2010-06-28

Live Blog: Saturday June 26/ Sunday June 27 (The Star) [Update]

"I would be surprised if seeing the news of the weekend if the federal government didn't change their position. This is a federal responsibility. This is their conference."

Asked about the front-page editorial in the Star that the summit failed the city and its people, Miller says it was "vastly overstated," although he allows that "hosting a summit like this is not the wisest" thing to do in the middle of a metropolis.

Miller also says he doesn't have a subscription to the Star, although he does have one to the Globe.

He defended police, saying they had "very little lead time" to prepare. Miller referred to complaints about police brutality has "isolated incidents or problems. We have a process to deal with that.

"Police acted with professionalism. In the very big picture, our police did a very commendable job. I regret the fact that because of the violence actions of people who chose to hide in the crowd with completely innocent people" that some people got caught in the police net.

Was it worth it? "A lot of Torontonians would say no. This was never an event that was designed to bring a positive economic impact on Toronto" even with 10,000 international delegates packing hotels.

Huntsville had two years to prepare for the G8 summit, he said. Toronto had six months. He thinks it should have been held at Exhibition Place.

11:20 a.m. Restoration begins

After a messy weekend around the city, clean-up crews and workers were out attempting to bring the city back to normal.

Kevin Sack, a spokesman with the city of Toronto said staff had been out since Sunday evening to put back street furniture, and clean-up the remnants from the protests.

“Some of those repairs will start immediately,” he said. “You can bet everyone has an interest in getting the city back to its former pre-G20 condition as soon as possible.”

Bike racks were among the first to be put back into place this morning. Crews would also be putting garbage cans and benches back over the course of the week, he said. “We’re eager to get the bins back into place as quickly as we can,” he said.

The furniture was removed weeks before the G20 protest amid concerns that the furniture could be used as potential weapons.

The security fence was also slowly coming down in the city’s core Monday morning.

The Integrated Security Unit said workers taking the fence down would be in the best position to know how long it will take. A spokeswoman with the city said they had until July 10 to get the fence cleared away.

--Noor Javed

11:11 a.m. Accusations of strip-search on women by male police officers

Three people in their 20s have just held a news conference to talk about police treatment during the summit.

Amy Miller, Jesse Rosenfeld and Adam MacIsaac describe themselves as independent media and allege police refused to accept their ID. They didn't have G20 media accreditation, but say they did have ID.

Miller, who lives in Montreal, charges male police officers gave women a full strip search and many returned to their cells at the Eastern Ave. detention centre traumatized and crying.

MacIsaac says he was repeatedly kicked in the ribs and stunned with a stun gun. He showed the marks on his body. He says police ignored him when he told them that he has a pacemaker. The incident happpened at Bloor and St. Thomas, he says.

MacIsaac is from Prince Edward Island.

Rosenfeld, who lives in the Middle East, says he was reporting for the British newspaper The Guardian, which has described him as a contributor to their open Comment is free website. Miller says he had $6,000 in camera equipment stolen and was told to "file a complaint" to get it back.

All three, who were held for many hours in the detention centre before being released today, say they haven't filed complaints yet, but are considering it.

10:51 a.m. Trinty-Bellwoods resident disputes police version

A man who lives in the Trinty-Bellwoods neighbourhood says he was just on his way home last night when he was corralled in the intersection of Queen and Spadina and forced to spent nearly four hours there in the pouring rain.

"We were just trying to go home," Richard Beer told CP24 this morning. "We were boxed in with nowhere to go."

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says people inside the human wall of police in the intersection were given three chances to leave. Beer says they weren't. And Star reporter Raveena Aulakh, who also spent hours in the intersection, says there was nothing said by police that people could leave.

Before police boxed people in, she had heard they shouted a warning. But not afterwards.

Most of the people standing around him in the downpour were just bystanders, Beer says.

A friend who volunteered to go was sent single file through a police line but then was put into a Court Services van and taken to Scarborough. Hours later, she was dropped off at Kennedy subway station, where Beer and friends collected her.

Blair insisted earlier this morning that people were asked to leave three times. The ones who stayed, in his opinion, were "facilitating" the others in the group intent on violence.

9:59 a.m. 15-year-old released after 33 hours

15-year-old Liam has just walked free of the Eastern Ave. detention centre, where he has been held since very early Sunday morning.

Liam, who goes to Central Tech, says he was down on the Esplanade just before midnight on Saturday night when he was arrested.

"If you're a citizen of Toronto watching the protest, you've got to expect to be detained," he says.

A sergeant called his parents after 24 hours but he was not able to speak with them.

"I'm pretty sure my parents are going to be upset."

The police surrounded a large group of people and "once they surrounded us, they said we should have just left because we were all being arrested."

Wearing an orange T-shirt and jeans, the babyfaced Liam has short, almost shaved dark blond hair and stands about 5-foot-5. He says he was held with three others in the young offenders' cell and they've all been released without charges.

