4.2.0The boisterous demonstration featured a large banner proclaiming that “The real vandals are the chiefs of state.” It drew approximately 1,000 participants.
Police were highly visible throughout. One woman was briefly detained and a man on a bicycle was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, said Sgt. Ian Lafreniere of Montreal police.
In Toronto, several thousand people took part in a peaceful protest at Queen’s Park that later moved to Dundas Street near the Eaton Centre.
Many on hand were those held by police last weekend and who have alleged police brutality, including denying detainees water, food and phone calls, and packing upward of 40 people into a single cell.
Tommy Taylor told the crowd he was on a date with his girlfriend on Saturday when they were both arrested while walking in downtown Toronto. He said all of the portable toilets in the cells had no doors and people were forced to use them in front of each other and could not wipe themselves because they were handcuffed.
“Taking a piss with your hands cuffed gets a little messy,” he said. “It was like some kind of a deranged social experiment.”
Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, says her organization has received close to 100 complaints alleging police misconduct — including harassment, assault and wrongful imprisonment — and is considering a joint lawsuit against many of the police forces involved.
“Ideally, we would hope the federal government would offer a compensation package to not only people wrongfully detained, but also business owners who had their property damaged, so that there would be no need for lawsuits,”
The Toronto Police Service says it has yet to hear any “specific allegations” of officer misconduct during the G20 protests, despite a number of calls from rights groups for a public inquiry.
“Quite frankly, I haven’t seen any specific formal allegation,” Toronto Police Staff Supt. Jeff McGuire said Friday.
“We’ll stand by the things that we did that we felt were appropriate and if there is misconduct identified, it will be dealt with.”
Toronto Police have launched an internal review of their own actions during the summit protests, a process Chief Bill Blair has said will ensure “accountability . . . for every single officer who is deployed on our streets.”
In Winnipeg, some 100 people showed up to protest what they feel were human rights violations by police during the summit.
Former Winnipeg mayoral candidate Kaj Hasselriis called protesting “an important part of our democracy.”
“It’s great to see a huge crowd of people here to support political expression,” he said.
Dozens of protesters held handmade signs reading “Protect the right to dissent,” and “We demand a public inquiry now!” They cried out “Shame!” between points made by speakers criticizing riot police actions, the high taxpayer cost spent on security for the summit, and bogus arrests of peaceful protesters.
Wednesday night in Windsor, Ont., about 30 protesters gathered outside the city’s police headquarters. “We are here . . . to voice our opinion that we will not live in a police state and that we will not be corralled or intimidated by politically motivated police chiefs,” said Jae Muzzin, who was arrested and detained for more than 20 hours for allegedly obstructing a police officer.
“There was no warning to leave the area when suddenly the police began snatching random people from the crowd until all 150 of us were arrested.”
The End Police Brutality protest was held in conjunction with other protests in front of police headquarters throughout Canadian cities and included members from the Marxist-Leninist party, the Council of Canadians and the Windsor Gardening Guerrilla Collective, among others.
—with files from the Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, National Post and Winnipeg Free Press
