganized paperwork, lack of food, water and toilet paper, and denial of legal aid and access to lawyers.

Taylor Flook said she spent almost 24 hours in detention before being released without charge and witnessed strip searches of women by male officers, as well as sexist remarks made by several officers.

“The entire city of Toronto has gone through extreme trauma,” said Flook, who spoke to the crowd. “We have all been victims of the G20 summit.”

She described being in a cell with a 17-year-old girl who had to urinate in front of male officers because there were no doors for the portable toilets at the makeshift jail.

The demonstration began around 5:30 p.m. in front of police headquarters on College St., where hundreds of officers stood stone-faced as protesters hurled questions and accusations from across the street.

The crowd chanted “Shame!” and “We are peaceful, how about you?” at the officers.

Demonstrators slow-clapped their way through an enthusiastic rendition of “Give Peace a Chance.”

“People across the street – join us!” one protester shouted to police.

Several speakers, including activists Judy Rebick and Naomi Klein, as well as protesters detained over the weekend, condemned police for alleged brutality.

“I’m pissed off about what is happening in my city,” said Klein, who accused police officials of “using the G20 summit as their personal ATM.”

“Your bosses got caught with their hands in the cookie jar,” she said, citing the far lower security costs for previous G8/G20 summits.

“Stop playing politics and public relations with our friends’ lives and let them go!”

Jason Jensen, 23, said he went to the rally because he was offended by police actions over the weekend.

“The police broke the law,” he said. “They’re supposed to take the hits and retaliate if need be. They’re not supposed to take pre-emptive strikes.”

Angela Kalyta, 24, said she wants to know who made the calls to clear out peaceful protests and conduct illegal searches.

“I do actually believe that there are a lot of great cops out there and that they are kind of stuck doing a job that is bigger than them.

“A lot of them just are doing their jobs, but also it’s shameful what they had to do.”

Source | See also under Protest: The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

Related: National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Drew Halfnight, The National Post
June 27, 2010

Riot police detained hundreds of people for several hours in the rain at the intersection of Queen Street and Spadina Avenue on Sunday before arresting a few and releasing the rest.

The detained group included protesters, several journalists, many pedestrians who just happened to be passing by and at least a couple of puppies.

The group was made to stand in the rain for well over three hours without food, water, access to bathrooms, rainwear or shelter.

Police did not issue a warning before corralling the group in a thin strip just north of the intersection and afterward refused to explain why they were being detained.

“Mass arrests are illegal,” Natalie Des Rosiers, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said last night. “They are contrary to the presumption of innocence. They are arbitrary arrest. They should not be doing that. They know they should not be doing that.”

After a time, police began selecting particular members of the crowd for arrest. At around 8 p.m., the soaked and shivering detainees began volunteering to be arrested so they could get out of the rain.

Eventually there were two large groups of people, one in cuffs, each person with an officer next to them; and a second in a large group hemmed in by dozens of officers in full riot gear. Most of the people were in shorts or pants and T-shirts and tank tops.

“I’m freezing cold. We have no food, no water, no shelter and I’ve had to pee for the last five hours,” Sammy Katz, a man detained in the intersection, told CP24 by phone from inside the corral.

Another detainee said he had a panic attack and was allowed to leave.

At about 9 p.m., a man named Roop left the secured zone and crossed a line of police bikes north of the secure zone on Spadina.

He said he was released because he was a type 2 diabetic and said he needed medical care.

“I’ve been in there the whole time. I’ve never seen something like this before. People are freezing and soaking wet. I know they are saying we should have left, but not everyone heard them say that.”

Also inside were three legal monitors with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Ms. Des Rosiers said she had lost contact with the monitors and presumed they were arrested.

“It’s outrageous,” she said, calling the police action an infringement of constitutional rights and “abusive.”

“I’ve been talking to them for the last hour and a half. They wanted to leave. We told them to leave, but they could not leave.”

She identified the three monitors as Julia Croome, Johnathan Deschman and Rachel Browne.

Ms. DesRosiers said all three had previously been introduced to police and were wearing special hats, T-shirts and identity cards.

“They know what they look like,” she said.

Two other CCLA monitors were arrested on Saturday. One was released after 16 hours of detention, while the other, Jon Pippitone, was detained for almost 24 hours.

“We’re quite distraught,” Ms. DesRosiers said. “It seemed completely chaotic in terms of what the police wanted them to do. It was peaceful, there was no violence. It seemed that probably the orders were not clear from the top brass.”

At 9:30 p.m., police loaded the cuffed detainees into four Toronto Transit Commission buses.

Ms. Des Rosiers said she suspected police were frustrated and “in a punitive mode.”

At a hastily called press conference on Sunday night, Toronto Police Staff Sergeant Jeff McGuire refused to apologize for the incident.

“We had reasonable grounds to believe that a breach of the peace was going to occur,” he said. “We did the best we could. I’m not saying we’re perfect.”

Sgt. McGuire looked sheepish as he said officers had been working 16 and 18 hours straight over the weekend. “This is a very challenging time for our officers as well,” he said. “I hope the public can continue to support us.”

“I cannot apologize to them, and I won’t,” he added. “The officers had the right to detain them for that breach of the peace.”

At 9:40 p.m., every member of the group was unconditionally released on orders from Police Chief Bill Blair.

