statism watch

Police states don’t appear full blown, over night.  They are, like any other social phenomenon, part of social and political process – the end result of long term corruption of the political culture and the incremental diminishing of democracy. – Murray Dobbin

Related: G20 police ripped off amputee’s prosthetic limb, told him to walk before dragging him off | Release G20 ‘political prisoners’: rights groups | Canada Day: 2,000 protest G20 summit arrests | 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

Henry Stancu, Michelle Henry, Toronto Star
July 6, 2010

The province’s special investigations unit has begun probing five allegations that police caused serious injury to civilians during the summit.

It is unclear whether civilian or police information led to the investigation, with more details promised Wednesday.

“We’re currently looking into details surrounding those interactions” and speaking with witnesses, SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon said Tuesday. She would not say which police force or forces, of many drawn into G20 security, are involved in the allegations. The SIU can probe only the officers who work in Ontario, Hudon said, which includes municipal forces and the OPP but not the RCMP.

On the same day, a Toronto police services board meeting calling for an independent civilian review of the way G20 security was handled drew heated response from many people who came to vent about their treatment during the summit.

Thinking their voices would be heard at Tuesday’s hastily called special session at police headquarters, many shouted their objections after board chair Alok Mukherjee announced his recommendation that an impartial civilian overseer be chosen to conduct the review.

The chair said those in the rowdy gathering had “no automatic right to speak” at this venue, and that complaints should be filed in the form of written deputations.

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This just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? You can read the nauseatingly breathless story on the unveiling of the ‘weapons cache’ here. They even displayed the homeless camper’s crossbow and chainsaw, even though they admitted weeks ago that guy had nothing to do with the G20. One can only speculate where Blair and his force may have produced the machetes from.

Related: 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 | 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

The Canadian Press
June 30, 2010

Toronto’s top police officer misled the public by displaying fake weapons used in a medieval-themed role-playing game to help justify their actions during G20 protests, their owner said Wednesday.

Brian Barrett said everything in the backpack police confiscated from him “was safe enough for toddlers.”

Barrett’s “spell-balls,” foam-covered batons and scale-mail vest were among items police Chief Bill Blair showed reporters on Tuesday.

“He turns around and states that they are specifically dangerous terrorist items that were solely intended to hurt police,” Barrett said. “That’s unacceptable to me.”

Barrett, 25, of Whitby, Ont., was en route to a west-end park for a role-playing fantasy game called Amtgard when police stopped him at Union Station on Saturday.

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This sort of corrupt, smirking lack of accountability is a hallmark of the authoritarian thug, and the events of the past weekend more than make the case for Blair’s removal. He has disgraced this city and his uniform. And as for McGuinty – he should be recalled, impeached, whatever one does to remove weasels masquerading as Premiers.

Related: 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

The Canadian Press
June 29, 2010

‘I was trying to keep the criminals out,’ police chief says

The expiration of the five-metre rule that had Toronto residents fearing arrest if they strayed too close to the G20 security perimeter came with a startling revelation Tuesday – it never existed.

The rule seemed straightforward when the news broke last Friday that the Ontario government made a regulatory change to a little-known act in secret.

Come within five metres of the summit security fence and you’d better have some identification or risk arrest.

The temporary regulation, which was passed in secret June 2, did decree that all streets and sidewalks inside the fence were a public work until 11:59 p.m. Monday. Under the Ontario Public Works Protection Act, that allowed police to search people trying to enter that area.

But there was no power to search people coming within five metres of the fence, said ministry spokeswoman Laura Blondeau.

“The area designated by the regulation as a public work does not extend outside the boundary of the fence,” Ms. Blondeau said.

Asked Tuesday if there actually was a five-metre rule given the ministry’s clarification, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair smiled and said, “No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out.”

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Related: 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

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.

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Related: 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

John Cruickshank, Toronto Star
June 28, 2010

The G20 security strategy has been spectacularly successful at cocooning the world’s leading politicians and staggeringly ineffective at protecting the property and peace of mind of Torontonians. And the one, inevitably, led to the other.

By bringing in thousands of heavily armed strangers and throwing up barricades everywhere to regular traffic, frightening off good and decent citizens, Canadian authorities created a ghost town in the heart of our city.

Perfect for the political leaders. Protesters were kept blocks away from where the deliberations were going on.

And most protesters conducted themselves faultlessly as the global good and great met behind rings of gulag-like fencing and battalions of police beating Plexiglas shields with batons in a primitive show of might.

It was, however, less than perfect for the city, its businesses and its inhabitants. The only force that can prevent vandalism and mayhem in a city is the presence of its population. Surely that was the lesson every urban planner learned from looking south to the hollowed-out urban war zones of the United States in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

No police force, no matter how large, how well armed, how empowered to limit the civil rights of citizens, can stop vandalism in the empty shell of a city. Canadian authorities have proved that two days and nights running.

