Politics

G20 Protests – Part One

Last week the city went quiet. The hordes of people that saunter out of Union Station every morning were noticeably missing. There were no traffic jams during rush hour, the lake was void of its normal crowd. Instead, the downtown core of Toronto was lined with several three metre high fences. Police started appearing at every corner and Suburbans and black vans lined the streets. It was as if the city had been put on lock down and residents were no longer allowed to leave their homes. The G20 was coming and it was less than a week away.

Everyone you talked to had a negative opinion about the G20’s impending arrival in Toronto. Why can’t the leaders do a teleconference? Why are we spending so much money on this? Why do we need so much security? But organizers pressed on and the police continued to multiply.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a city that was the same as it had been the night before. Quiet, baron, empty. The fences had now been closed and traffic was being restricted but our city was safe. I went for a walk in the early morning and there wasn’t a person on the street. That was about to change.

G20 Red Zone Fence on Saturday morning prior to the protests

At around 1pm, just after the leaders started rolling in from the G8 summit in Huntsville, the protesters, anarchists and onlookers began to march. Until this point they were hidden, calmly gathering in a park on the east end of the city. The police presence was strong. Riot police lined the south end of Queen Street in an attempt to prevent protesters from getting near the fence.

Riot Police form a human wall on University and Queen St.

Road closed with Riot police to prevent protesters from reaching the G20 Security Zone

Initially, from my vantage point, these protests were calm. We questioned whether the extreme police presence was necessary. These people just want to be heard… right?

But fears mounted and Twitter was buzzing that certain protesters were planning to breach the wall and enter the downtown core through Spadina. At that point their plan was to attempt to break into the G20 security zone where the worlds 20 top leaders were meeting. It was a risk the police couldn’t take.

To put things in perspective, these five line thick walls of riot police were blocking around 2.3 kilometres of city blocks along the parade route. There are at least 14 entrance points into the downtown core including some large open spaces. The police were spread thin, and the protesters were relentlessly trying to get through.

The wall of riot police begins to grow as protesters try to push through on Spadina

Mounted Police stand in front of a “Police State” sign on Spadina

But the police were holding strong. It was a tense atmosphere. Lines of riot police fell back to put on gas masks. Bus loads of new units arrived, marching in step and hitting their batons against their shields as a loud intimidation tactic. A group of us stood on the other side of the police taking photos as they held back the crowds but early on a line of riot police filled the street and pushed us back for our protection. Mounted police continued to arrive and the police wall got thicker and thicker. Reports began to surface that tear gas had been used for the first time in Toronto as smoke began billowing out of the protest crowd (turned out it was a flare lit by the protesters).

A riot police officer stands as crowd control for the onlookers

More riot police arrive, marching in step and hitting their baton against their shield

A wall of police forms to push back the onlookers for safety reasons

Police push back the onlookers away from the main protest area (notice the smoke in the background)

Lines of Riot Police fall back to put on their gas masks

But despite the heavy police presence and crowds chanting “let us through”, not a lot was happening. Both sides were unwilling to budge and the protest was at a stand still. And then there reports that something was going terribly wrong at King and Bay St…

For more updates on the G20 protest, come back shortly or follow my live updates on Twitter. Also, check out my first post on our heroic men and women in uniform who are working twelve hour shifts in full riot gear to protect us and our city.

Tags: anarchists, cashmore, drew cashmore, g20, g20 anarchists, g20 protest, g20 riot police, g20 riots, g20 toronto, police, riot police