Liem Vu, an intern with the National Post, had been on the scene shooting video and was among those detained during the nearly four-hour ordeal.

“The majority of [the detained people] were not a part of the protest. They just happened to be walking by,” he said. “It started raining. People were shivering. A lot of people were scared. They didn’t know what was happening. I’d say the general feeling was fear.”

Source | Alternate Coverage 1 2 3 | See also under Rights: National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Judge Greenlights Sonic Cannons for Use on Civilian Protest, Further Court Tests Slated for Fall | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | 48% See Government Today As A Threat to Individual Rights | Australian Government to Force Use of State Firewall Package, Block ‘Unauthorized’ Programs | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Torontanamo Bay: Life inside the G20 ‘security zone’ | US supreme court: Human rights advice, nonviolent aid to banned groups tantamount to ‘terrorism’ | How will democracy fare under the G20’s new world order? | UK: Birmingham stops Muslim CCTV, license plate surveillance scheme | Supreme Court upholds restrictions on government documents | Iceland Unanimously Approves ‘Wikileaks Bill’ To Establish Free Speech Press Haven | Ontario’s First Nations to be HST exempt | UK doctors agree to waive privacy of mentally ill gun owners | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | Maher Arar loses ‘last hope’ for judicial review of rendition case in U.S. court ruling | Israeli cabinet approves internal inquiry into Gaza flotilla raid | Pentagon hunts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in bid to gag website | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | Tribunals can rule on Charter claims: Supreme Court | Liberals aim to put a bullet in bill to scrap gun registry | Canada can’t deny suspected terrorists of rights on basis of UN blacklist, lawsuit claims | Accused in Toronto bomb plot not aware: lawyer | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | US Federal Trade Commission considers taxing online speech | Police And Courts Regularly Abusing Wiretapping Laws To Arrest People For Filming Cops Misbehaving In Public Places | Anti-gun registry bill hits snag as committee votes not to proceed | CIA drone killings trouble UN rights expert | Israel to deport all detained aid flotilla activists by end of day | Canada’s inhumane prison plan | 72% of Guantanamo detainees given hearings found to be wrongfully detained | UK Torture claims investigation ordered by Foreign Secretary | Pot activist Marc Emery on his way to US jail | Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet approves bill to ban full Islamic veil | Obama Czar Wants Mandatory Government Propaganda On Political Websites | Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has passport confiscated in Australia | Abuses at US ‘Black Jail’ in Afghanistan confirmed | Young Quebec student strip-searched, stranded in U.S. border ordeal | Storage of newborns’ blood samples raises privacy concerns | Random sobriety tests would breach constitutional rights: Bar association | Marc Emery, ‘Prince of Pot’ will be extradited | MPs divided on Canada-Colombia trade agreement | Keeping America Safe: SWAT Team Storms Family Home, Shoots Pet Dogs, Over Small Bag Of Marijuana | Media can’t shield sources all the time, court rules | Bill would strip terror suspects of U.S. citizenship | Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry | Treat Khadr as child soldier: UN envoy | UK Government cannot use secret evidence in Guantánamo torture case, court rules | Wildlife documentaries infringe animals’ privacy, says report | Tories reintroduce anti-terror act provisions that cross line, former CSIS chief warns | French government prepares total ban on full Islamic veils | Gun activists rally in U.S. capital | Abdelrazik’s bank assets frozen | School laptops took thousands of images of students: Lawyer | Ont. smoking club appeal tossed by top court | Access to information risks being ‘obliterated’: report | Niqab gets 2nd Quebec student expelled | Government Lied: Naked Body Scanners CAN Transmit Images | Internet linking rights case to go before Supreme Court | Recent mass grave of the ‘disappeared’ uncovered in Columbia | UK: Pupils forced to submit to fingerprint scans for lunch, parents not consulted | Isohunt Ordered to Remove Infringing Content | CETA worse than ACTA – EU Trade Negotiators Demand Canada Completely Overhaul Its Intellectual Property Laws | UK: Met Police launch net café spy operation | ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws | Google reroutes uncensored search to Hong Kong, raises stakes in row with China | New ACTA Leaks Complete Picture of Oppressive Global Copyright Treaty | Net produces new generation of human rights activists in China | Canadian sci-fi author, assaulted at border, convicted of ‘non-compliance’ | Ontario street racing rules upheld | Copyright conviction raises privacy concerns | Body scans eventually mandatory, TSA official says | NDP tables torture-prevention bill | Government Internet Censorship Begins In Stealth In New Zealand | ‘Security Certificate’ victim Charkaoui to sue Ottawa for $24 million | Canada ‘regrets’ Israeli settlements | George Jonas: Mr. Bumble’s gun registry | An American Detention Bill You Ought to Read More Carefully | Military trials possible for Sept. 11 terror suspects | United States weighs massive expansion of Internet monitoring | Rights & Democracy dissidents fired | Ontario closer to handing over Ipperwash park to Chippewas | Obama gives Patriot Act another year with no privacy protections | UK: Government fury as judges attack MI5, security services | CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens’ rights | CSIS Agents likely contributed to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Australia to fingerprint, face-scan visitors from Muslim nations | More Details Emerging About School Laptop Spying, And It Doesn’t Look Good | School Spycams Case Explodes As Feds Initiate Probe | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Inuit group blasts Cannon over summit | ACTA Internet Chapter Leaks: Renegotiates WIPO, Sets 3 Strikes as Model | For many aboriginals, the truth of residential schools is irreconcilable: commissioner | Former terror suspect Hassan Almrei wants apology | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Pennsylvania schools spying on students using laptop Webcams, claims lawsuit | Google Books Fosters Intellectual, Legal Crossroads | Khadr’s lawyers dispute government decision | Ottawa reluctantly asks U.S. for assurances Khadr trial will not use evidence CSIS obtained in violation of rights | Google Bans Sale of DVD Critical Of Obama Administration | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | Feds push for tracking cell phones | ACTA Is Called An ‘Executive Agreement’ To Implement Restrictive Copyright With Less Hassle Than A Treaty | Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff | Elite Toronto police squad stops and questions thousands | Radiation Safety Group Says Naked Body Scanners Increase Risk Of Cancer | The government has your baby’s DNA | Men at Work plagiarized Kookaburra tune, Australian court rules | Hollywood loses landmark copyright case in Australia | US Interrogation Squad Doing ‘Scientific Research’ | Winter Olympics on slippery slope after Vancouver crackdown on homeless | Police want backdoor to Web users’ private data | Time Magazine Pushes Draconian Internet Licensing Plan | Winnipeg police caught on video beating man | CBC’s new licencing plan: Pay to Print, Email, and Blog, and outsource enforcement to American Copyright Digital Rights Bounty Hunters | ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | Crotch bomber bill before Congress: Treat all ‘terrorism suspects’ as enemy combatants. Domestically. | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | Obama’s War for Oil in Colombia | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | UK: Airline passengers have ‘no right’ to refuse naked body scanners | UK: Photographers protest over terror search laws | Court approves raw milk co-op | Raw milk farmer vows to fight on | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | China tells web companies to obey controls | RCMP ends search – and Wiebo Ludwig opens his door | Google Considers Leaving China If China Will Not Allow Uncensored Search | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | Body scanners capable of storing, sending images, group says | Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | ‘Unclear’ Whether US Air Security Profiling Violates Canadian Charter: Baird | US implements travel profiling: Tougher air screening for ’security-risk’ countries | For more see The Memory Hole – Rights

