Over 500 arrests at G20 summit protests in Toronto

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      Police have arrested more than 500 people in connection with protests at the G20 summit in Toronto that saw police cars torched, and bank and store windows smashed.

      According to news reports, about 70 people were arrested this morning (June 27) near the University of Toronto.

      Earlier today, the G20 Integrated Security Unit confirmed that over 480 people have been taken into custody on charges such as "breach of peace, obstruct police, assault, assault peace officer, cause disturbance, incite riot, mischief, and participate in an unlawful assembly".

      Stating the obvious, the ISU said in a press release: "There has been property damage. The security fence has not been breached."

      The Toronto Community Mobilization Network, which organized G20 protests, held a rally this morning in solidarity with arrested protesters.

      "Friends, comrades, and allies’ are being detained," the network said in a post announcing the rally. "Homes have been raided, people have been snatched, and arrested in the streets. At least 300 of our allies are being held at 629 Eastern Ave, at a film studio that has been converted into a temporary prison for G8/G20 those resisting the G8/G20."

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

      Comments

      10 Comments

      joker

      Jun 27, 2010 at 11:12am

      I'm sure there were plenty more idiots that could have been arrested.

      Jeremy Olafson

      Jun 27, 2010 at 12:33pm

      What a nice peaceful protest.

      V

      Jun 27, 2010 at 1:07pm

      I wonder how many of them were completely innocent people.

      oldtimer

      Jun 27, 2010 at 3:17pm

      Well joker, I guess you are in favour of the current police state that has imposed itself on Toronto. The only other "idiots" that I can imagine arresting are the Riot Police themselves for multiple infractions of the Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms (are you aware of this document?) We could arrest foreign leaders as well as our own government for it's ongoing involvement in the global arms trade and Uranium mining which feeds nuclear proliferation
      I am embarassed not by juvenile vandals, but by our own government and its band of Black Shirt thugs who have truly questionable values.
      Come on joker, are you able to string together more than a sentence on this most serious and pressing issue?
      Apathy reigns in this sad country.

      Who is next

      Jun 27, 2010 at 3:46pm

      The vast majority of these people being assaulted are ordinary peaceful Canadians being rounded up and jailed.

      Jim Van Rassel

      Jun 27, 2010 at 4:09pm

      I do not condone violence, in this case though, I do understand it. Violence,, political uprisings, riots, civil unrest, are symptoms of something far more troubling then most Governments what to admit. I am not surprised with what happened. Do you really think they didn't get a little help from infiltrators? When it comes to situations like this, nothing is ever as it seems.
      Jim Van Rassel
      Coquitlam BC

      Strategis

      Jun 28, 2010 at 2:53am

      There were four groups on the street in Toronto:

      a) peaceful protestors with a broad range of valid concerns about the legitimacy and intent of the G20 Summit Meeting

      b) anarchists whose passion and concerns are roughly the same as the first group, but who feel that carrying signs and marching is insufficient, as the corporate media routinely ignore hundreds of huge peaceful marches each year all over the world, and only cover protests if there is property damage, and

      c) agent provocateurs, who are usually undercover police who are ordered to ensure that property damage occurs, in order to justify the billion dollars spent on the security operation around the summit, and for the media to employ as a distraction from the more complex and realistic concerns of the protestors, which the corporate media will never touch, and

      c) police and other government agents whose job is to follow orders, which include many policies which violate the legal protections guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights.

      During any international meeting of this kind the same rough mix of characters show up time after time, and will probably always do so. There is no point in expecting otherwise. The important matters to pay attention to, in my opinion, are what the concerns and arguments of the protestors are, and how the government and police respond to the peaceful protestors, and how the police respond to the protestors who believe in committing acts of civil disobedience in the form of property vandalism in an effort to draw greater media attention to their concerns and feelings.

      What witnesses observed at this summit is consistent with past events. The police generally stand around and do nothing when property damage is being done. Then later on they arrest large numbers of peaceful demonstrators. Then the media and police tell the story that they needed to harrass the media and protestors and commit mass arrests to prevent property damage or to protect the summit participants. All of this seems more like a public relations ploy than a sincere effort to protect private property while upholding the rights of the citizenry. The real goal seems to be to delegitimize the protests, distract attention from the concerns of the protestors, and discourage public participation in protests for fear of false arrest and police abuse.

      Indiscriminate mass arrests and abuse of arrestees is a common strategy in a variety of countries to discourage the participation of people in public assemblies for political protest. This is a very disturbing trend to witness in Canada, since it indicates that the government does not value civil liberties highly, and secondly, that the government is afraid of an informed and bold citizenry which is inclined to exercise its civil liberties.

      Both these indications suggest that the Harper government is up to no good, so we should be watching their actions very closely, as they are likely to further impoverish Canadians and continue the trend since the 1950's towards greater and greater concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a shrinking elite of sociopathic megalomaniacs, and the construction of an ever growing police state apparatus being built with tax dollars.

      Strategis

      Jun 28, 2010 at 6:11am

      Here's a link where you can learn more about the Orwellian, sadistic torment of the more than 600 detainees in the massive battery cage facility which was specially created to repeatedly strip search, interrogate, refrigerate, torment, intimidate and humiliate the peaceful protestors, tourists and reporters who were rounded up en masse:

      Charlie Veitch: Arrested, Tortured, Caged by Toronto Fascist Police at G8/G20
      http://www.infowars.com/charlie-veitch-arrested-tortured-caged-by-toront...

      If this isn't a sign of the times, then I don't know what is. There are too many parallels to pre-WWII Nazi Germany to ignore. It's clear where the Harper government is leading our country, but it will be interesting to see how the other party leaders respond to this planned and systematic abuse of state power to terrorize the citizenry into silent compliance.

      glen p robbins

      Jun 28, 2010 at 6:03pm

      I agree with your statement Jim VR.