Toronto G20 Exposed - watch the free movie here !

Documentary - Under Occupation: Toronto G20 Operation

2010-06-30T23:57:00.047-04:00

Under Occupation: Toronto G20 Operation - FULL MOVIE

External YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YqU9lr9G-0

Please visit my main webpage for this movie:
http://www.underoccupation.com

(movie in parts below)

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 01 of 14 - Intro & Prologue

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 02 of 14 - Public Works Protection Act & Peaceful Parade

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 03 of 14 - Black Bloc Riot

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 04 of 14 - Black Bloc Riot Explained

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 05 of 14 - Free Speech Zone

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 06 of 14 - Free Speech Zone Interviews

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 07 of 14 - Novotel Mass Arrest

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 08 of 14 - Torontonamo

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 09 of 14 - Jail Support Rally

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 10 of 14 - Parkdale Occupation

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 11 of 14 - Citizen Round-Up

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 12 of 14 - Held in a Downpour

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 13 of 14 - Why is the G20 Important?

Under Occupation - Toronto G20 Operation - part 14 of 14 - Credits

Thanks for watching!

Playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D36BDB350425001F

Police let Vandalism Happen on Purpose for Excuse to Arrest Peaceful Protesters

2010-06-30T23:55:00.017-04:00

The police were ordered to stand down and let the vandalism happen on purpose. After the riot was over, the police attacked, assaulted, abused and arrested a bunch of innocent people, violating many of their rights, and threw some of them into a cage under deplorable conditions. That is what really happened over the G20 weekend in Toronto. The police and their superiors committed many crimes and they need to be brought to justice for their illegal acts.

There is proof that police were ordered to stand down and not to engage the relatively small group of violent protesters as they rampaged through the downtown core. There is evidence that police lines were pulled back shortly before the black bloc rioters went on their vandalism rampage. There was virtually no police presence while a large crowd, consisting of many black bloc members, traveled through popular areas of the downtown core, with weapons, vandalizing store fronts. All the evidence suggests that police were purposefully ordered away from these locations to allow protesters to commit as much vandalism as they wanted while they ran amok through the downtown core, without the fear that they would be arrested on site for their crimes. Given the overwhelming police presence over the G20 weekend, it is very unlikely that these popular areas were left unprotected for such a long time by an unlucky coincidence. A police officer was quoted in the Toronto Sun as saying that there was "a clear order from the command centre saying 'Do not engage' ". However, the official explanation given by the police is that officers did not arrest the black bloc members because no officers happened to be present when the crimes were committed out of some strange coincidence, rather than a direct order not to engage.

There is evidence to suggest that police abandon "bait" cars on Queen St., just East of Spadina, as well as at the intersection of King and Bay. There is evidence that police were ordered to evacuate the areas where the bait cars were planted to allow protesters to vandalize the vehicles without fear of being arrested on site. There is evidence that police did not respond to the areas where the police cars were being vandalized until after they were engulfed in flames, which allowed the media to capture footage that would portray a street riot.

Basically, the police let the vandalism occur on purpose to justify the $1 billion price tag and discredit the peaceful protesters. After all the vandalism crimes had taken place, the police used this as an excuse to attack, assault, abuse and arrest a bunch of peaceful, innocent protesters, media, observers and people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many people had their rights violated. The stories of the way that people were treated by police are almost unimaginable. This was done deliberately to discourage all Canadians from participating in a peaceful protest in the future. It is outrageous what occurred over the G20 weekend. A line has been crossed. We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!

Toronto Sun Reports on Police Stand Down Order

2010-06-30T23:47:00.001-04:00

The Toronto Sun published an article on June 30th titled "Warmington: Cops had hands 'cuffed". The article questioned "Who made the decision for police to stand down despite the fact the city was under attack? And why? Was it a police decision or political?" It is refreshing to see that the mainstream media is starting to ask the tough questions. The Toronto Sun reported that police were ordered not to stop the rampage of a "small group of thugs" despite the fact that "they could have rounded up all, or most of them, in no time." The Sun quoted an officer as saying that there was "a clear order from the command centre saying 'Do not engage' ".

Here is the link to the full article:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/06/30/14564416.html

Stories of Arrest and Abuse

2010-06-30T20:55:00.043-04:00

Niagra At Large: Ontario Amputee Has His Artificial Leg Ripped Off By Police And Is Slammed In Makeshift Cell During G20 Summit – At Least One Ontario MPP Calls The Whole Episode “Shocking”

http://niagaraatlarge.com/2010/07/05/thorold-ontario-amputee-has-his-artificial-leg-ripped-off-by-police-and-is-slammed-in-makeshift-cell-during-g20-summit-–-at-least-one-ontario-mpp-calls-the-whole-episode-“shocking/

Toronto Sun: Who will stand for amputee?
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/07/06/14629391.html

Toronto Star: TTC worker caught in G20 police sweep - Man arrested and held 36 hours despite uniform, identification
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/830858--ttc-worker-caught-in-g20-police-sweep

Toronto Star: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’
20 people arrested at the G20 tell of ‘inhumane’ treatment at the hands of police
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/829921--i-will-not-forget-what-they-have-done-to-me

Maple Ridge Times: G20 Summit Ridge woman shot with rubber bullets
http://www.mrtimes.com/news/Summit+Ridge+woman+shot+with+rubber+bullets/3227612/story.html

Justin & Lex @ G20 Blog: ‘It was more than I wanted to see’
http://lexgill.com/2010/07/02/i-was-more-than-i-wanted-to-see/

The volume of this next interview is very low. So after the 10 second intro is finished, you'll have to turn the volume on your speakers up, but then you should be able to hear it clearly. This interview is very powerful and difficult to listen to because what happened to this young woman is just so horrible.

Stories from People Arrested at the Novotel and taken to Torontanamo Bay

2010-06-30T20:44:00.003-04:00

A Story of Arrest and Abuse at G20 in Toronto

2010-06-30T19:35:00.000-04:00

This is the story of how Tommy Taylor got arrested and detained at the G20. He wrote this on his facebook page and I have copied and pasted everything he wrote (with his permission), word for word, into this blog below. It is a pretty long story, but well worth taking the time to read it from start to finish because it's an incredible story:

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How I Got Arrested and Abused at G20 in Toronto, Canada
by Tommy Taylor

I'm going to start by saying that at no point in this note will I be exaggerating, bending the truth or lying in any way. I can also say I've never felt this angry, violated or betrayed.

Black Bloc left alone to create carnage and photo ops.

Second, to those who are disgusted with the violence and vandalism - I agree. It was disgusting, but happened to property, by a small group. You can see the photos everywhere of the few individuals who did that. They were also allowed to by police, who parked the cars and left. Everywhere else there was organized riot police in the thousands. They left Yonge Street alone - why? Just read more than the headlines and photo ops - http://2010.mediacoop.ca/
I'm not going to wig out in a conspiracy theory way, just read for yourself. The Black Bloc caused so much distraction and carnage. It happened to me and I still find it hard to believe, I don't want to believe it. My country broke my heart.

So here is what happened.

PART ONE: Grandmas, Idiots and High School Reunions

I was home during the day on Saturday June 26th until around 1:00pm when I went over to Allan Gardens Park (which is literally across the street from my apartment). Hey, if Mayor David Miller was encouraging people to get out do things in the city, why not? There were a few tents left over from the Tent City, which slept there the night before. Various groups were getting signs still ready to march over to the 'Free Speech Zone" at Queen's Park - far away from all things G20. I met a group of grandmothers who were marching on behalf of grandmothers in Third World countries who have adopted millions of children whose parents have died of AIDS. (To all those who are speaking out against the violence in the streets of Toronto and damning the protesters - where were your voices of outrage at this? Or do you only care when the irreplaceable Starbucks has its window smashed? When it's on your front doorstep you cry and give the rest of the world your apathy - why are you only upset now?)

I walk with the grannies and arrive in Queens Park. There are thousands of police in all kinds of riot gear, mounted police units (people chant of "Get those animals off those horses" made me laugh). There were students, seniors, media, everyone, thousands! And it was so peaceful and a tremendous sense of community. The riot squads were quite scary, but people were chanting "You're pretty, you're cute, take off the ugly riot suit!", which also made me laugh, and many of the officers in the riot gear laughed too, one of them quipped "I wish, this thing's hot". Cool, this was fun. Good messages, free speech, the grannies along side the burly boys of the Steel Workers Union. Someone gave me a marker and bristol board. I made a sign "Apathy Will Kill You." After a while of awesome speeches, interesting people and wasted money (1.2 Biliion...?) I give away my sign and head home to Jarvis & Gerrard. Like on the way there, cops are lined up everywhere, watching everything - no holes anywhere. Strange absence of cops at Yonge and Dundas Square...they were all over it earlier....

At home I soon read about the violence happening along Yonge...what? Where are the cops? It's guys in ALL black, easy to see. Why are they just running along with no one to stop them...there were cops there. Ok. Weird. These guys suck for doing this, because this is all anyone will see and read about. And now it's justification for the gross amount of force and money spent. Then comes word about the police cars parked and abandoned, they even rolled down the windows before leaving. What? No radios or any equipment inside the cop cars? No police in sight? Arrest these idiots before they ruin any chance at - oh, too late. So then the media starts to assemble the evening news with the fiery money shots of Yonge St and the burning cars. Vandal assholes taking the bait and acting in a predictable destructive way. Idiots.
Watch an account by a photo journalist who followed them:
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/6497-alt-perspectives-on-toronto-protests.html

Argghh! But, hey, at least things were cool in the "Free Speech Zone". My girlfriend Kate gets home with her co-worker Ben and their friend Simon at around 7pm. She asks if it's ok to go out and see what's going on. I said sure, the Free Speech Zone is awesome, there's all kinds of causes, we can go take a look. So, off we go along College Street. There are people on sidewalks and taxis and cars, all very normal. We got to Bay and College when around 20 mini-vans full of riot cops honked their horns and went flying through the intersection - I had never seen anything like it, it was crazy. We arrived at University Ave to find it completely blocked off by riot cops in full gear. The "Free Speech Zone" was completely blocked in. The cops wouldn't answer any questions, wouldn't move, wouldn't look at you. Nothing. Then rows of riot police form on College behind us, start banging their shields and march in, followed by a rows of mounted horse units. Then out of nowhere two young guys are pepper sprayed nearby, everyone runs, nothing is said by police, no announcements. People help the guys and pick them up, they don't know what happened or why.