Related: Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Brendan Kennedy, Toronto Star
June 27, 2010

What began as a peaceful demonstration outside the G20 jail on Eastern Ave. Sunday afternoon quickly turned violent when police officers stormed the small crowd without warning and snatched at least two people in what appeared to be targeted arrests.

About 150 protesters were gathered on Pape Ave., just north of the temporary jail for a rally in support of those arrested Saturday, when shortly before noon a black unmarked van abruptly stopped in front of the protesters and at least three plain-clothes police officers darted directly into the crowd to grab a man and a woman, who were violently pulled back towards the jail.

The sudden and drastic turn of events sent the crowd into a panic.

The police officers who had been monitoring the protest for almost an hour began surging forward and hitting people with batons and arresting those who did not immediately back up.

The crowd, which was angry now, began chanting “No provocation! No provocation!” and “Peaceful! Protest!”

Police continued forcing the crowd north toward Queen, firing two or three “muzzle blasts” — which they later said were individual applications of tear gas and powder — without any visible provocation.

One man and one woman appeared to be hit at close range and remained on the ground. They were then detained by police.

Up until the moment of the sudden arrests and ensuing panic, the small police-marshaled march and rally was upbeat and peaceful. Protesters sang songs and chanted “so-so-solidarity!” A protester on the front line kept rhythm with an electric bass guitar.

Before the rally began, Toronto Police Insp. Brian O’Connor and another officer told protest organizer Moe Luksenberg, of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, that police would facilitate the march from Jimmie Simpson Park to the G20 jail, but they “would not tolerate any violence whatsoever.”

“We want to minimize our presence as much as possible,” O’Connor said.

Luksenberg assured the officer that the protest would be peaceful and non-violent and if ordered to disperse by police, they would.

Demonstrators were in good spirits as they marched east on Queen, south on Logan and then east on Eastern Ave., complying with officers requests to stay out of westbound lanes.

“Those cops were ready for a fight,” said Toronto Community Mobilization Network spokeswoman Claudia Calabro. “It was absolutely appalling. Everyone was incredibly peaceful. I heard no notice no warning.”

A police spokeswoman from the Integrated Security Unit confirmed that the muzzle blasts were used to control the crowd and that “some arrests were made,” but she said she could not confirm the details of the arrests.

Shortly after the muzzle blasts were fired, hundreds of police officers in full riot gear, as well as Emergency Task Force officers, arrived on two coach buses and about a dozen vans. They lined Queen St. E., blocking southbound intersections from Pape to Logan as curious onlookers crowded street corners.

Source | Alternate Coverage 1 2 3 | See also under Protest: Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

Update (2010/06/28): The GSU has come back in the media and called the raid an attack on freedom of speech. Their press release states:  “The student movement has a long and honourable tradition of supporting legitimate, constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms, including the right to free assembly, free speech and peaceful protest. The GSU appeals to all members of the Canadian public to help us protect those rights… As a matter of course, the GSU has billeted individuals in the past for many events, as have other student unions and universities. The University of Toronto was aware of our plans to remain open… The GSU categorically denies any involvement in any undemocratic activity and we call on university officials, the public and the media to support our collective freedoms and to release our innocent executive members with appropriate apologies”

Related: Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Brett Popplewell, Vanessa Lu, Toronto Star
June 27, 2010

70 arrested in police raid at U of T grad student building

University of Toronto administrators are hauling in leaders of their Graduate Student Union Monday to explain why a union-run campus building was used to house out-of- town protesters over the weekend.

