Shorter SIU

Yes, you were beaten by the police at the G20. But, all of the cops were acting like thugs, so we can't identify any single cop to charge. Case dismissed.

Your tax dollars at work, ladies and gentleman. It makes me proud to be Canadian.

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And Now Another Installment

Of, What Caplan Said.

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On Foreknowledge

Tony Keller at the Post, in an otherwise boilerplate apologia for the police, writes:

The union groups that organized Saturday’s peaceful march knew that it would be carrying rioters inside it. Everybody knew. The cops knew it, the anarchists knew it, the average Torontonian knew it. At least one newspaper even ran a map of where the rioters would likely start their rampage. The protestors nevertheless insisted that they be allowed to march downtown and get as close to the fence as possible, so that their “message would be heard.”

Ok, if everybody knew there was going to be trouble and where, why did it happen? Why did the police stand back an let the anarchists run wild, if they knew?

Update: The question of why the police allowed the original black bloc riot to go unopposed seems to be the emerging central question in this whole affair.

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Why?

The video below examines what happened on Saturday and asks some good questions.



Why did the police back off and let the black bloc run riot in the financial district? Why did it wait for the black bloc to escape and only then wade into the crowd of protesters? Why did a security operation costing a billion dollars fail so badly? We need to get answers to these questions and until we do, this is not going to go away.

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Can You Spot The Difference?

Police tactics against the thugs:

I spent a considerable amount of time on Saturday breathlessly running alongside black bloc anarchists, documenting an unprecedented reign of destruction on the streets of Toronto. I saw them congregate and collaborate in the early afternoon hours, hatching a heinous plan that would leave indelible scars on our city, both financial and psychological. I saw them lob rocks at retreating police, smash and burn cruisers, spray-paint numerous structures with revolutionary slogans, and shatter windows with a seemingly insatiable appetite. I saw them target members of the media, myself included, with taunts, sticks and rocks.

What I didn’t see Saturday were any arrests taking place while this violence was occurring. If the security agenda on Saturday was to prevent the black bloc from reaching the G20 Security Fence, it was a success. But throughout a large portion of the downtown core a frightening ‘anything goes’ aura had spread.

Police tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists:

On Sunday, I followed and took pictures of a peaceful march down King Street and up Bay towards Queen, to its final ill-fated destination at the intersection of Queen and Spadina. I saw no one in disguise. I saw no violence, vandalism, or hostility. Smiling demonstrators chanted, danced, and walked together.

The crowd was comprised of the young and elderly, men and women, and families with young children. It was what any sensible law-abiding citizen likely imagined a G20 march was supposed to be --- an expression of solidarity and hope for a better world.

Despite this obvious contradiction, I soon saw riot police closing in. I saw their jet black batons, their massive shields and tear gas guns. I saw numerous arrests being made, and in the end I saw first hand the inner workings of the makeshift G20 prison on Eastern Avenue.

This is how I became a G20 jailbird.

The cops were allied with the anarchists, as both groups justified each others' existence. So, the cops left the anarchists to do their grim work on the downtown of Toronto. On the other hand, peaceful protesters singing the national anthem, was something the cops could never abide. Goddamn hippies.

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Let Them Eat Broken Glass

I watched an extraordinary interview with the head of the G20 security command center, on the National. This gentleman made it absolutely clear that the $1 billion spent on security meant securing the safety of the assembled politicians. To him, the damage done to Toronto was an acceptable cost of ensuring the safety of those who mattered. The journalist asking the questions was gobsmacked by his offhand dismissal of any concerns other than those of the VIP's (he kept mentioning helicopter landing coordinations and motorcade details as if that was supposed to make people feel better). I suspect many Toronto residents were shaking their heads in disbelief as well. The message is there for all to see, unless you are of the elite, you might as well just crawl away and die, for all the police care. Welcome to Canada, where the oligarchs play and the rest of us clean up their messes.

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Black Block Bullshit

What we are being told about the Black Block riot is not what really happened.

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The Education Of Steve Paikin

From his blog:

The police, who normally have excellent support among Toronto's citizens, are facing some appropriately tough questions.

They seem to have overreacted numerous times in dealing with members of the public and journalists. They used too much force in detaining many members of the public, who either were protesting peacefully, or were just passing by at the wrong time.

And yet, they were caught, if you'll forgive the pun, flat-footed and completely unprepared for the goons and thugs that destroyed so much property on Yonge Street on Saturday. Supposedly, that's why we spent $1b on security --- to prevent this from happening.

The more I think about this the darker my mood. I am beginning to think the police were not brought in to "prevent" anything, except inconvenience for the assembled VIPs. Their actions show that the priority was to keep protests away from the fence, not to safeguard the city of Toronto from violence.

In fact, the violence was welcomed by our Prime Minister who used it as a justification for the outrageous cost of the fence security. The fact that downtown Toronto was on fire, was a convenient fact for the PM and meant no more (or possibly less) to him than not getting the last jelly donut in the box. The government of Ontario and the feds will be asked a lot of questions about this fiasco. Let's not let them get away with weak justifications for the unjustifiable.

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