Up on the steps of a building I see a friend from high school, Derek. We head over, catch up - he came down to see what was happening, but was blocked off from Queen's Park on all sides. Shortly after some homeless people threw on arm bands and had extending night sticks and tackled people standing around and dragged them behind the dense line of riot cops and dragged them away. Secret under-cover homeless police - oo la la. Still no messages from the police and no violence to be seen except from them. I remember on JackAss when Johnny tried being tasered and peppered sprayed and said the spray was the worst thing he's ever had done to him and never again, poor dudes on the ground. Nothing happened. So, guess the day was over and police didn't want the protest getting any bigger (is what we thought). Derek went back to Mississauga and we decided to head home and Simon went to a bar.

PART 2: A Blue Raspberry Slushie and the Lost Tactical Squads - A Saturday night in TO.

Now 9pm. Kate, Ben and I were thirsty and I remembered reading a story about the ice cream truck guy that parked at City Hall at Queen and Bay and how G20 was killing his business, and I like blue raspberry slushies. So down we went, he was up front with his feet on the dashboard. I was very thirsty at this point, so it was great. The streets seemed a little empty, but people were around, walking, going places to eat, taxis and cars driving around. Seemed like the oncoming rain and shut-out from the police killed the protests. We said "All people will talk about is the violence, to bad." Then things changed around us. It was now just after 9pm, all the violence from earlier in the day was long over and the vandals who committed it, gone. Vans and buses of riot police and tactical teams were swarming. We couldn't see any protesters, but the streets were filing with cops, cars tried backing away and had to jump the curb, people were getting confused, and no cop were saying anything.

We thought it best to head east and get home right now, who knew what was happening. The guys in green tactical gear were pretty scary and shouting to each other "We're in the wrong place, go west! Go west!" They got in there vehicles of all kinds (from armored personnel carries to Budget panel vans), big gas guns, crazy gear. Kate needed a bathroom desperately, nothing was open now and there were quite scary police squads everywhere - now very confusing as to what's happening. We see two construction workers peeking their heads out of the door of a store. We run over and Kate talks her way into the bathroom. We talk to the guys, its confusing, but no signs of violence. The workers wish us well and head back inside.

Were now at Bay St and King St, trying to head east. The sky opens up and the rain pours on down. Heavy. We see a group marching AWAY from the fence, away from G20, they get blocked in by police, but are then let go and told to move east--great, towards home! It's a crowd of maybe 200 people, all kinds. Some flags and signs lead the group. The free speech zone was shut down, so I guess there was nowhere else to go. We live in Canada, so before you say that everyone should have gone home, no. Is that the country you want to live in? Where you can't speak up? One day you'll have to actually face an issue of injustice that will make you actually stand up and go outside and use your freedom, use your voice - and you'll be glad you can. Imagine if you couldn't? What country does that make you think of? So, with no instructions from the surrounding police I ask someone marching in the street and they seem to think it's back to Allan Gardens Park, perfect! We live there!

PART 3 - Tommy Taylor, You're Under Arrest

So the three of us follow, on the sidewalk, away from the central group. Occasional clapping on some great slogans chanted. There are regular people on the street watching, who live and work in the area. We get to Front St continue south to the Esplanade and stop in front of the Novotel. Hrm? Apparently the workers are on strike at Novotel for unfair treatment and some delegates from G20 will be staying there. We are across the street on the sidewalk , in front of The Keg. The marchers sit down and chant "peaceful protest". And it is. Everyone is calm; it's actually pretty awesome to see. There are some awful things in this world and when our economic and political leaders gather in one place to decide the world's solutions and futures (including the government of China), people are going to want to have their voices heard. That's the Constitution, thankfully.

Then they start singing "Give Peace a Chance", wow- it's actually a cliche of a protest! It was a lot of fun, a great thing to witness live instead of stock footage form the 60's and 70's when people were changing the way sexuality, gender and ethnicity are treated in North America. Without public protests we would still have slavery and women couldn't vote. Would you go back and tell those people to go home? No word from police yet, and why would there be? It's 10:00 at night on Saturday on small sub-street in Toronto with no traffic tonight. Everyone's peaceful and out of the way, and only in a number of 200. It actually seemed like just a little whimper from the numbers I saw together earlier, but at least they had heart and spirit. We join in singing "Give Peace a Chance" - how could you not, it felt so great. Then, riot cops show up on the sides of the street. Uh-on. They're blocking it off, time to go.

We head towards them to leave; they say 'Get Back', no problem. We turn to leave the other way, more riot cops "Get Back". Okay, We ask if we can please leave - no response. They haven't said anything. There are journalists in here, a couple comes out of The Keg and tries to leave, they are told, "It's too late." Too late for what they ask, and are told nothing. We ask again (Kate has become quite distraught and upset) if we can please leave and are told, "You should have left when we told you." Wait, what? When? Everyone is saying the same thing. They the phone number for legal aid starts making the rounds, people write it on their arms and hands (I already had it on a post-it note). They guy from the Keg can't believe it. They guy in the wheelchair on his way home is stunned. The confused guy with cerebral palsy is freaking out and scared. A few First Nations people around us say, "Well, this is familiar. Welcome to our club everyone." A gay couple hugs, in tears. And older lady (the splitting image of Jane Goodall) asks what's happening. The media with the huge cameras seem at a loss. The riot police have the full gear, shields, helmets, masks down, saying nothing. The leaders of the march ask for negotiator to get people out of here. No response. They give official media a chance to leave that have badges, but no one else. Not even people who have obvious news camera and photo cameras. Steve Paikin from TVO managed to get out. We all chant, “Let us go!” They begin pulling people out of the sitting crowd and take them away. There was no resisting, they turned around and offered their hands. Then a riot cop with a classic cop mustache announces, "You're all under arrest. You will all be charged and you cannot leave. "

We can't believe we're about to be arrested. They won't tell us why we are under arrest, which they legally have to. We were on the sidewalk the whole time. People from the condo above The Keg throw things down at the group. We throw nothing back and a few riot police laughed. The workers in The Keg are all at the window, confused, one of them starts crying a walks away. Everyone is trying to find out why we just can't go home. Then the riot squads form a half circle around us, shield to shield. People angry, afraid. We were nowhere close to the fence; there was no violence - what was this? People singing a John Lennon song all arrested? Confusing. Upsetting. I want to get out of there with Kate and go home and I can't. I hate the way this made me feel. I didn't do anything. Nothing was happening here with these people, whom I was now a part of. Some sat down, many were on dying cell phones trying to call family and friends, some kids trying to call parents and asking to borrow phones, journalists calling their offices for help...scary.

The unmoving riot officers had arm badges saying they were from Calgary. Then all at once, they took some pill and took a sip from the tubes attached to their riot gear. It became clear they were a little confused, a supervisor was yelling at them they were in a wrong formation, some of them tripped over each other. I noticed the street was blocked off at both ends, no media anywhere at either end...denied access to see what was happening down here. Soon the street was full of buses and paddy wagons and riot cops outnumbered people 5 to 1. Many of the cops behind the semi-circle took off gear and lay down, sweaty on the sidewalk, obviously overworked. One by one, officers would come through the shrinking semi-circle line and take people roughly away. People would turn and offer their hands peacefully, waiting to go.

Next to us was a guy with a green mohawk, punky looking guy, two approaching arresting officers laughed and said "I want to get this guy right here", they pushed through the other people, grabbed and spun him around and pushed him away roughly. He didn't say anything or resist in anyway. Jesus. Another male officer says to the gay couple "I'll go find some lady officers to arrest you boys." His patch says Toronto. Really? Surely, two female officers take one of them away. We can see people put into paddy wagons, or filling buses. I use Ben's phone to call my parents, who were out. I call the legal aid number, no answer. I call my friend Chris Legacy (we were going to hang out on Sunday, now maybe not) he is out. I tell his mom, Linda what is happening, she is worried and hope were okay and wants us to call when we can. They push through the crowd and pick out Ben (who is a bright yellow shirt, his work uniform shirt, he's Brazilian with long black hair and a beard). Kate and I kiss, then they take Kate away and there is not a thing I can do except watch them handcuff her and make her walk away backwards. I hated the feeling I had at the moment, I never felt it before and I hated I was being forced to feel it.

My new Name!

I turned and offered my hands, I was handcuffed and made to walk backwards across the street to officers in front of the Novotel. I'm handed over, searched, asked my name - all very peaceful. My arresting officer, Toronto Constable Caesar, asked me if I understood I was being arrested - I said I understood, but I didn't know why. He paused. "You're being charged with - " He stops, talks with someone else, moves me, and says "Mischief". Another officer comes over with a form and a clipboard, Caesar says "Finally got a clipboard huh?" the officer replies "Yeah, this thing is fucked up".

My evidence bag.

My official arrest time is 12:48am. But they've held me since 10:30pm. They search me, take my house keys and a post it note from my pocket (that's all I had). I give the answers to the form questions and am put in metal handcuffs (hands in front now), Caesar says they need my shoe laces, so sits me down on the curb and takes them off and bags them. He helps me up; I can see Kate with other officers, random people all over, forms being filled out, and handcuffs going on. I see officers in bucket hats, and ask, "Who are those guys with the Gilligan hats?" I'm told those are officers from Saskatoon, an officer then jokes, "yeah, those hats are gay." Another adds, "Well most of them are faggots anyway. Except the dykes." They laugh. Real police solidarity there. Cops everywhere are chugging bottles of Gatorade and water and throwing the bottles to the ground. We all had stickers with numbers stuck on us and pink wristbands with the same number. I was #0106. No one has read me my rights. I hoped I would end up in a wagon with Kate.

Our wristbands.

Here are two videos from some people who were in the condo. Listen to the Rocket Scientists who yells, "You guys are dumb!" then breaks into a Beavis and Butthead laugh. No media was allowed to see what was happening to us, so, here's what it looked like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2KEou7WFV8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTCXuxhVGXM&NR=1

PART 4: Taken on a Ride

So, handcuffed and waiting around I see cops on the sidewalk lying on their shields, gulping Gatorade. Kate is put into a paddy wagon. I'm brought over to a different one and put in after a young guy. The back of the wagon has two seating areas, dived by a steel wall. There are no lights; the back wall is angled so you have to hunch over. I introduce myself to my fellow prisoner, he does the same. His story is much like mine. 45 minutes later we now have 6 guys on the bench. The last one in is a photojournalist, the officers toss in his evidence bag (with big fancy camera and case) "That's my camera!" he yells, they laugh and slams the door. The police's attitude is very relaxed, casual, many smiling and laughing. I overheard many talking about the confusion they faced in the day and right now. The other guys tell me they never had their rights read either and were all told different reasons for the arrest "Disturbing the peace" "Obstructing Justice" and so on. No one clear reason we were all there. I can only make out their silhouettes when they lean forward, no lights.