Police raided the GSU building around 10 a.m. Sunday and arrested about 70 people, many of them in possession of black clothing and “weapons of opportunity,” such as rocks, bricks and sharpened stakes.

It was the same style of clothing and weaponry used by the Black Bloc during the violent rampage that ripped through the downtown core Saturday.

Most of the university’s campus had been ordered closed by administration during the summit, but the GSU, which represents about 14,000 graduate students, turned its gym into a makeshift hostel for out-of-town student protesters. The café and adjoining pub were also to be closed, but those sleeping inside the two-storey redbrick GSU were given access to food and water by the union.

“People were being billeted in our gymnasium,” explained GSU spokesperson Anton Neschadim. “It was for a very limited number of people, less than 60 or 70 people.”

A GSU executive — Daniel Vandervoort — was to have been on the premises at all times.

What actually transpired inside the GSU this weekend remains somewhat unclear, even to union leaders, who have not been able to contact Vandervoort and believe him to be among those detained.

Police said they raided the GSU based on “information” and not because of a disturbance at the building. They would not explain whether that “information” was a tip or came from the presence of undercover police, who are said to have been among some of the protesters Saturday night.

Following the late morning raid, police spent two hours cataloguing the personal belongings of those arrested, who seemed to vary in age from late teens to early 50s. Some were still barefoot as they were led in handcuffs onto a waiting bus that transported them to the Eastern Ave. detention centre.

Samantha Nulle, a Peel Region police officer at the scene during the arrests, would not disclose the exact charges being laid.

“We don’t know who they are, but it’s obvious they had criminal intent today,” Nulle said.

Most of those arrested were speaking French to reporters as they were boarded onto the bus. They refused to say whether they were members of any specific protest groups, explaining only that they had been asleep in the GSU when the police barged in.

After the arrests, the grounds surrounding the building were covered with discarded zip-ties (used by police to restrain those arrested). A graveyard of discarded Dorito bags, mustard squirt bottles, juice boxes, power bars, chocolate brownies and liquor bottles were also spotted, alongside wooden stakes wrapped with protest t-shirts.

A welcome-back party at the GSU pub to mark the reopening of the downtown campus had been scheduled for Sunday night.

On Facebook, an invitation posted last week said: “Since U of T shut campus down including evicting selected students out of residences and student unions across the city and country will be joining others gathering to demonstrate against the neoliberal, anti-people G20 meetings, let’s spend Sunday evening welcoming back those who were forced to leave campus and to celebrate our struggles at the Graduate Student Union pub.”

But with police still occupying the building into the evening, would-be partygoers seemed to be staying away.