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“Police detain puppies” was briefly in the running for this headline, and really, it’s not as though it was much less worse. From civil rights observers to passerby to peaceful protesters to the, well, puppies, everyone was held for hours without reason. Earlier on the scene, the police actually charged a group, batons swinging, that had been singing Oh Canada at them. The police have broken their social contract with this city, engaged in blatant intimidation tactics and (literally) trampled our natural rights throughout the duration of the G20. New lines have been drawn in the urban psychology of the city, but perhaps that’s the point. Police Chief Bill Blair should be fired immediately.

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.

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What a sham. The majority of the famed G20 communiqué was worked out in advance and ‘leaked’ to the media in time, no doubt, for press runs. G20 leaders, for their part, were treated to a ‘working dinner’, gave their ceremonial blessing to the austerity plan, tweaked it slightly by bowing to China’s demands it not be singled out for currency manipulation, and went home. Price tag? $1.2 billion dollars, the erosion of your civil rights, and the militarization of the country’s financial capital. All of which (those new cameras, LRADs, water cannon etc.) will come in mighty handy once the austerity measures kick in. Hope we had good catering at least. Read the text of the communiqué here.

Related: IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority | G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | For G20 leaders, fiscal austerity is the new normal | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | Harper urges austerity, Obama stimulus in urge for G20 to boost economic recovery | Carney warns of ‘age of austerity’, global outlook ‘getting worse’ | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | | British face big spending cuts as coalition shows unity on austerity | Impact of $47B stimulus minimal: Fraser Institute | More stimulus spending coming | Federal budget watchdog disputes Flaherty’s forecasts | Hope keeps Flaherty’s balanced budget afloat | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Stimulating our way into debt crises | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Flaherty’s economic plan blasted as leading to taxation or cuts | Idle job market hurting recovery, Flaherty warns | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Lower tax haul helps widen Ottawa deficit, $56.2B shortfall expected | Can’t say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog | Liberals call stimulus numbers ‘fiction’ | Ottawa on track for largest-ever deficit | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Economic picture still not very bright, and more layoffs are in store, manufacturers say | G20 to pledge continued ’stimulus’, examine international reserve fund | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Fund me or axe me, parliamentary budget officer says | Stephen Harper trumpets economic report card | Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus | Ottawa’s deficit plan would hike EI premiums | Canada’s $1-trillion debt baby | Flaherty sees deficit, debt, and timetable to return to surplus all expanding | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | Federal deficit hits $7.5B in April-May | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Stimulus cash is flowing – down a hole? | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Jeremy Torobin, Boyd Erman, The Globe and Mail
June 27, 2010

Communiqué says countries support Stephen Harper’s proposal for deficit targets, warns of risks

The Group of 20 will adopt deficit- and debt-cutting targets proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper but allow governments to attack their fiscal gaps as their own economic dynamics dictate.

G20 leaders pledge to “take all necessary steps … fully within agreed timelines,” according to a leaked draft of the summit communiqué.

“Measures will need to be implemented at the national level and will need to be tailored to individual country circumstances,” the document says. “We will each identify additional measures, as necessary, that we will take toward achieving strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.”

The communiqué adds that “advanced economies” commit to the targets urged by Mr. Harper, to cut deficits in half by 2013 and “stabilize or reduce” overall debt-to-GDP levels by 2016.

“We are committed to taking concerted actions to sustain the recovery, create jobs and to achieve stronger, more sustainable and more balanced growth,” it says. “These will be differentiated and tailored to national circumstances.”

The more immediate targets would be ambitious for many countries. For example, Japan’s current fiscal strategy seeks to halve the deficit relative to gross domestic product by fiscal 2015, and to achieve a surplus by 2020.

“Honestly, this is more than I expected, because it is quite specific,” said Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel. “It’s a success that industrialized countries as a group accepted this.”

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This must be another one of those carefully targeted snatch and grab arrests we’ve been hearing so much about – designed to remove the dangerous criminals that walk amongst us. Dangerous criminals like Guardian reporters, deaf kitchen workers, CTV producers, random people walking their dogs, people who didn’t even know what the G20 was, and yes, the occasional organizer promoting ‘diversity of tactics’ (code for moral evasion when it comes to property damage)? But does that justify dragnet arrests, disappearances and abductions, the beatings and catch-and-release tactics employed by police states worldwide? We all know that the answer to this is an emphatic no, when the real casualties are the principles that hold a civil society together – the freedom of assembly and expression among them.