We can hear the guys on the other side of the truck. One of my 6 guys shouts "Tim?!", "Yeah?" we hear back. Turns out they went to elementary school together in rural Ontario way back when. The ages of the guys in the truck range from 15-47. The only light that comes in is from tiny circles in the metal doors, the glass is dirty, so we can't make out too much. We drive for 1 minute and stop. They turn off the truck and leave. The truck behind us backs over and stays put, still on. Our truck now begins to smell of fumes..I don't think this was on purpose, as the drivers seemed confused about where to go, we could make out there was many discussion happening between all kinds of officers outside. But diesel fume headaches started in. After another 10 minuets we drove to a large prisoner transfer bus.

One by one we were let out of the small truck and lead aboard the bus.

Our bus looked a lot like this.

The first portion of the bus had sectioned off pairs of seats with plastic and metal cages with their own doors. Inside were female prisoners, two by two. I saw Kate sitting with another young girl. She didn't see me, she looked so sad. The back section was all open seating. They told us it was two to a seat and move to the back. We filled up all the seats and were left with one extra guy. They yelled at him "Sit down now!" he told them there were no more seats, they yelled "GET IN A SEAT NOW!". So he sat on the floor. Some girls were asking about a bathroom, as we've been in police custody for almost 4 hours now. No reply. "Where are we going?" No reply. "Will we get a phone call?" No reply. Some of the guys had no shoes, some had no laces and some still had their shows fully intact. The mix on the bus was great. All ethnicities, ages and genders. Protesters, pedestrians, media, the homeless, tourists - but mostly everyone in there was from Toronto. So, with about 12 girls up front and about 20 guys in the back - all in handcuffs, off we went. I tried calling to Kate, but she couldn't hear me. No one had any phones, cameras, no way to record anything from here on out.

Everyone couldn't believe what was happening to us. We all talked about our rights, what phone number to call, where we might be headed (the general thought was the new detention centre they built inside the Toronto Movie Studios at Pape and Eastern. And sure enough, as the bus left the St. Lawrence Market area, we headed east. There was a sense of outrage on the bus, but when we got our phone call and legal counsel, this would be exposed for the farce it was. A girl started getting really wild and screaming - it was a bit much, a few guys laughed, and I heard a "Shut-up" - it was unmistakably Kate, she wasn't into the girl next to her loosing her mind just yet. I called out "I love you!" another guy jokes “Will you be my prison wife?”

We arrived outside of the wet and dark Toronto Film Studio, with its large gates and armored guards and dozens of police cars and fenced off areas. It was creepy. The buildings were huge and grey with red signs with white numbers on them. It was something from a George Orwell novel. Large spotlight pointing down from posts, in the rain. Our bus was stopped in front of a large garage door to one of the hanger-sized buildings. The door rolls open a light pours out from it. We drive inside.

PART 5: Behind the Grey Door.

As we go in there are rows of cages on left hand side. About 12'x20' and around 10' high. They were cages. Chain cages full of people. From what I could see they were all young people in these cages, maybe the young offenders. I have never seen anything like this, only in holocaust films, sci-fi films or pictures of Guantanamo Bay (and no, am I not comparing this to those events, I'm just sharing what came to mind and the only things I can reference it to).

There are skids of bottled water and Gatorade the police are drinking from. The men on the bus are talking about how the police cars were abandoned and no police officers stopped the infamous Black Bloc - to learn more about that here:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/peaceful-protesters-attacked-arrested-while-cop-car-arsonists-left-alone.html

We all agreed that we were the hundreds of protesters left at the end of the day; long after the violence was done that afternoon. But hey, how do you justify to the people of Canada that we spent 1.2 Billion dollars? You arrest all the protesters. We thought we might held for 24 hours so that the streets would be cleared from people demonstrating their right to free speech. I mean, they closed down the "Free Speech Zone" in a public space, so... why were we there? Finally an officer comes on the bus and states “come forward and give your number". So one by one we go. Outside we are handed off to a Court Service officer, all with "Special Constable" patches. Some have removed their nametags, others have them still on. Some are Barrie Court Services, some Toronto. I'm given to a shorter female constable who removed my metal cuffs and put me in the plastic binds - she had trouble getting them tight enough "My gloves are too sweaty" she says, a male office grabs the tie and pulls them - tight. My wrists are already raw from the cuffs; I say they are too tight. "You’ll live" I'm told. Oh.

She asks where I'm supposed to go, no one really knew. Everyone there seemed a little overworked and confused. Someone told her to make sure I read 'the sign'. She takes me towards an ominous black corridor - it was this pocket of darkness in this hanger that lead to another section. Kate had already disappeared inside it. She stops in front of a sign, which states that all video and audio would be recorded in the cells and could be used as evidence, etc etc. She asked if I understood and I said I did. I was actually happy to read that, in case anything in violation of the law happened to me inside. We walked into the darkness...

PART 6: Welcome to Cell Block OL 6 in Detention Level 2 Prisoner #0106, or
Come for the cup of water, stay for the condom-ball.

UPDATE: PHOTOS FROM THE INSIDE: http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/06/inside_the_g20_eastern_avenue_detention_centre/

Inside the former movie studio, I almost can't believe it. I've never seen this outside of movies. It is almost unreal. There are no windows to be had. The cavernous ceiling is 200 ft high, I can barely see it. It makes the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark look small. Hanging about down to about 15 ft off the ground are rows of intense florescent lights. Dozens of rows as far as I can see in either direction. Over each cell is a small black pod container a camera. It appears to be a maze made of industrial shelving, construction office trailers, wooden decks and walkways and cages. The cages are roughly 12' by 20' and around 10' high. There is sheet metal on 3 sides; the front side has a sliding door section that locks. Inside each cage is a porto-potty with the door removed, no toilet paper. It reaches close to the ceiling is about 4'x4' around. Those potties -bright orange, with an elaborate art deco style molding. A 1.2 billion dollar porto-potty to be sure. I pass rows of the cages with people bleeding, crying slumped on the concrete floor. Huddled, asking to call family, asking for water, asking what the charge is, wanting to know their rights. All the officers were ignoring them and laughing. Laughing at people. I have never seen anything like this.

Like this, but little bigger with one bench and huge outhouse.

My officer was asking where to take me - no officers knew. One officer tells her "Who knows? This place just got fucked up. Good luck". She sighs. Finally it's decided and I'm taken down a row of cages, I see Kate in a cage with about 30 girls, huddled, still wet and in this place (which I just notice is freezing). She smiles - 'I love you!" I call to her, I hear "I love you too!" as I'm brought around the corner. I see the girls have no door on their potty, with mostly male officers around them walking by, looking in. We're near the wall and I see a cage full of about 35 men. Cell Block OL 6 says a white sign on the cage door. In I go. I recognize some of the guys from the bus and paddy wagon. Hello agains are said. We are still handcuffed with the vinyl ties; I now have a cut on my wrist. I see the guy with the green mohawkish cut - he looks troubled.

Soon enough, a few more guys are brought. There are no 40 men in the cell. The young, short male office with spiky orange hair and a shirt labeled Toronto Police jokes to us "What do they think this is Auschwitz?" This is what he said. 40 witnesses and the video/audio equipment that was right above us. They have since stated this footage would be made public. Amazing, I can't wait. There is one steel bench in the cell that seats five. There is standing room only. The floor is cold concrete, dirty and covered in chipped splotches of bright green paint - from when the movie studio would use green screen. Anyone who sat was covered in a bright green dust.

The camera - I hope you're getting all this up there.

I was now around 2:00am. I've been held since 10:30pm, not read my rights, not explained anything, not yet charged, no phone call. And in an overcrowded cell with no access to water. Every guy had to pee; there was a line around the inside of the cell to piss. Trying to pee with your hand cuffed together was horrible...but we all managed...the outhouse was messy. No toilet paper. So, here we all were. Ages from 16-78. Three German men asked why the guard made a joke about Auschwitz. They were here from Germany, left a bar, got arrested. They said they had no idea Canada was like this; they said the world thought we were free. The said "poor Canadians, this is shame".

The stories from the men in the cell were all very similar. Some were protesters in the Novotel March, one man was having dinner at the Keg with his girlfriend (who was also arrested), there were two journalists, a homeless old man with a big grey bird and long hair with scruffy clothes- he was almost in tears and confused, he said they grabbed him walking on Carlton. He then asked us "What's a G20?" Sick. The 16 year old kid hasn't been able to call his parents and now he's locked up with 39 men. The cage houses all kinds. There's a young gay couple curled up together. Some men have no shoes, some no laces and some still have both. Wet socks and feet and clothes in this freezing, unending hanger. And now we're thirsty.

Stories are exchanged, we all discuss what to say to our lawyers or legal aid when we call. One guy explains how he was working at a music store up at Ossington, left work, saw his buddy across the street gave him the rock and roll horns with his hand, then a cop saw him and said 'Don't give the cops the finger!" while running at him and then tackling him. He was bleeding and his clothes ripped. He was shocked. Still thirsty. We ask why were in here. 'Because you committed a crime." quips a Barrie Court Services officer - a tall, bald man with one hell of mean streak. It looked ugly. Some officers were laughing and joking at us. I was feeling the crowded cell growing tense and angry. One black, shorter male Toronto Officer came over as we began pleading for an explanation, for water and for some of use to be moved into another cell. He came over and said, "This is wrong. Guys, I'm sorry, this is fucked up. But there's nothing I can do. This place is just chaos. I'm sorry." he leaves. Very thirsty.

In police custody for 6 hours now, no water, no anything. We start to get worried. We are still very polite guards "Please, we need water. Please help us. Please help this 16-year-old kid. Please split us up, we can't even all sit in here". We look at the camera and beg for help. We can hear people in the other cells yelling and begging for water. We hear a girl 'Please! I need my medication! HELP ME!". I yell "Help that girl, what the hell is going on here!" Other cages begin to yell. I find out later this girl was in my girlfriends cell and was way passed her medication time. The male officers were laughing in at her and tapping their keys along the bars leering at the girls in wet clothes. Finally two female officers took the girl away. They also had a 17-year-old girl in her cage as well. Still thirsty.