Source | See Also under Toronto: Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | PM greets G20 leaders amid protests | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Toronto couple unlikely G20 security threat | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Police arrest ‘middle-aged white guy’ in G20 security raid | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Torontanamo Bay: Life inside the G20 ‘security zone’ | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | G20 traffic fence can be closed at ‘a moment’s notice,’ police say | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Toronto G20 police arsenal includes plastic bullets | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | US issues G20 travel alert for Toronto | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Banks to close 36 branches for Toronto G20 | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | Toronto G20 weekend: Private security fast-tracked, traffic jams, heavy police presence, but no sonic weapons | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G8/G20: Cell phones to be jammed as motorcades move through Huntsville, Toronto | G20: Eastern Avenue Protest Jail | G20 Security unbridled: Cops bring out artillery as civil rights observers preach vigilance | Construction begins on Toronto G20 security barrier | G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Mounties shun ‘sound cannons’ in urban settings ahead of G20 | 1,100 private security guards to work G8-G20 summits | Police detail G20 security zone | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Toronto police agree to erase security zone pass info after G20 | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | Condo behind security fence during G20 summit | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Toronto G20 should address climate issues: Nicholas Stern, UN | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Press For Truth Arrested While Reporting On The G20 Summit | Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | First Nations protest against HST | GTA road tolls are inevitable, professor says | Militarized police integrate with private security for G20 Toronto concourse drill | Toronto mayor David Miller uses subway PA to push for funding | TTC opens door to electronic payment | University of Toronto, Peter Munk to reveal new School of Global Affairs | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | Nine charged after marijuana compassion club raided | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | Toronto G20 summit security to be ‘massive’ | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | Toronto’s partial lead pipe replacement program may cause spike in toxicity | Plan to put more police on Toronto transit | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | G20 security could strangle downtown | G20’s Metro Convention Centre location to bump baseball, pride activities | Cellphone fines up to $500 for Ont. drivers start Monday | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | Toronto drug officers face more corruption accusations | Police corruption case killed by delays | Harper confirms June G20 summit in Toronto | Anti-HST protest at Ontario legislature spills onto Toronto streets | More HST debate fallout after Ontario Legislature sit-in | Is G20 more than Toronto can handle? | With only seven months to go, G20 site may be moved to Toronto | Top Mountie says Huntsville too small for G20 | GPS Tracked Road Tolls Back On Agenda for Toronto Metrolinx | Report suggests road tolls, parking and fuel taxes for GTA | More police security cameras approved for Toronto | Students Protest Cops In School After One Of Their Own Arrested | Security may soon test ‘virtual strip search’ at large Canadian aiports | Toronto Police Union picks controversial new president Michael McCormack | Pulitzer winning anti-racism classic ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ faces censorship in Toronto schools | Toronto police seize 400 guns in ’safety push’ | ‘Freedom lover’ behind ‘Obama Joker’ posters | Security guards stop MPs, students from distributing fair use flyers at Toronto copyright townhall | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Toronto TAVIS special police corps demanding ID on city streets | 50 Toronto high schools to have armed police presence | Toronto police ready to take over transit patrols | Toronto council approves stringent green-roof rules | U of T’s Trinity College tainted by secret society | Toronto police board challenges chief on CCTV deterrence, demands ‘phase-in’ | Unannounced Toronto school lockdown drill backfires, police descend on neighbourhood | Police laud Toronto surveillance cameras, critics not so sure | Google PowerMeter to track home energy usage in Toronto test drive | Oshawa truck plant closes | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | Ontario’s high-tech driver’s licences pose privacy risk: watchdog | Lunchtime lockdown to promote healthier eating: T.O. school plan | Tamil protesters blockade Gardiner expressway to highlight Sri Lankan plight | Cars moving, but Toronto Tamil protest questioned | Toronto: New bin regime spawns new rules, confusion for avid recyclers | Province assumes control of transit board, pays Toronto $9 billion for projects | Munk Centre researchers discover botnet, call for international cyberspace ‘legal regime’ | Metrolinx’s draft report called for supporters to infiltrate public meetings | Nine city staffers removed for alleged fraud | Schools seek more police as crime drops | Police presence in high schools makes the grade | Plan to add Toronto red-light cameras on hold | Toronto School Board to ‘review’ The Handmaid’s Tale on one parent’s complaint | A decade later, Lastman proud he called in army | Toronto surveillance project to enter new phase pending review | GTA Transit plan needs taxation, ‘governance’ powers | Is road-tolls fix running out of gas? | Three Toronto cops to stand trial on corruption charges | Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban | Safety report author Falconer on armed police in schools: “Facile” | Toronto Mayor David Miller hails new taxes on water, trash | Toronto finds more new ways to make itself look ridiculous, launches propaganda zine | Toronto’s New Garbage Tracking Bins Delayed for Many | Toronto councillor seeks to establish landlord licensing body | GTA Transport Plan Defers Road Tolls, Focuses on Centralization, Intensification | Toronto Mayor delays garbage tax grab for twelve months | Garbage bin fee hike possible before new RFID bins even hit the kerb | Red light cameras not going up fast enough for Toronto budget | Frequent school lockdowns raise questions | 27 Toronto schools to get armed police presence | The Millershevik Revolution: Centralization of Power in Toronto’s City Hall | Two trustees stand opposed to armed police in schools | Armed police officers heading to high schools | Citizens Witness Gunplay, Black Uniforms as ‘Flashpoint’ Shoots Drama in Heart of Toronto | “Pilot Project”: Private security guards to patrol Toronto’s Chinatown | Turning Toronto into a nanny state | Public conditioning continues: Ratings reach ‘Flashpoint’ for tactical assault squad drama | Chicago, awash in gun violence, gives Toronto advice: You need a gun ban like ours | Toronto artist seeks explanation for police raid | Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens: health agency | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | Toronto bans gun clubs from city property | Miller makes “concession” for shooting ranges, pushes ahead with gun ban | Municipalities Join Miller in Calling for Final Citizen Disarmament | Pistol Pendant Causes Airport Holdup | Youth Worker Subjected to Warrantless Raid on Secret Evidence | $4 Million Earmarked for Cameras, “Respect” at Toronto Schools | Toronto Residents Furious Over RFID Garbage Bins | The monster (blue bin) that ate downtown | Crown complained of lack of Toronto police support in drug squad case | Tough new penalties proposed for motorists who run red lights | Metrolinx Proposes Satellite Vehicle Tracking for Road Tolls | Toronto Council Rules Objection to Tasers ‘Out of Order’ | T.T.C. Starts Camera Installation On Buses & Streetcars | Toronto police seek feedback on installing security cameras | Premier Thinks Yonge St. Cameras Should Stay, John Tory Wants Them In Ent. District | Ontario Police Chiefs travel to Israel to study police tactics

(NB: While the net is clearly afire with both MIHOP (made it happen on purpose) and LIHOP (let it happen on purpose) speculation about the involvement of the G20 ISU in this riot, evidence thus far is obscured by a sort of fog of war, with Judy Rebick among countless others on the #g20report Twitter hashtag suggesting police left cars in the path of the Bloc to be burned on camera. Anarchist media sources suggest this is bullshit, as do the police, and in all fairness the video evidence here – provided by TheYorkLife -  suggests it was some random dumbass that set the car on fire. What do you think? No doubt there’s more details waiting to come out in a week or two once the media has moved on.)