Related: Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Invitation-only NGO access seperates media from activists at G20 summit | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Iceland Unanimously Approves ‘Wikileaks Bill’ To Establish Free Speech Press Haven | Pentagon hunts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in bid to gag website | Michigan Considers Law to License Journalists for ‘Moral Character’ | Obama Czar Wants Mandatory Government Propaganda On Political Websites | Media can’t shield sources all the time, court rules | Press For Truth Arrested While Reporting On The G20 Summit | Secret Document Calls Wikileaks ‘Threat’ to U.S. Army | North Korean worker executed for passing on news | The Toronto 18 Publication Ban: Silence affects the core of justice | Obama Information Czar Outlined Plan For Government To Infiltrate ‘Conspiracy Groups’ | Obama Information Czar Calls For Banning Free Speech | Canadian Supreme Court expands freedoms for media | Border guards are now Olympic thought police – Amy Goodman detained | Cuban blogger claims she was roughed up by state agents | Globe appeal to protect adscam sources before court | Obama: We Need To Bailout Newspapers To Stop New Media Taking Over | Canadian media watched closely in Afghanistan | It’s a great day for freedom of speech: ‘Hate Speech’ laws found to violate Charter Rights | Associated Press Tries To DRM The News | Murdoch CEO Labels Bloggers “Political Extremists” | Should linking be illegal? | Top court to hear ‘Adscam’ media gag order challenge | Top court reserves decision in reporter confidentiality case | Don’t let media shield ‘criminals’, hearing told | Supreme Court to rule on ‘tidal-wave’ of press freedom cases | Fredericton police arrest well-known N.B. blogger on legislature grounds | Barclays bank gags Guardian newspaper over tax avoidance leaks | Chinese Learn Limits of Online Freedom as the Filter Tightens | UK Terror Law To Make Photographing Police Illegal | Publication ban law too broad, top Ontario court rules | Public access vs. government secrecy the issue in Supreme Court of Canada case | UK MPs seek to censor the media | Italian Judge: Blogs are Illegal | RCMP lays no charges in Maher Arar ‘terrorist’ leaks, declares case closed | Human rights body to consider Internet speech regulation | Blogger arrests hit record high | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Shannon Kari, The National Post
June 27, 2010

Police officers tackled and detain National Post photographer Brett Gundlock while he was photographing protesters demonstrating against the G8/G20 summits

National Post photographers Brett Gundlock and Colin O’Connor were among the hundreds of people arrested at the G20 Summit. They were taken into custody at about 6 p.m. on Saturday while attempting to photograph clashes between police and demonstrators. Both men were charged with obstruct peace officer and unlawful assembly. Neither photographer was accused of any violent act. Instead, they were “amongst violent people,” and allegedly failed to comply with a police order to disperse, a Crown attorney alleged in court on Sunday. The two men spent about 24 hours in custody before the Crown consented to their release on bail. The photographers spoke about their experience in custody to National Post reporter Shannon Kari.

O’Connor: We were handcuffed. They emptied my wallet. I still don’t know what happened to some of our camera equipment. About six of us were put in a paddy wagon for at least 90 minutes. There was a lot of waiting. Then we were transferred to a large paddy wagon, more like a bus, with compartments and room for at least 40 people.

Gundlock: I have one of my cameras. One was dropped on the ground. Everyone in jail says they are innocent. But there were a lot of people who said they were picked up randomly. One guy, a computer engineer, said he was smoking a cigarette, taking a look at the security fence, when he was arrested by police. “How cool are you now,” the police told the man after they took him into custody.

O’Connor: We weren’t just handcuffed. They also put cuffs on our legs, around the ankles. Once we got to Eastern Avenue (the site of the temporary detention centre) we were put into makeshift cages. They were about six metres by four metres in size. For a while, they kept moving us from cage to cage, as we were being processed and the charges were explained to everyone. We were strip searched. It is all kind of blurry. Once we got to speak on the phone to a lawyer, we had some idea of what was happening and knew that we might get out on bail the next day. We did not get any water for 12 hours.

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In addition to the nightmare of protesters being abducted and bodily thrown into unmarked vans, rubber bullets and tear gas ‘muzzle blasts’ were used as intimidation tactics against those who had gathered to protest the violent tactics of the ISU. Watch the following videos to get a sense of what our country has become, and do your own research online to find more: Police shoot at protestors point blank | Snatch And Grab Squads At G20 In Toronto | Police Attack Jail Solidarity Action | June 27th jail solidarity turns violent

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.

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Dragnet arrests are an unconstitutional, immoral, heavy-handed application of state power, wholly destructive of the right to assembly. Got intelligence on a criminal? Get a warrant. You don’t arrest masses of people for fraternizing or whatever the supposed justification was here. Precrime arrests have no place in the country.

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.

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