7 hours into custody, the people break. A shout for water breaks into a little riot, all cells yelling water, shaking the cages, and kicking at the doors. People with cracked lips and cracking voices - I've been awake for 22 hours now. Luckily a guy in our cell kept a watch. The place is going insane, we are told by guards “We're working on it!" some are apologizing, some are obviously lost and confused, others are laughing.

Finally water reaches our cell. They have a blue jug on an office chair, rolling it around with one officer pushing, one with a key, and one holding styrofoam dixie cups. We are told to line up. Many of the men say "Thank-you". I had to beg for water. BEG FOR WATER. For 9 hours. I hated being made to feel grateful for this tiny sip of water. Many gulped their cup down, some took it slow. "So shut-up now." said the officer. Well, guess who was starting to get hungry after 8 hours in custody?

An older First Nations man produces a condom and blows it up into a balloon. We all laugh - the water did us good. In fact we all got along really well, making the best of things we could. Quiet guys, big loud guys, punks, well dressed men, journalists, people who were at work, protesters, homeless, gay guys. We all got along, totally united. So, with this condom balloon, we started bouncing it around, like volleyball. We then called it Condom-Ball. The rules were to bounce it with your elbows or legs, and try and catch the tip in your empty dixie cup (as they were tied together, like a volleyball bump already - too easy). Some guys got really into it, some were laughing, some thought it was gross, but funny. We joked about starting a condom-ball league. We'd rent the cages and have teams of 40 guys in each one. I'm looking forward the security footage from our cell - look at these crazy violent protesters....playing games. So, some dude popped the condom with his cuffs, we all jokingly booed him and someone said "Now you'll have to pay child support, never break the rubber!" Then the First Nations guy pulled out another condom. We cheered. They guy who broke the last one volunteered for blow-up duty. Someone said " When we get out I'm gonna say being in a cell with 40 guys sucked, until we found a condom" we all laughed our asses off. Soon people tired of the game, as we were wet, crowded and hungry and still didn't know anything.

PART 7: Awake for 25 Hours, Imprisoned for 10 of them.

It was weird feeling being locked in a cage like. Told by my captors that it was wrong (but also laughed at by others), begging for food and water. Then, down the hall across from my cell I saw this: the bald Barrie officer was dragging in a kid with mild cerebral palsy (I saw him with a friend while they were arrest, he was so scared). He pushed and then they said something to him, his clothes were torn and his eyes read from crying. I guess they wanted his shoes, because he struggled to lift his leg (his pants were falling down) when the officer slammed his leg down 'Never mind. Stop being stupid" he laughed at the kid, as did the other officer. Away they went. Heard a door slam.

The guy who took his girlfriend to the Keg tells us how he told her it would be safe out "The violence was long over, and even the Mayor had said to go and enjoy Toronto.." he called out for his girl "Trudy!?!" we hear a "Yeah!? Is that you Sean?" he looks happy and yells "Yeah Baby!" she yells back "It's over!!!" we all start laughing. Later I find out from Kate that Trudy was in her cell and also yelled, "Just joking!" but he didn't hear because we were all laughing. The laughs were hard to come by. I was still sick that I begged for water and had been here for 11 hours and I hadn't done a thing. And that I watched helpless as they roughed up a kid with CP. This was like some sick, twisted social experiment. All handcuffed, we ask "what if we have shit? No toilet paper!" 45minutes later they push a few sheets threw the fence "We're bound, we can't even wipe!" the male officer says "Figure it out boys." Laughs. We make a pact that none of us will shit. I find out from Kate that the girls had to make a human wall when using the bathroom and help wipe each other. They also had to beg for toilet paper. Apparently they didn't think girls needed much for the bathroom. So women asked for tampons or pads, the male guards laughed and said, "that explains your attitudes."

Haha, cerebral palsy is hilarious. BEG FOR WATER!

It was 6am, we couldn't lie down or even all sit. We tried rotating on the steel bench. It was freezing. The Germans missed their flight. Another guy visiting his girlfriend from Manitoba misses his bus. Trudy's boyfriend tells us she was to be on a bus up north to camp where she would be a counselor to children with disabilities. Good thing those kids are now safe from her, I mean, the woman had dinner at The Keg! Oh no! We hear that one cell contains a lawyer who has stated all our rights had been violated. Another holds a TTC Streetcar Driver in full uniform whose streetcar was caught in a blocked off zone, he left his vehicle and was arrested. What?

People are hungry. We plead to the passing guards for food or and explanation, or to tell us what's happening - even too split us up so we can lie on the cold concrete. They say will be processed, interviewed, charged and released in about maybe 3 hours - we can also make a call then to legal aid. And food? "We're working on it." We ask they guards how they could be a part of this. Some look guilty as hell, some laugh. We get the attention of Toronto Special Constable White, a short balding man with glasses. He comes to us; we all desperately and calmly explain what's happening to us. White listens, apologizes, admits that it's wrong and says, "I'm just a pea in a pod. I can't help." So, the old "I'm just following orders", which followers of human right violators have used for ages - wrong is wrong, whither it's your paycheck or not. But hey, this is the G20, blood money for all!

White leaves us, apologizing and saying he's going to try and help. 10 hours, a sip of water, no food, nothing. The gay couple has curled up on each other trying to sleep and keep warm. The man next me says, "I'm jealous." I say "Me too." he says, "I'm starting to look for the cutest guy in here." I say, "Well, when in prison..." we chuckle, but it's an empty chuckle.

PART 8: "Food" for the disillusioned.

You know what smells? 40 guys who haven't showered in 30 hours with an open door outhouse and wet socks. I wonder what happened to Ben? Tension is mounting in the cell, some guys are getting wild-eyed. Some are starting to freak out. We've been in the cage for 10 hours, crammed together. Finally food arrives in the form of a plastic wrapped dinner roll with a slice a processed cheese in it, and slathered in butter. Everyone digs into their food, devouring them. It's around 8:30am. One guys asks "Why is there so much butter?" the officer replies "It's not butter, it's margarine." he jokes back " I can't believe it's not butter!" Some us laugh, some are too into the sandwich to notice anything else.

I suggest we write a message in the chain ceiling with our dixie cups for the people watching on the camera. We all decide "HELP" is the best option - maybe they'll do something and at least split us up. A quiet young guy in glasses puts it up. Nicely done. I find out that Kate's cell (Cell Block OL 5) made a peace symbol and that Ben's cell block (OL 2) made a chandelier from some danger tape the pulled inside, the cups and the ends of the plastic handcuffs the chewed off. Fancy. I hope the officers on the other sides of the cameras saw the dangerous people they had. Then two officers arrive and take away the green mohawk guy. We ask about the rest of us and we're told "Soon." That's all. We ask about our rites and and Toronto Court Services Special Constable # 99257 says, "We can hold you for as long as it takes to process you." I ask him "is that the law? What if it takes four years to process, you can hold us?" He says, "Yes". I tell him he's lying. I demand to know his name (his name tag was off) and says "Your fault if you believe me." looks nervous and quickly leaves. Never gave a name. We were told many times about being processed and we'd reach what they called "the Otherside". What was there? I don't know. They said that we'd have to wait again there anyways. What was this Otherside? Someone suggested we'd be turned into cheese slices. I said I would make terrible Soylent Green. A few guys laughed emptily.

PART 9: No Help for a Broken Heart.

We are thirsty again; it's been 15 hours in police custody. Still 39 guys overcrowded. Getting very scary. Awake for around 30 hours. Had one sip of water and cheese shit-bun. The 16 year old hasn't been able to call his parents. We yell for someone to help us, to help this 16 year old kid - for someone to do anything, to please help us. We get the attention of black female Toronto Special Constable Ottey, with short hair and glasses. We tell her about the 16 year old, she writes down his information and says she'll do something about it. I see her several times in the next few hours, ignoring us as we ask for an update. Poor kid. His poor parents. We see officer White a few more times, he always apologizes. They say they are looking for people they suspect of bigger crimes first - an officer comes by and yells "Islam! Is there an Islam in here?" Nope, no one by that name here.

We start loosing it a little bit. Saying to every office 'You know this is wrong look at us in here!" We hear from the other cells that some only have 20 or 15 guys. Why is this happening? How is this happening? Some guys start screaming, kicking the cage, and shaking it. We can hear this happening all over the place. We yell for help, some cops are laughing, some look devastated and helpless. I'm so thirsty and I'm screaming for water. It felt like nothing I've ever felt before. A prisoner. Innocent. Screaming at my captors for water. Right then my heart broke.

I looked around at the screaming men, the scared kid, the huddled couple, the disgusted Germans, the confused old man, the First Nations man who didn't seem surprised at all, the guards laughing, the others dismayed. Thought about the peaceful things I saw at the park, the grandmothers with AIDS orphans, Kate taken away in handcuffs, the kid with CP roughed up, begging for water and my heart simply broke. That's the only way I can describe it. My beloved country, my city. I looked down at my t-shirt - bright blue with a big white maple leaf and in bold, caps letters below: FREEDOM. I kid you not. I was proud to wear that shirt earlier that day. Now it stung. I was so helpless and empty. For those of you who may not think this sounds like much, or is justified, you weren't there. People from all walks of life were breaking in that place, including police officers. One guy lost it and went into "Fucking pigs! Fucking giving us swine flu! Fuck you!" I always thought people who said things like this don't appreciate that the police have a hard job and deal with so much crap. But right then, I got this guy and those people. People who have been victims of the police. Are all bad? No. But they give into their own kind of mob mentality. I saw the blood lust in those Riot Cops eyes and the disregarded from some of these guards. One man yelled 'We are people! We pay your salary through taxes!" the officer yelled "You don't paying any fucking taxes, look at you!", the university educated, employed man in awe asked "What the hell do you mean?" He walks away laughing.

We yell and scream, beg and cry out. Eventually officers arrive and say "You've been in here too long. Sorry, we'll move some of you" and take six guys, then another six. I went with the second six.