Related: G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Olympic protesters smash store windows | Provocateur Cops Caught Disguised As ‘Anarchists’ At Pittsburgh G20 | G20 police ‘used undercover men to incite crowds’ | G20 protests: Riot police, or rioting police? | Rioters Were Paid To Provoke the Police in Bulgaria | Greek Cops Caught on Video Posing as Anarchists | ACLU wants probe into police-staged DNC protest | Ex-Italian President: Provocateur Riots Then “Beat The Shit Out Of Protesters” | Massachusetts Police Get Black Uniforms to Instill Sense of ‘Fear’ | Police inspector posed as militant protester | Quebec police admit agents posed as protesters | Canadians who trust our secret police should think again | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Jesse Mclean, Toronto Star
June 26, 2010

As suddenly as they burst onto the streets, they vanished into the crowd.

The men and women, clad in black clothes, their faces obscured with bandanas, ski goggles and gas masks, had spent the last hour storming through city streets, hurling rocks and debris through the windows of banks and big-chain stores.

They embraced the Black Bloc tactic, a popular sight at almost every international protest since the late 1990s: The crowd, dressed in their black uniforms, moves as a blob, its members indistinguishable from one another. One will run from the pack and lob a rock through a window, before disappearing back into the mob.

On Saturday, as the riot police shuffled closer to the intersection at College and University Aves.— shields up, gas masks on, guns raised — they disappeared again.

Dozens huddled on a patch of grass outside Queen’s Park. Protected by their peers, the ones in the middle changed into their street clothes. Within minutes, all that was left was a pile of black garments.

“Don’t take a f–king picture of me,” said one man, now wearing a brown T-shirt, as he walked away.

As they dispersed through the crowd, onlookers were left wondering: Who are these aggressive protesters?

Many in the black uniforms are self-proclaimed anarchists; some who are members of the Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance, a group the police say they have been watching for a year.

While Saturday marked their first rampage, many members of the Black Bloc have been attending the more peaceful protests throughout the week, unmasked and limiting their tactics to non-violent actions. Some performed anti-G20 raps; others held banners.

They bided their time and plotted their strategy.

Car loads of protesters arrived from Quebec for the weekend to join the Bloc, members said.

Expressed through an assortment of chants, the group’s causes are many: They’re anti-capitalist, anti-police, anti-colonial. While the labour members marched to have their voices heard, the anarchists are resolute that world leaders aren’t listening and don’t care.

Any change has to come at their own hands.

For the most part, their targets are specific and symbolic: As the crowd tore across Queen St., they hammered police cruisers, attacked banks and other corporate companies. Yet they left a record store, a local tavern and an independent hardware shop untouched.

“This isn’t violence. This is vandalism against violent corporations. We did not hurt anybody. They (the corporations) are the ones hurting people,” one man said.

Others pelted the Zanzibar strip bar with manikin limbs they had snatched from a nearby clothing store.

“This is all part of the sexist, male-dominated war machine we live in,” explained one member.

Factions within that group, however, appeared to just relish the mayhem. As the protest marched up Yonge St., they became more indiscriminate in what they damaged.

Two young activists sprinted onto Yonge-Dundas Square and battered the tourist information booth, sparking jeers from some crowd members.

On College St, a pack of masked protesters began to vandalize an empty BMW 4X4. A civilian car, albeit it an expensive civilian car.

“Stop it. They’re not our enemies,” one protester shouted.

The other retorted: “Yuppies are our enemy.”

While the end result seems chaotic, the Bloc is intricately organized. It’s made up of smaller groups of 10 or so activists, keeping head counts and decision-making quick and easy. Directions are passed through the mob with codes — on Saturday, “umbrella” was a call to move to the frontline.

And they seize opportunities quickly. After two failed attempts to breach the walls of riot police, the black-clad protesters congregated in the Queen St. and Spadina Ave. intersection. A Communist group set off a flare, distracting the crowd and police alike — and the mob took off across Queen.

One anarchist who identified himself as Roy defended the Black Bloc, saying the tactic makes a division among protesters in the eyes of the police, inherently protecting the “good protesters.”

“Because they’re there, others are safe. Right from the front (of the march) they were pointing guns at us just walking down the street,” he said.

But their presence was criticized by other protesters, who said the destruction was simply justifying the millions of dollars spent on summit security.

“Violence just brings more violence,” a woman said into a megaphone as an anarchist set fire to a police cruiser. “What you guys are doing, it’s breaking my heart.”

Source | Alternate Coverage 1 2 3 | See also under Protest: G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

CBC News
June 26, 2010

While protests against the G20 summit in Toronto turned violent on Saturday, a mostly peaceful gathering in Vancouver became ugly when a group of demonstrators began kicking police officers and poking them with signs.

Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said the aggressive protesters were dressed in black and masked their faces to hide their identity.

“A core group of the black-clad protesters began to try to bait officers, who were facilitating the protest, by trying to damage police equipment, kicking the officers and taunting them,” Houghton said.

He said the so-called Black Bloc tactic included protesters in the city’s Commercial Drive area swearing and yelling at officers in an effort to provoke them.

“While there were no arrests today, the right to protest doesn’t include the right to commit criminal acts that place the public’s safety at risk,” he said.

In February, Black Bloc protesters smashed display windows of the downtown Bay store in Vancouver on the opening day of the Olympics.

