"I have reported from war zones in Bosnia, Serbia, Lebanon, and Israel.
But last night's confrontation between peaceful demonstrators and riot squad police was the scariest situation I've ever been in, in almost 30 years of reporting."
-Steve Paiken, the morning after
The most recent account I've heard says that nearly 500 people were arrested yesterday- and another 50 early this morning. I wonder how many more were arrested during the police raids that awoke innocent people at gunpoint and took them away in the middle of the night before the protests on saturday. I wonder how many of these demonstrators were actually responsible for the vandalism that we saw take place yesterday, and how many were peacefully defending their right to free speech. On second thought, I don't wonder that at all - I feel a bad joke in here somewhere- how many black bloc protesters does it take to set a cop car on fire? Not 500, I know that much. And judging by the amateur videos that were taken as people walked up Yonge street, it was a relatively small group of people actually responsible for the so-called path of destruction. The media makes it seem like our city was held hostage yesterday by roaming gangs of thugs, and people watching the images of burning cop cars over and over again from the safety of their homes can say that the police did their jobs, and are justified in the measures taken, because nobody was hurt. (well, except for those peacefully demonstrating who were shot at with rubber bullets and hit over the head with batons and trampled by horse-mounted officers and tasered...) Most of us woke up this morning and had our coffee and turned on the match or whatever. Our daily routines have not been disrupted (unless we planned on getting that coffee from Tim Horton's or Starbucks...) We still have hot water, electricity, phone, Internet and cable tv. We can carry on living our lives in the comforts of a wealthy first-world nation. Our windows were not smashed in by "hooligans". Morning joggers skip over the broken glass in the streets and tell the police officers they're doing a great job as they pass by. The billion dollar price tag on security spending is justified because "it could have been a lot worse." Really? Could it have been worse? I'm looking forward to hearing more first-hand reports of those who were there, and I humbly admit to witnessing the events unfold in real time through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. But I didn't stay home for fear of what the protesters might do. I stayed home because I did not, and do not trust that the police officers who are supposedly protecting our city will not use unnecessary and even brutal force in order to "maintain the peace." I don't believe the security measures taken yesterday prevented things from getting worse. The police stood back and allowed the small group of people responsible for the property damage to go crazy for the cameras, for the people watching at home. We saw those cars burning for an awful long time, we saw those poor, defenseless American Apparel mannequins get torn apart limb from limb. My heart does go out to independent business owners who had to deal with the aftermath, but then, I'm sure they will find compensation from their insurance companies or the gov't for their trouble. The authorities use language to dehumanize the protesters, calling them "thugs" and "terrorists" They herd peaceful demonstrators into enclosed spaces with no opportunity to escape and then arrest them one by one. They search bystanders and use intimidation tactics to prevent people from gathering lawfully in designated "free speech zones." And then they congratulate themselves for a job well done.
But then, I'm sure the physical violence used against peaceful demonstrators in order to save inanimate objects from further harm was justified. I feel safer, don't you?
But last night's confrontation between peaceful demonstrators and riot squad police was the scariest situation I've ever been in, in almost 30 years of reporting."
-Steve Paiken, the morning after
The most recent account I've heard says that nearly 500 people were arrested yesterday- and another 50 early this morning. I wonder how many more were arrested during the police raids that awoke innocent people at gunpoint and took them away in the middle of the night before the protests on saturday. I wonder how many of these demonstrators were actually responsible for the vandalism that we saw take place yesterday, and how many were peacefully defending their right to free speech. On second thought, I don't wonder that at all - I feel a bad joke in here somewhere- how many black bloc protesters does it take to set a cop car on fire? Not 500, I know that much. And judging by the amateur videos that were taken as people walked up Yonge street, it was a relatively small group of people actually responsible for the so-called path of destruction. The media makes it seem like our city was held hostage yesterday by roaming gangs of thugs, and people watching the images of burning cop cars over and over again from the safety of their homes can say that the police did their jobs, and are justified in the measures taken, because nobody was hurt. (well, except for those peacefully demonstrating who were shot at with rubber bullets and hit over the head with batons and trampled by horse-mounted officers and tasered...) Most of us woke up this morning and had our coffee and turned on the match or whatever. Our daily routines have not been disrupted (unless we planned on getting that coffee from Tim Horton's or Starbucks...) We still have hot water, electricity, phone, Internet and cable tv. We can carry on living our lives in the comforts of a wealthy first-world nation. Our windows were not smashed in by "hooligans". Morning joggers skip over the broken glass in the streets and tell the police officers they're doing a great job as they pass by. The billion dollar price tag on security spending is justified because "it could have been a lot worse." Really? Could it have been worse? I'm looking forward to hearing more first-hand reports of those who were there, and I humbly admit to witnessing the events unfold in real time through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. But I didn't stay home for fear of what the protesters might do. I stayed home because I did not, and do not trust that the police officers who are supposedly protecting our city will not use unnecessary and even brutal force in order to "maintain the peace." I don't believe the security measures taken yesterday prevented things from getting worse. The police stood back and allowed the small group of people responsible for the property damage to go crazy for the cameras, for the people watching at home. We saw those cars burning for an awful long time, we saw those poor, defenseless American Apparel mannequins get torn apart limb from limb. My heart does go out to independent business owners who had to deal with the aftermath, but then, I'm sure they will find compensation from their insurance companies or the gov't for their trouble. The authorities use language to dehumanize the protesters, calling them "thugs" and "terrorists" They herd peaceful demonstrators into enclosed spaces with no opportunity to escape and then arrest them one by one. They search bystanders and use intimidation tactics to prevent people from gathering lawfully in designated "free speech zones." And then they congratulate themselves for a job well done.
But then, I'm sure the physical violence used against peaceful demonstrators in order to save inanimate objects from further harm was justified. I feel safer, don't you?
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