PART 10: Meet the New Rat Cage, Just Like the Old Rat Cage

I'm lead down to Cell Block OL 2. Across from us are large sections of industrial shelves and we can see into deck area where 4 trailers meet, they each have a door. The door I can see says "Booking Room 10" with a red light above it. Cops lean on the railing, laughing, and dancing when people chant slogans from their cells. They think it's hilarious. Coming on 15 hours in custody. There are already around 15 men in this cell. They tell us some guys got removed a while ago. There are many similar stories in here and another journalist. There is one guy in an English soccer jersey that tells me he was at a bar, stepped out for a smoke and was arrested. He was a huge soccer fan and was about to miss the big Germany/England match. The 16 year old was now in this cell. Around 10am there was a shift change in officers and we began begging for water again, maybe these guards would help us. I notice the evidence shelves under label OL 6, there are 5 bags - but there were 40 guys in that cell...where's all our stuff?

My mouth was pasty and dry. Some guys mouths were cracked. We were once again ignored and told to wait. More promises of the Otherside. Some try to sleep on the concrete and share the single metal bench. Officers wander the hallways aimlessly, some calling out names, asking each other what happened to certain prisoners -confused. Several officers repeatedly pass our cell asking for the same names and numbers. Why don't they know where they put anyone? There were hundreds of officers in this place. Why so slow to process? What was the charge? Where is our phone call? I beg for more water. I'm getting dizzy and have been up for 31 hours. The lights never dimmed, no blankets. The majority of everyone I've met so far lives in Toronto.

Another cheese sandwich arrives. My mouth was so dry I had trouble swallowing. Some guys used theirs as pillows. One man asks a guard if he has any kids, the guard says he does and so what? The man says that his two kids have no idea where he is and were expecting him two hours ago. The guard writes some info down and says he'll see what he can do. I'm seeing some spots and getting woozy.

PART 11: Lights Out Tommy Taylor

The next thing I know, I'm outside the cell, surrounded by a few guards. An older female guard with short dark hair and glasses is offering me a cup of watered down Tang and instructing my binds be cut. I'm given a second cup of juice and new, looser cuffs. They ask if I'm ok, I'm so confused about why I'm outside the cell and ask "what's going on?" they ask if I'm alright, and I say "I guess so" then they open the cage and put me back. The guys make room on the bench and sit me down. Asking if I'm ok. "What happened?" I ask with a now splitting headache. "You passed out man!" they tell me. Timber. Over I went, boom to the ground. They yelled to the guards for help, the officers wouldn't come in to get me so the guys had to pick me up and take me to the door. I was then up on my feet and being given juice...so the blanks were now filled in.

I passed out. After begging for water. I passed out and fell over in jail. What was happening to me? No sleep, no water. They men went nuts "Is this what it takes, a guy passing out! Christ!! What's wrong with you monsters!" My head kills, they ask for medical attention for me, I second the motion and we're told "Not right now". Guys slump to the floor in defeat. The female officer who helped me aids in bringing some watery orange Tang to all the cells. We line up, quietly and broken for our drink. I find out from Kate that this same female officer broke down and cried with the women at their cell. She was sobbing and apologizing "This is wrong, you shouldn't be here. This is all so wrong". There own officers couldn't handle it, she was worn down by the injustices she was being ordered to do. This happened in Toronto.

Across from our cell Special Constable C. Smit, a short white female officer with blonde/brown hair stands guard. We nicely talk with her through the cage. "Please tell us how you can do this? We are begging for water in here. This guy is only 16 and this guy passed out. Your co-workers laugh. They are joking to us about our rights and laughing at a disabled kid. You know this is wrong, what's happening" after too much of this, with tears in her eyes she breaks "I don't know anything, no one here knows anything! I'm not even a cop.." she then leaves in a hurry. Madness.

PART 12: Live from Cell Block OL 1, it's Test Their Logik!

So, from out of the blue in the cage next ours a rap starts. About the G8/G20. It's awesome, and holy hell. It's the rap from a video I watched about rap duo appearing at the party supposed to happen Saturday night. And holy hell, those rappers, Test Their Logik are in jail. And now they are singing live in prison. Every cage joining in the chorus "G8, G20, they few, we many!". They do the whole song, the place gets pumped and they finish with everyone singing. Then when it's over well clap, yell, cheer and rattle our cages. It was so awesome; it reminded me of when the prisoners hear the opera song in Shawshank Redemption. Brilliant moment for all of us in detention hell. The song is "Crash the Meeting", see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ninV5yx7FW4

PART 13: See you in the Parking Lot Special Constable Milrod

The "fuck the pigs" guy is loosing his damn mind. A young guy on the new officer shift, with reddish hair and a goatee seems ready for a fight. He says to the guys in our cell "I want to see all you guys outside in the parking lot, then we'll see what's what. I'll take you down." Wow. He walks way laughing. I inform an actual Toronto Police Officer of what he said and his name. Next we saw Milrod, his nametag was gone and he didn't look at us our speak to us. It's on camera Milrod, with 30 witnesses.

The cops are stilling searching for random names. They claim processing is taking long. One officer says, "We had to arrest 1,000 people, so wait". We theorize that we'll be held until just before the legal 24 hours they can hold without charging, which coincides with the end of the G20 Summit. Spirits are broken, guys lying all around. Two are removed for processing and they tell us they are clearing our cell next. Finally. It's almost 3pm we're told when we ask for the time.

The only evidence I can see that it's the day is a tiny hold 200 feet up with light on the outside. I wonder if anyone knows what happened down at the Novotel or what's happening in here? We've only seen officers - no lawyers, medics or media (other than the ones in cages). It's getting close to 24 hours in custody. I haven't slept in 40 hours and new prisoners are being brought in.. We're told they are trying to process the women first, as they are out of room for female prisoners. I find a silver lining in that, hoping Kate might have gone home.

PART 14: Time to rush and time for rain.

So, they tell us they've doubled the staff and will be moving quickly. Some guys have pulled their hands out of the plastic cuffs. Some are too tight. Some guys are still in metal cuffs. 22 hours in cuffs. Bloody wrists. My head is in hell, my elbow hurts, and my wrists kill. I pull my one hand finally out. Finally I can stretch my arms, after 22 horrid hours. Rub my wrists, but it stings. I guess I always saw people rub their wrists in movies after removing handcuffs - that's bull, it hurts too much. The guards don't care that we're doing this. Why were we all in handcuffs if we were already locked up?

So, bags of evidence are rushed around as officers call out names, holding photographs of some guys, looking around. They mostly just call numbers. My wrist tag is pretty worn out by now, but I remember my number, 0106. The crazy fuck the police guy has exactly 12 stickers on his body with his name. Looks like the police had fun with him. I hear them say "Santos!" That's Ben's last name! I few minutes later I see Ben taken down a hallway with his evidence bag. Awesome I think. See you soon buddy!

We're told we're being taken straight outside. No processing, no interview, no phone calls. We're leaving. The officer who was there when we first arrived and made the Auschwitz joke comes back in for his next day of work, sees us and says, "Holy shit, you guys are still here? What the fuck is going on here?" and walks away. A few more guys are taken from our cell, we're all calling each other brother now, pounding our handcuffed fists and reminding each other of how we'll stay in touch and to tell everyone what's happening in here. Then there is a loud steady booming. A rainstorm. The sound fills the entire chasm. Sounds like heavy rain. They finally take the 16-year-old kid.

As time passes I think about what do when I'm out. Then I hear my name. I almost can't believe it. 23 hours. Was it over? I answered questions about my date of birth and address. They opened the door and led me away. Around the corner, back through another area to the fabled Otherside.

PART 15: Break on Through to the Otherside.

So, just after the G20 was officially over, just before the legal 24 hours they could hold me, I was being rushed out. Convenient. They found a way to keep 500 legal protesters from their Constitutional rights. In this country. Canada. My shirt feels dirty. When I make it to the Otherside I see signs that let me know I was a Level 2 Detainee and I was heading in Levels 3 & 4.

Inside this hanger, more cages and metal detectors. The L3 area housed small groups of men and women, looking battered, some bleeding. They all made peace sign and told me to tell everyone about them. Down another hall, rows of single person cells. These look like leaders, organizers, many bloody. I see the green mohawk guy. He says "Adios". I'm then put into another cage with some former cellmates. They tell me now to worry; they are taking us out one by one from here. There is a younger black guy with an awesome baseball cap; an officer asks, "How'd you get to keep that hat?" "Because I look good in it." he replies smoothly. We all laugh, including the officers. I'm taken out, cuffs cut off and put against a wall to have my photo taken again.

Against the wall I'm told that was arrested for "breach of peace", I will not be charged, but if I am arrested for this or a similar crime again, I will be charged and appear in court. Do not join any more protests and assemblies during the G20. Do you understand these terms." I said I did. He then said "And the bad news is it's raining cats and dogs out there. Take him out" Then, I try to take my jacket from my evidence bag, but am told to head out, don't stop.

I'm out in the pouring rain, it's around 9:30pm, still a little light. I'm told to cross the parking lot. There are large gates with a turnstile to the side. GO through the turnstile riot cops tell me. Out I go. A crowd across the street under tarps and umbrellas cheers for me. I see a basket of apples, I eat 4 and gulp a glass of water. Pats on the back. My mind is ablaze, I can't focus. I don't see Ben or Kate.

PART 16: Scream.

The detention centre was as Eastern Ave. and Pape. I have no money, no wallet, no phone. My head is aching, my wrists raw, body sore and awake for 43 hours. I walk up Pape to Queen. I have a long walk home to Jarvis/Gerrard. My keys and shoelaces are in a bag. Some people didn't get their shoes back. Standing in the rain. No shoes. The angry is whelming up inside, my brain is exploding, tears are filling my eyes and I scream and punch the construction wall next to me. How did this happen? Where are my friends? What did I do? Who was in charge in there? I'm crushed, lost and might as have been hit like by a truck.

I make my way finally to a pay phone by a bar. It's raining and dark. I make a collect call home, Kate answers. She's was out around 4pm and told nothing about myself. I have trouble speaking when she asks if I'm okay. I can barely keep it together. I tell her I'm fine. I'm not. She asks if they beat me - I don't know. I'm standing soaking wet in the rain on a collect call on a payphone with cars whizzing by. It took everything not to fall to my knees. She says take a cab, she's called my parents and the Legacy's are worried. Come home. She hasn't heard from Ben. He's not answering his phone. I finally hail a cab and fall into it.

PART 17: Homecoming.