Source | See also under Protest: ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

The police brutality later on in Queen’s Park was absolutely astonishing as well, with passerby and peaceful protesters trampled under the steel-shod hooves of police destriers, justified apparently by the search for Bloc members that police say melted into the crowd.

Read three timelines of the day’s and week’s events here and here and here. More to come as StatismWatch continues boiling down the weekend’s coverage.

Related: Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

The Toronto Sun
June 26, 2010

The streets of Toronto descended into anarchy Saturday as the city’s police chief warned of more mayhem on the last day of the G20 summit.

Hard-core, balaclava-wearing anarchists burned police cars, smashed and looted stores and threw bricks, bottles and bags filled with urine at police Saturday.

Two cruisers were set alight at King and Bay Sts. and another two cars went up in flames on Queen St. near Spadina Ave.

Violent protesters left a trail of shattered glass along Queen St. W. and then up Yonge St.

The stench of their vinegar-drenched clothes, soaked in a bid to ward off any teargas, followed the anarchy through the streets.

Police Chief Bill Blair said late Saturday as protesters continued to trash city streets that 130 people had been arrested and warned his officers would hunt down all the vandals.

He also confirmed that police used tear gas.

Mayor David Miller condemned the “criminals” who vandalized the city’s streets, expressing outrage at the way some protesters chose to make a political statement as world leaders met here for the G20 summit.

“We were concerned about people coming to Toronto to deliberately commit violent acts and I have no doubt whatsoever that this is what we are seeing. Torontonians should be angry about it,” Miller said.

“People who want to deliberately break windows and burn cars. This has nothing to do with protests.”

Torontonians watched with dismay as the kind of fiery violence that has plagued previous G8 summits played out on their own streets.

More than 30 people were arrested over the course of the day-long protest, which began peacefully at Queen’s Park.

But frustrated by an impenetrable line of security forces surrounding the downtown site where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was hosting the G20 summit, activists turned on the city.

Police let them get as far as Queen St. W. and then brought them to a halt.

Skirmishes broke out at several intersections as the officers were pelted with bottles of water, protest signs, urine and manure.

Protesters pulled rocks from gardens and bottles from recycling boxes to use as projectiles.

Some came armed for trouble with bats, hammers, and metal ball bearings.

The TTC shut down subway service on both the University and Yonge lines and told GO Transit to stop trains at the Danforth GO station.

Anarchists from the notorious Black Bloc left a trail of their trademark black clothing along Yonge St., shed to blend in with more peaceful protesters.

Starbucks, Swiss Chalet, American Apparel, Money Mart, all the major banks, TTC streetcars stalled by the protest, media vehicles, and the Zanzibar Tavern and its G-String Summit were all trashed.

Buildings and vehicles were tagged with graffiti ranging from anarchists’ symbols to slogans like, “F*** the rich” and “Kill cops.” Protester Lucy, 24, who wouldn’t give her last name said she was marching for no cause in particular.

“I’m glad Toronto had the balls to stand up and do something,” she said. “I haven’t seen Toronto like this before.” Her view wasn’t shared by many Torontonians.

Comedian Dave Regnier was walking up Yonge St. to eat dinner when people started running past to get away from protesters smashing glass.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said.

Toronto resident James, who wouldn’t give his last name, was riding his Vespa on Yonge St. when people fleeing the violence told him to get off the road. “This sickens me,” he said after surveying the damage up and down Toronto’s main street. “It’s crazy.”

The protests continued on throughout the afternoon, moving back to Queen’s Park Circle where pepper spray was used to subdue activists just a few hundred meters from the seat of Ontario government.

Later, a large crowd gathered outside the security fence at Bay and Front Sts. and the mayhem promised to go well into the night.

Hundreds of gawkers were drawn into the city by the demonstrations.

With camera phones in hand, they gathered behind police in riot gear and snapped pictures as the officers clashed with protesters at numerous intersections.

“I just came out to see what the fuss was all about and to see how crazy things would get,” said Matthew Marr, 19, a professional dancer who moved to Toronto six months ago from St. John, N.B.

The surreal scene included a moment when residents of an apartment above the standoff puts speakers out their window and blared Bob Marley’s One Love and other peace songs.

At the south end of the security fence, there was little sign of any discontent, aside from a patient Buddhist monk from Japan faithfully pounding a drum.

But about 100 Black Bloc anarchists in head-to-foot black, leading a core angry crowd of about 300 more protesters, failed to heed the messages of peace and soon were seen destroying store fronts and generally creating the kind of havoc they’re known for at G8 summits worldwide.

When the march bunched up at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave., a call suddenly went out and the Black Bloc could be seen running north through the crowd until they found a police car which they promptly demolished.

Then they took off, breaking windows as they went, until they came across the two cruisers which they torched.

“They’re very organized — it’s almost like a cat-and-mouse game,” one observer said. “They are picking the few weakness they can find in the cops and targeting them and then quickly dispersing so they don’t get caught. They’re definitely the leaders.”

The number of protesters estimated at anywhere between 4,000 to 8,000 was down sharply from many previous summits.

In 2001, a G8 in Genoa, Italy, attracted an estimated 200,0000 protesters — one anti-globalization activist was shot dead by military police, more than 100 people were injured and the damage to the city was extensive.