I arrive home at 11:00pm. Kate's waiting outside. We hug and kiss. I'm starving, soaked, thirsty and sore. We go inside, I call my family and my friend Chris. I can't talk long, I just tell them I'm home and safe. Ben's mom hasn't heard from him, he's not answering his phone. We finally hear from him at 1:00am. They detained him and accused him of being Black Bloc. He was still in bright yellow shirt from work. Horrible things happened to him and Kate. I peel off my soaking wet Canada Freedom t-shirt. I throw it on the ground and get a lighter. I want to burn it. I don't. I drink juice, we eat. We're so sad. Our lives have changed. I was shivering and couldn't form sentences. A shower. I couldn't sleep. I had 38 emails. Where are you? My production team for the show I'm directing at SummerWorks wonder where I am, we have things to do. I send brief messages, make a note on facebook. I also notice how many people are raging about the protesters on facebook. Of course, the news is all about burning cop cars and broken windows. Things went exactly as I said when I saw those photos the previous afternoon. Jesus, it worked. Everyone got spoon fed a justification for the 1.2 Billion spent.

NOW:
That's all true. Think about it. Is this Canada? Do you think this is right? You don't want to live in a country where this happens. It's changed my whole outlook and attitude on life. My responsibility to every human being in this world. Plato said, "The Price of Apathy towards public affairs is to be Ruled by Evil Men." I used that as a tagline for a play I co-wrote and directed in the 2006 Toronto Fringe, called Lifeboat. Back then I felt pretty good that I explored these issues in my theatre work. Now I know it has to be a part of my life. The World needs you. Educate yourself. Your comfort is shame; your looking away kills people. You're not small. You're not helpless. You can something. You have a voice, don't let them silence you before you even try to speak.

This guy, Dan, was in my cell, he’s gay and was segregated by homophobic police:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntcr5E_LE7M&feature=related

Think this is bullshit? Fine, stick with the mainstream media, but look what they say:

Read what happened to other at The Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/829921--i-will-not-forget-what-they-have-done-to-me

Read what happened to National Post photographers:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/27/12572/

The truth is tough from the violence:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/peaceful-protesters-attacked-arrested-while-cop-car-arsonists-left-alone.html

Or is it like this?
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/blog/oshipeya/3966

Watch an account from a prisoner, jump to 2:20 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Nostos5#p/a/f/0/J1rfVnllhTU

Read all the news you and be your own judge:
http://2010.mediacoop.ca/

Who Is The Black Bloc?

2010-06-30T19:20:00.002-04:00

David McNally, Professor of Political Science at York University, gives an interview on CBC where he explains the black bloc tactic. He also expresses concern and suspicion that some of the black bloc members were undercover police who may have been responsible for some of the vandalism.

"Agent Provocateurs" used at SPP Protest in Montebello, Quebec in 2007

2010-06-30T18:18:00.000-04:00

Police Display Fake Weapons for Media Photo Op

2010-06-30T03:53:00.011-04:00

It has now come out that some of the weapons that the police put out on display, designed to look as if they were recovered from members of anarchist groups, are fakes.

Many of the supposed "weapons" were confiscated from a man named Brian Barrett who used these toys to play a live action, Dungens and Dragon style of medieval-themed role-playing game.

The Globe and Mail newspaper published an article exposing this police deception.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/weapons-seized-in-g20-arrests-not-what-they-seem/article1622761/

The Globe and Mail reported that "Police also displayed a crossbow and chainsaw seized in an incident on Friday that they said had no ties to the summit. When asked, Chief Blair acknowledged they were unrelated, but said “everything else” had been confiscated from demonstrators."

So when you take out the crossbow, chain saw and all of Brian Barrett's toys, there's not a whole lot left. And we can obviously not be sure that even the remaining items were actually confiscated from anarchist protesters.

The CBC also ran a piece called "Police accused of displaying fake G20 weapons"

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/30/g20-weapons.html

We have caught the police red handed, displaying fake weapons. The police knowingly lied and deceived the people of Toronto and all Canadians on purpose. This is confirmation that many of the scary looking weapons were actually toys or did not belong to anarchist protesters. What about the other supposed weapons that were supposedly confiscated? Is there a similar story behind any of the other weapons on display? If the police would go this far, would they be willing to display weapons that they just planted there that were not even confiscated from anyone? This shows that the police are liars and nothing they say can be trusted.

This is a brief explanation of the game "Amtgard" that Brian Barrett was going to play.

It's basically a bunch of nerds, running around with foam weapons, casting magic spells against each other.

Good thing the police disarmed people like this over the G20 weekend. A bunch of nerds with foam weapons could have dealt some serious damage to 10,000 + riot police in full storm trooper gear. They would have to watch out for those level 5 archmages casting water elemental magic spells that would have done piercing damage to the line of defending riot police.

Evidence that Police let the Vandalism Occur on Purpose

2010-06-30T00:41:00.001-04:00

This first video is basically a summary of the main events which show that the police allowed the riot to happen on purpose.

Now I will go though, in detail, a series of videos that were uploaded to youtube. The person who filmed these videos followed the black bloc riot though the streets of Toronto. After watching all the videos, it should be clear that police moved back their lines and evacuated the areas where the black bloc members were vandalizing property.

This video is shot at Queen and University, after the protest parade, but before the black bloc riot started. You can see that there is a line of bike cops on the south side of Queen, as well as a much stronger line of riot police one block south on Richmond.

In this next video, we see two red undercover police vans drive west along Queen St., followed by a quad of police on bicycles and two police cars.

In this next video, we see a line of bicycle police guarding Simcoe. st and another line one block south on Richmond.

In this next video, we see a line of cops on Duncan St. as well as a line of riot police on Richmond. Then a line of bicycle police come out to block Queen St. at McCaul St. (near the Much Music building). The line opens up to let a police car though.

In this next video, we see that line of police start to clear the area and push back the few random people who were loitering around for no apparent legitimate reason. We also see the drugged out hippie guy with blond dread locks go past on his small BMX bike. This individual was later arrested for arson of one of the bait cars on Queen just east of Spadina. According to another youtube video i saw, his name was made public and there are many clear images of his face. Just after the police tried to clear the street, we see the start of the black bloc riot. Even though this area was filled with police moments ago, it appears from the video that they knew that the riot was coming and tried to clear people out of the way. We even see video of a poor old security guard who must have been terrified, because one minute the street is calm and there are police everywhere. Then all of a sudden, all the police leave and black bloc rioters start breaking windows all around him. The riot continues east along Queen St. Notice that there is no longer a line of bicycle police at Simcoe St. or University Ave. anymore. We cannot see in this video if there was still a line of riot police on Richmond St. Queen St. was one of the main roads that the protester parade in the early afternoon went down. There was a line of police on the south side of Queen St. the entire day as far as i know. The police line disappeared only minutes before the riot crowd appears.

As the rioters continued traveling east along Queen St., we finally see a line of riot police on the south side of Queen St. at York st. There were not very many of them and they just held their line as the rioters passed them. Many acts of vandalism are taking place, including the breaking of a Starbucks storefront. The rioters then turn south down Bay st. and head into the financial district. There are no visible police at the intersection of Bay and Richmond.

In this next video, the rioters are traveling south down Bay towards King. Many acts of vandalism are taking place, yet there are no police in sight. The rioters arrive at the intersection of King and Bay to find several abandon police vehicles sitting there. There is a very small group of police (maybe 20) on King, just east of Bay. There are no other visible police at the moment.

In this next video, one of the police cars get set on fire. Several of the abandon police vehicles have been damaged. Curious and innocent bi-standards gather around the burning police car to see what is going on (and mostly take pictures for their facebook). The vast majority of the crowd by this point are just curious observers who are not taking any part in the vandalism and are simply walking around taking pictures and video. The number of actual black bloc members are quite small in comparison to the size of the crowd that has now formed. And not everyone wearing black and covering their faces were taking part in the vandalism either. Normal people started gathering around the burning police car like it was a bonfire. A police line starts to form on King, just West of Bay, but just stand there as the police car burns and black bloc members continue to vandalize police vehicles. The media now has their 10sec "riot" clip for the news. At the end of this video, the person filming this video should be standing roughly around where the original group of roughly twenty cops stood, so they appear to have been pulled out of the area. The group of black bloc and curious observers move east down Bay to Yonge.

This next video picks up at the corner of Yonge and King. There is a medium sized group of police outside the shoppers drug mart, on King, just east of Yonge.

In these next videos, the black bloc anarchists and a crowd of peaceful observers travel north up Yonge st. Black bloc members were committing many acts of vandalism. There are no police in sight.

Finally, in one of this person's last videos, we finally see some police. However, this location is half a block west of Yonge on College by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Center. You would not be able to see these police from the intersection of Yonge and College

So according to this person's video and witnesses who were there, there was not a single police officer in sight after the crowd started walking up Yonge St. The entire way from Yonge and King to Yonge and College, there were no visible police officers. The black bloc had free reign to cause as much vandalism as they wanted, along one of Toronto's main streets.

Anyone who was in downtown Toronto over the G20 weekend can describe the sheer numbers of police that were always present throughout the downtown core. There were literally police everywhere in very large numbers. It was common to see 100+ police officers in full riot gear at major intersections. So it's really shocking how there were virtually no police around while all the vandalism was taking place and that despite the $1 billion spent on security, the police failed to protect the city from a relatively small group of black bloc vandals.

The police seemed to have the entire downtown core on lock down the entire weekend. The only explanation for the lack of police presence is that police were ordered away from the areas where the black bloc rioters were heading. The evidence presented in this series of videos suggests that the people in charge of security ordered police (who were just following orders) away from the riot route which allowed the vandalism to take place. Who was in change and who gave these orders?

Bait Police Cars on Queen Near Spadina

2010-06-30T00:19:00.011-04:00

This is my little story from the G20:

I arrived at Queen's Park around 1pm. Unfortunately it was raining, but most people were in good spirits and there was even free hot food, fruit and juice. We marched, in what resembled a parade, South down University to Queen St and then West until we got to Spadina.

There was a very large police presence the entire time as we walked down this designated route. The protest by this point was very peaceful. I did not witness any nefarious activities by protesters or police. The protesters did not attempt to cross any of the police lines or barriers and the police were all just standing there, maintaining their positions.

When we arrived at Queen and Spadina, they were sending people North on Spadina. They were not letting people go South on Spadina and there was a large police presence maintaining a line at that intersection. I sat and chatted with some friends on Spadina, just North of Queen. We even got a slice of pizza. After a while, the protest seemed to be dispersing. At some point, the police at the intersection of Queen and Spadina moved south, allowing protesters to go a few blocks South on Spadina. There were still a bunch of people standing around, but not a whole lot was going on.

This video shows what the atmosphere was like at the time (note the police car at the end of this video is not the bait car, since this car was sitting West of Spadina and the bait cars were just East of Spadina)

Everyone I had come with had decided to go home, but I heard some commotion around the corner and figured I would go check it out. This commotion had been going on for some time, and it was certainly noticeable, but it didn't sound like anything too crazy was going on. You could hear police sirens and people yelling, but nothing too out of the ordinary for that day. The protesters were always peaceful, but they were constantly yelling various slogans and being loud in general. There were also plenty of police driving around with their sirens on as well. There were still plenty of people around and no one was freaking out, so i knew that this commotion wasn't anything major. But people were talking about police cars getting damaged, so I went over to have a look.

As I approached the crowd of people, I could hear the police siren and see the flashing lights and figured that some police were at the scene already. When I arrived at the crowd, I was surprised to see no police around and I saw two police cars that had been vandalized and had their windows broken out. There was one car on the North side of the street that was damaged, but people were not paying much attention to it. But there was a crowd forming, surrounding the police car on the South side of Queen st. The reason everyone was crowded around this car was because there was a drugged out hippie in the front seat on the police car with blond dreadlocks and red paint on parts of his hair, face and body. I thought it might have been blood at first, but when i looked closely it just looked like paint to me.

I turned on my camera and started filming this first video. This video was shot at 4:47pm.

The drugged out hippie in the front seat was yelling stuff through the speaker, but you couldn't really understand what he was saying. He was also smoking a joint. Pretty much everyone around was just taking pictures. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed. We were all just kind of laughing at this fool in the police car. I figured it was only a matter of time before police arrived to arrest this guy. There had been so many police in the area the entire day, that I figured this guy was pretty stupid for smoking a joint in a cop car and playing with the siren and yelling through the speaker. I thought to myself that he must be on drugs or something. He also wasn't causing any damage to the cars from what I could see. So it was pretty harmless I suppose. All the damage to the cars occurred before I arrived. But as you can see from the video, this was hardly the scene of a violent street riot, the way some television stations spun it.

In this next video i shot, i climbed up on a bit of a ledge to get a better view. I looked both ways, up and down the street, wondering where the heck the police were. This guy was being so loud, I figured that some cop would hear this and come over to check it out. All the people in this video are just peaceful normal people. They all just came to have a look at what was going on and take pictures for their facebook or whatever. There would have been no reason for police to fear this crowd.

This video was shot at 4:53pm.

In this next video people are starting to realize that something's not right here. Police had still not arrived and this car was just sitting here in the middle of the street. There were no cops anywhere that I could see. This is obviously totally bazaar because there were so many police in the downtown core all day, and now there were none. It was the drugged out hippie who was playing with the siren. I remarked to a guy next to me how this guy would even know where the siren button is located in a police car. But then i figured that if you sat in the front seat for long enough, you could probably figure it out.

Someone remarked that the drugged out hippie had been on acid all day, and I replied "that would make sense" given the way he was acting. Before I started shooting this video, the black guy in the white hooded sweatshirt was making fun of the hippie with dreadlocks, claiming that he was only trying to draw attention to himself and "get on MTV" or something like that. I found it pretty funny, because after the drugged out hippie got out of the car, the black guy with the white hooded sweatshirt got in.

An informed protester next to me questioned whether or not these were even real police cars because he said he had been there for around half an hour and police had not arrived. He predicted that footage of these police cars would be on the nightly news and would be used to justify the $1.2 dollars and the whole event. I replied "I believe it man". Another protester was being more vocal and yelling to everyone that they were going to put this on the news and it was a setup. I told the guy next to me "that guy is definitely right". This other informed protester continued to make his case to the crowd that these cars were planted here on purpose for us to destroy. As he was saying this, the black guy in the front seat of the police car tries to start a fire in the passenger seat. The drugged out hippie guy came over and put it out and kicked the black kid out of the car. It looked like the two were about to get into a fight, but they did not.

A girl wrote on the police car (in what looked like washable finger paint) "this car is bait, aka "a prop"". The black guy and the drugged out hippie looked like they made peace with each other.

This video was shot at 4:57

In this last video, it was pretty clear to many people around that this was a setup. You can hear a guy yelling "you're being set up" and calling the police car a "media prop".

This video was shot at 5:03pm

Shortly after I shot this last video clip, I decided to start walking East down Queen St. I had been there for maybe around 20 minutes in total and I got board of watching this drugged out hippie fool around with the cop car. It was obvious by that point that there were not any police coming to arrest this guy or clear their broken cars out of the way. So I did not really see the point in hanging around there any longer. Many of us realized they were bait cars and there was no one really vandalizing it or doing much of anything, and this drugged out hippie guy was starting to get pretty annoying, so I left the scene.

Someone uploaded this video onto youtube. It shows the drugged out hippie guy doing a strip dance on top of the car, which occurred sometime after i left the scene.

In this video that someone posted on youtube, the bait car on the South side of Queen got set on fire.

In this next video, we finally see some police arrive to the scene. They arrest the drugged out hippie guy. The person who uploaded this youtube video said that it was filmed around 6:15pm.

Here is another video of that same car burning. A protester made a funny joke by saying "Why are you guys burning the evidence? Why did you light your own cars on fire?" Even though he said it in a joking manner, he was also obviously convinced that these were bait cars planted there by police, and joked about the very real possibility that the police set their own car on fire.

Footage of Assaults and Abuse

2010-06-29T12:20:00.011-04:00

Citizen Roundup at Queen & Spadina on Sunday

2010-06-29T12:14:00.002-04:00

Police See Vandalism Occur But Retreat Up Alley

2010-06-29T04:06:00.000-04:00

These videos, shot on Carlton (College), just east of Yonge, show that a large squadron of riot police witness black bloc members smashing windows but are ordered to retreat up an alley instead of making arrests or protecting private property on Yonge St. from vandalism.

The person filming the video figured that they were ready to engage the protesters, but they did not. Police only started attacking people after all the vandalism had already occurred and the guilty parties had a chance to escape to Queen's park where many took off their black bloc attire so that they could blend in to the thousands of peaceful protesters. It is important to remember that even though there may have been black bloc anarchists who committed vandalism in the crowd at Queen's park, there is no word yet if any of them were even caught or charged in the mass arrests that took place. As far as the public knows, the police let the black bloc anarchists escape after they committed their vandalism. It is difficult for one to believe that this handful of people, using a black bloc tactic, managed to outsmart and outwit the massive security police grid that was in place in the downtown core.

Also, this handful of individuals did not really harm any police officers, protesters or members of the public. I have yet to see any footage or pictures of bruises or injuries caused by any protesters. All the damage occurred to property. However, the physical and psychological abuse committed by police happened to peaceful, innocent people, many of whom have lived in Toronto most of their lives. It is certainly a sad day for Canada when members of the public are more afraid of the police than they are of black bloc anarchists.

Given all the stories that have come out from the G20 weekend, if you were somehow caught in a hypothetical situation where you were trapped between a group of riot police and a group of black bloc members closing in on you, would you:

a) stay in the middle?
b) walk/run towards the police line?
c) walk/run towards the black bloc line?

Before the G20 in Toronto, I would have definitely said that I would have walked or ran towards the police line so that they could protect me from these scary, crazy anarchists coming towards me. But after what I witnessed and the stories that I've heard, I can definitely say now that I would run towards the black bloc anarchists because maybe they could protect me from these scary, crazy police coming towards me. At least if I run towards the black bloc, I know they are not going to assault me and they would let me though and give me a chance to escape the situation.

Suspected Agent Provocateur Wearing $650 Jacket

2010-06-28T17:15:00.023-04:00

UPDATE: Police have released a photo of this man as one of their suspects.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/835743--police-release-g20-most-wanted-list?bn=1

Giroux said that the remaining top 10 would be facing charges of mischief and arson if arrested. He also took time to dispel rumours that one of the men, wearing what he said has been described by some as an expensive jacket, was not an undercover police officer inciting more violence.

---------------------------------------------------------

This man was responsible for vandalizing the two police cars on Queen, just East of Spadina.

He is wearing this Arc'teryx jacket that costs $650 CAD
http://www.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?Mens/Jackets/Sidewinder-SV-Jacket

For an "anarchist" who is so angry at police that he smashes a police car, he certainly has some expensive gear that looks brand new.

It also appears that the Arc'teryx company sells a "LEAF" product line specifically designed for Law Enforcement and the Armed Forces. The company is based out of British Columbia, Canada.

http://www.leaf.arcteryx.com/

It is also important to note that he does not appear to care that people are filming him committing these crimes. Most of the black bloc members who were committing vandalism that day had their faces covered so that they could not be identified.

The Toronto Police have released six pictures of people who caused vandalism, hoping that the public would be able to help identify them. Why have the police not released the photo of this individual? There is a clear photograph of his face and many videos clearly showing him vandalizing a police car. Numerous people have sent in this evidence to police. Why would the police not want this individual identified and arrested? One explanation is that he was working with police and they do not want to expose their undercover agent.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/gallery/html/toronto-wanted-g20-20100707/photo_0.html

This man appears in the following videos:

Here is more footage of this suspect at another location:

Another video of him destroying the police car:

He is also filmed here, near the front lines of police, by himself, in this video.

A comment made in this blog post by an individual near this man at the G20 claims:

"I was next to this guy for about 15 minutes on Sat afternoon at Queen & Richmond at approx 4 pm. He was screaming at the riot police and urging others (who were all peaceful protesters and avoiding him like the plague) to do the same.

He had absolutely no friends or tried to make any, including those who looked like black blockers. He was about twice the size of any of them, and solely wanted to incite."

if you find any more videos or pictures of this individual, please e-mail me at torontog20@yahoo.ca

Martial Law - Police State in Canada

2010-06-28T12:29:00.002-04:00

Illegal Seachs

2010-06-20T18:55:00.001-04:00

There are many, many reports of illegal searches that were conducted prior to, and on the weekend of the G20 summit in Toronto. Here is a video of one of the many illegal searches that were conducted.

Here is another video where police violate someone's rights by searching his bag without his consent.

Seattle WTO Protest in 1999

2010-06-17T13:59:00.002-04:00

The WTO protest in Seattle in 1999 seemed to follow the same formula as the G20 protest in Toronto. In both cases, a relatively small group of black bloc anarchists were allowed to vandalize property without being arrested. Then, after the vandalism had taken place, the police started attacking and arresting innocent, peaceful protesters and taking them to a makeshift detention center.