The U of T’s Ella Kokotsis, director of external relations for the G8 and G20 Research Group, who has attended 15 summits, said this level of violence was not expected.

“I’m completely shocked to see what’s going on right now,” Kokotsis said. “I’m just surprised that it’s happening in Canada, to be quite frank with you, because it’s the kind of activity that we tend to see in Europe or we’re going to see in the United States but not necessarily here.

Kokotsis said 4,000 protesters is a much smaller number than have shown up at previous summits but “it doesn’t mean that they can’t wreak havoc.”

Legitimate protesters who work within the law, who attempt to get their voices heard through less controversial means, may feel that their concerns won’t be heard above the chaos.

“When this kind of thing happens, it just diverts the entire world’s attention to what’s going on in the streets, takes away from what G8 leaders have done … it’s going to hijack the discussions, the press conferences, by the prime minister,” she said.

“But this is their aim; this is what these types of people do. The eyes of the world are on them so they’re going to do what they can in front of the cameras. And they know that those images are going to resonate around the world. It’s a real opportunity for them to make a statement.”

In the days leading up to the summit, city Councillor Kyle Rae told The Sun Toronto is getting all the pain and chain-link fences of international summitry and none of the spinoff benefits.

“The federal government didn’t ask us if we wanted to host this thing,” Rae said.

“Part of it is them visiting as much disruption and dislocation as they felt they could do. They don’t care for Toronto, Torontonians don’t vote for them and they have just reinforced that for the next election.”

Meanwhile, the G8 meetings in Huntsville earlier in the week brought buckets of federal cash for civic improvements and new facilities throughout the region.

The few protesters who made it to the town offered free hugs.

“Tony Clement isn’t a Toronto MP,” Rae said of the Parry Sound-Muskoka cabinet minister.

“It’s called pork-barrelling, isn’t it?”

Source | Alternate Coverage 1 2 3 4 5 | See also under Protest: Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest

Kate Allen, The Globe and Mail
June 26, 2010

Tame gathering in downtown Allan Gardens awoken by audience from high-profile speaking event

The tame, 100-person tent city pitched by G20 protesters in downtown Toronto’s Allan Gardens was jolted awake when nearly 500 marchers unexpectedly arrived to join them, led by celebrity author and activist Naomi Klein.

Ms. Klein and a cast of other high-profile speakers held a panel discussion earlier in the evening at Massey Hall, several blocks away.

She concluded her speech by asking the audience to walk to Allan Gardens.

Ms. Klein said the police “didn’t expect a bunch of middle-class people who paid $20” for a ticket to the event to start a march in the middle of the night.

As the crowd cheered, organizers asked the audience to continue down to a temporary detention centre on Eastern Ave., where they said a deaf man was being held who had been arrested at a protest earlier in the day. They said he still hadn’t been read his rights because a suitable translator could not be found.

Jaggi Singh, another famous Canadian activist, also spoke about the earlier protest. The mainly peaceful protest was marked with several confrontations between heavily armored police and the more than 2,000 demonstrators, including arrests.

Before the unexpected addition to the crowd from Massey Hall, the mood was a mixture of fraught and festive.

Organizers took the microphone to explain the political history of Allan Gardens, one of Toronto’s oldest parks.

But before they did there was one other announcement: baby-oil wrestling match in 20 minutes.

There were medics and safety patrols at hand. A thin crowd of bicycle police monitored the sidewalks.

Organizers said there would be free breakfast at 9 a.m., before Saturday’s much larger demonstrations begin in earnest, as the first official day of the long-anticipated G20 summit arrives.

Source | See also under Protest: Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | Mass sit-in in Egypt over police killing | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Greek anti-austerity strikes hit tourists | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Hospitals, medics prepare for G20 injuries and tear gas | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Police use teargas on disgruntled World Cup workers | London G20: Jury acquits protester accused of being ringleader in clashes | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G20 protesters say they won’t be intimidated by police | Egypt says Gaza blockade has failed, border crossing opened in wake of aid flotilla assault to stay | Canadian protesters condemn Israeli raids on aid flotillas | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friends | Underground economy emerges in Ontario in response to HST | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Prospective G20 prison camp medics told patients may be faking | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Russian police crush anti-government protests | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | B.C. anti-HST petition hits target weeks ahead of schedule | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Couchiching First Nation’s highway ‘toll booth’ peaceful: OPP | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | RBC firebombed as protest, group claims | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Anti-HST petition nears goal in B.C. | HST rage puts B.C. Liberals in a spot | Bid To ‘Storm’ Irish Parliament During Bailout Protest Foiled | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Halifax G8 protester charged with assault | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Masks off at G8 protest: rally leader | Grassroots summit calls for international climate court | First Nations protest against HST | Greek civil servants strike, challenge EU/IMF talks | BC Govt, Anti-HST Campaigners Dispute Legality of Pro-HST Leaflet | Up to 50,000 protest Charest’s tax hikes | HST fight makes allies of B.C. political foes | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | ‘Anarchists’ Plan to Disrupt April 15 US Tea Party Protests | Thousands protest Quebec budget | Montreal police accused of protest sabotage | 100 arrested at anti police brutality march in Montreal | Former premier Bill Vander Zalm rallies against the HST in BC | General strike cripples Greece as protesters clash with police | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | For more see The Memory Hole – Protest