Toronto Police Officers Murder Junior Manson

2010-06-12T06:49:00.002-04:00

Luckily the Police did not murder anyone at the G20. However, there is documented evidence of rubber bullets that were fired into peaceful crowds. If one of these bullets hit someone in the gentiles, eye or certain parts of the head, it could have caused very serious injury or even death. There were many cases where multiple police officers would pile on top of petite young men and women and punch and kick them while they are being held down.

This video shows that the Toronto Police are capable of literally beating someone to death and then covering it up.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/09/13887456.html

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/justice-for-junior.html

Ask Police Tough Questions

2010-06-09T17:23:00.003-04:00

This video was taken on Thursday, July 1st, Canada day. There was a peaceful protest downtown for people demanding a public inquiry about the events that took place over the G20 weekend. People were very angry at the police because many of the people present at the rally had been abused by police in some form or another... and those who were not abused, knew that the same things could have happened to them. We were all outraged at the police brutality that occurred on Canadian soil and the clear and open violation of our rights that occurred at the hands of police. But of course, no protester got violent towards the police and, unlike at the G20, the police did not cause any violence towards us on Canada day.

So we were all just standing around the intersection and I looked over to see some girls talking to a police officer on a bicycle. The girls were questioning him about the police brutality that occurred over the G20 weekend. This cop was acting confident and like a bit of a smart ass towards the girls as if the police had done nothing wrong at the G20 and were totally justified in their actions. This cop probably thought he was really smart and would be able to explain away all the criminal acts committed by police.

Since this guy thought he was so good at explaining the law and police actions to everyone, i asked him to comment on the undercover police dressed as black bloc anarchists in Quebec in 2007. All of a sudden, this guy wasn't so talkative anymore. He said he wouldn't comment because he wasn't there. When I asked if he thought that something like that could have happened in Toronto, he replied "highly unlikely". But when I asked him if there were any undercover cops dressed as black bloc anarchists, he got totally frightened and likely realized that he can't be talking about this stuff and wanted to get out of the situation before he said something that might get him in trouble. He was standing there pretty tall for quite a while, talking to the girls, before I came up to him. And it was hilarious that after I asked him about the undercover police, he started backing up and cowered away. The question is not whether they had any of these agents, but whether or not these agents caused or encouraged any vandalism or violence to take place. Not that I would expect the police to tell the public the truth after their many public deceptions over the last week, but we need to know how many undercover agents were present at the protest, and how many undercover agents they had dressed as black bloc anarchists. After all, with 19,000 police in the area, it is pretty simple to infiltrate a group of anarchists by dressing up some of your officers in an all black costume. So we need to know who these agents were and get statements from them, as well as have them identified in the numerous videos taken of the events. Most informed observers would not really deny the fact that police had likely infiltrated these anarchist groups at some level or another for the legitimate purpose of keeping an eye on them. But I think the public has a right to know the level of involvement that police had with the black bloc anarchist groups.

It appeared to me that this cop may have known about the use of undercover agents which is why he did not want to talk about it. Rather than arguing that my claims were ridiculous, he backed off instead. Many police would have likely known about the presence of undercover agents because the police would not want to attack or injure their own agents or fellow officers.

Most police officers in Toronto were on duty over the weekend and I am sure that many of them have stories to tell. They were the ones receiving these orders. We need accounts from police about what it was like that day. We need to ask police these types of questions. ask them 1) Were there orders given to "stand down"? 2) Did the police have undercover operatives dressed as black bloc anarchists? 3) Ask them about any number of the cases of assault and abuse that occurred.

Everyone in Toronto needs to start carrying around a video camera of some kind and go up to police and film them or tape record them and ask them these tough questions and see what they say. Hang out at your local Tim Horton's (or where ever police get their doughnuts on break) with a video camera and start politely asking whatever questions you think need answering. A lot of these police probably know things that the public does not know. Don't just wait around for a public inquiry, start the inquiry yourself. Don't be afraid to go up to police and talk to them. They're not as scary when they're not 19,000 strong with storm trooper gear and the power to beat you up and arrest you and throw you in a cage for no reason.

We need cops to start speaking out. I know that most cops are not bad people and probably did not want to go along with what was happening. But nevertheless, they choose to obey illegal orders and committed illegal acts or were accessories to these crimes and stood by and did nothing when they should have had the courage to speak out against what was clearly wrong. When police realized something was wrong and they were being ordered to attack and arrest innocent people, I believe that an individual police officer has the duty to refuse the illegal order. They should have taken off their helmets and badges and said "I quit. I will not be a part of this" and gone and joined the protesters. Because it was the protesters and the citizens who were not doing anything illegal. It was the police who were committing illegal acts. But not one police officer that I have heard of, has actually had the courage to do what is right. That is disgraceful. Hopefully in the coming weeks and months, police officers will realize their mistake, turn themselves in, and speak out against the crimes committed by police over the G20 weekend. We also need police to speak out and describe the types of orders they were given to determine if illegal orders were given by their superiors. A judge and jury of the court will decide what punishment is appropriate on a case by case basis for these officers and their superiors for their involvement in the various criminal acts.

Many police who were not involved or witnesses to the illegal activity now have a duty to the people of Canada to look at the evidence for themselves and speak out against what is clearly wrong. It should be clear that there are a lot of bad apples in the ranks of the police across this country and it gives good police officers, who joined to protect the public, a bad name. It would be very courageous of police officers to speak out against crimes committed by their superiors and fellow officers, since they would be risking their career. Good, moral and honest police officers picked this career path because they wanted to help and protect innocent people. I am sure that many police will be just as disgusted and outraged as the rest of us when the hear the stories about what really happened. After all, good police officers would not want this to happen to people that they care about either. I'm sure that many police by now have started to hear these accounts and likely feel like they are caught in a difficult moral dilemma that has serious implications. Even though it will not be easy, police need to do what is right. They need to be brave. The police who were attacking innocent people are not tough or macho. They are weak cowards. Attacking and abusing defenseless young women takes no courage. Speaking out against injustice takes real courage, and those are the type of police I want in my city. I do not want ones who will follow orders and turn a blind eye because it is more convenient than rocking the boat and putting themselves at risk.

Alex Jones Breaks Down the Toronto G20

2010-06-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

Alex Jones Gives Tomorrow's News Today

2010-06-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

Any Canadian who would have listened to the Alex Jones show on Friday, June 25th, would have figured that he was just exaggerating. Most Canadians would have called him a crazy lunatic trying to scare people about things that could not possibly be true and things that could never possibly happen in Canada. But after you hear the stories of the people who were arrested in Toronto this weekend, you will realize that Alex Jones was not exaggerating. He warned the Canadian people about what to expect over the weekend and it played out exactly the way he said it would.

Police Hold An Ace Up Their Sleeve

2010-06-03T07:50:00.002-04:00

People are starting to realize the truth about what happened this weekend at the G20. The police purposefully allowed a relatively small group of black bloc protesters to run amok through the streets of Toronto committing vandalism, with visible weapons, with virtually no police around the entire time. Then after all the vandalism was done and the criminals escaped, the police arrested a bunch of innocent people, violated many of their rights, and put them in a cage in deplorable conditions.

As these stories come out, the outrage of Canadians will intensify. A falling Canadian dollar, falling stock market, falling housing market and rising taxes will only intensify the outrage that will be felt by Canadians. There are many people in Toronto who will not forget the horrific events that occurred this past weekend when they hear the full story. Calls for an "official" investigation to justify police action will intensity. This is when the police and the government will pull their ace out of their sleeves.

The only ace in their sleeves will be a video of black bloc protesters attacking a police car on Queen St., just East of Spadina that had police still inside the car. Footage of this has not been shown on any mainstream media source that i am aware of, but a few clips have surfaced on youtube. There is about a 15sec clip at the 0:42 mark

Here is another clip which shows the attack and the aftermath.

When public outrage about the G20 is at its peak, a video similar to this (or maybe this one itself) will be released to the mainstream media in Canada and it will be shown, on repeat, on CBC, CTV, Global, etc. None of the videos they have shown on the television so far have shown violent action against police (only against corporate store fronts). This video shows that black bloc members attacked a police car with weapons with police inside it and they will use this video as justification for the illegal acts committed by police, who were ordered to commit illegal acts by their superiors.

So I am writing this to warn the movement to expect this tactic. There will be a movement of people who will want an official investigation, and this video will be used to try to discredit the legitimate claims about the violation of our rights that occurred.

The people in this video are all actors. It's all for show. It's not real. It's like professional wrestling, they're on the same team. They have rehearsed this. They've drilled this before. They had undercover police / actors, dressed as black bloc anarchists, who attack these two police cars. The half dozen "agent provocateurs" or undercover black bloc anarchists who attacked this car were likely the only undercover black bloc members. The other black bloc members were mostly confused, angry teenagers from Quebec who will go along with the crowd and break a Starbucks window, but they would not attack a police car with police inside and with police in the area. The black bloc punk teenagers only committed acts of vandalism when there were no police in sight. Aside from this video, there is no evidence of a direct and coordinated assault on police. This is because the real black bloc members are just a bunch of punk teenagers, but the people dressed up as black bloc members who attacked this police car in this video are paid professionals.

The individuals involved in this covert operation can be seen in this video:

This video shows two undercover, red police vans, a squad of bicycle police, and the two bait cars that were attacked. The people in those cars (the two police cars and two red vans) and the people on the bicycle were the ones were involved in this stage play. These were the "agent provocateurs". The two cars that got attacked were relatively lightly defended. Most of the police in downtown Toronto over the G20 were fulled decked out in storm trooper gear, yet these police did not even have proper riot helmets. There may have been other provocateurs, or these may be the only ones, but this was the main team. This is also where the "riot" originated from. After these actors attacked these other actors, the police pulled back almost all of their forces and these provocateurs tried to start a riot all the way down Queen St. to Bay. Down Bay to King. Along King to Yonge. And up Yonge to Collage St. There were virtually no police around during that rampage because police were given orders to pull back all of their lines once these provocateurs instigated and led the riot down the predetermined path.

In this video, we see that police evacuate the area just prior to when the provocateured riot comes down the street. We also see that a guy with blond dread locks goes by on a BMX bicycle, who later causes the vandalism on the prop car that was attacked by the actors just down the street.

This blog post was written on June 30th, 2010 and will not be edited.

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edit - updates:

This picture taken at the scene of this initial attack on the police car shows that he does not have the number above the Canadian flag on his uniform.