The small crowd outside the Eastern Ave. detention centre is making posters now, including one that says "Amnesty for the Toronto 900."

There are granola bars, apples, bananas, strawberries, pakoras and a big bag of popcorn for them to eat.

9:32 a.m. 15-year-old held in detention centre

Keith MacDonald has just been released from the Eastern Ave. detention centre to cheers and clapping from the crowd.

He contends police inside the detention centre are just telling people what they think they want to hear. A 15-year-old boy has been in there for 33 hours, he says, and they told him 10 hours ago they called his dad.

MacDonald, who is in his late teens or early 20s, says he was arrested at Queen and Noble in Parkdale yesterday at 3 p.m. when police were arresting anyone who wasn't part of the media.

He says he was wearing a black T-shirt and black pants, with a shaved head and a bandanna. He says he was charged with a raft of things, including obstruction of police, but all charges were dropped.

9:26 a.m. On Eastern Ave.

The Eastern Avenue detention centre still looks like an armed camp. Two entrances on the south side of Eastern are heavily guarded by police, some of whom are shaded from the hot morning sun under large white tents.

A golf cart with three police holding armfuls of water bottles drove leisurely between the entrances.

Empty TTC buses with "Chartered" on the digital sign above the windshield are entering the facility, several at a time, from downtown.

The Modu-loc fences remain, anchored in the steel reinforced concrete jersey barriers. A small group of media are on the north side of Eastern, no crowds any more.

9:14 a.m. Travel advisory

Union Station exits that were closed early this morning have now been opened. TTC is reporting traffic delays and heavy traffic on Bay St. near Wellington St. W. because of the G20 security fences. Crews started taking security fences apart overnight.

8:36 a.m. Arrest numbers keep climbing

The Integrated Security Unit is confirming that police have made more than 900 G20-related arrests since June 18.

8:29 a.m. Outside the detention centre

There are about 10 people waiting outside the holding centre at Eastern Ave. About half of them were inside overnight and have been let out. Others are waiting for family and friends still inside.

Those who spent the night inside the makeshift jail say conditions were terrible, lights were never turned off and they were kept in holding pens with only a bench for 10 people. They were fed cheese sandwiches every four hours and given a small glass of water every two hours.

Each time someone walks free, a cheer goes up from the crowd.

A group of Montreal students just released say they were walking to the Greyhound bus station to leave at 10 a.m. yesterday when they were surrounded by dozens of police officers. They say they were charged with wearing a disguise and possessing weapons, although they say they were just wearing black clothes and carrying water and lemons.

All the charges have been dropped, they say. Everyone was strip searched when they were taken in.

"You're young, you're anarchists, you're violent. That's what the police think," says Charles from Montreal.

"They were telling us we smell bad," says Roxanne Anouk. "We've been sleeping on the floor all night."

They had come to Toronto, they say, to protest brutality, the environment, war and the need for free education. Charles declined a TV interview, saying, "I don't want my parents to see me like this."

8:16 a.m. Police chief speaks

"Dozens and dozens" of people were arrested on their way to the Queen and Spadina demonstration last night carrying weapons, including wet Molotov cocktails, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says.

Rain

He defends the hours people spent in the pouring rain hemmed in at the intersection, saying they had three chances to leave. Told people were confused about how to get out, he repeated that they had a chance to leave and the media had a chance to move back when told.

What he called planned criminal activity was "made a lot easier by the complicity of the crowd," Blair tells CP24 in a morning interview.

"It's unfortunate some innocent people had to stand in the rain," says Blair. "We had to stand in the rain with them." The deluge, he says, was the "good part" because the rain "cooled their ardour. That's what we wanted it to do."

Blair describes demonstrators roaming through the city to confound police and attack vulnerable spots in the city.

7:38 a.m. While you were sleeping...

More people were taken into police custody last night, bringing the total number of G20-related arrests to at least 700, the Integrated Security Unit says.

Jenn Gearey, an ISU representative, said Monday morning that number is "still not firm," because it doesn't include any individuals who were processed by police overnight. Police expect to have a higher, more accurate estimate later today.

As the number of people detained rises, the fences are coming down.

By midnight Monday, the gates at the security perimeter had opened and work crews were seen removing fencing and concrete barriers. The fence remains around the Westin on Queen's Quay and police sit in the tents away from the morning sun.

The ISU is also expected to make a decision later today on whether the police presence brought in for the summit from neighbouring regions such as Peel and York is still needed, Gearey said.

7:32 a.m. Questions from Queen and Spadina

"We're not suggesting we're perfect," Toronto Police Staff Superintendent Jeff McGuire said late last night by way of explanation for the hours hundreds of people spent in the drenching rain boxed in by police.

"That was the decision we made at that time. Sometimes, it doesn't work out perfectly."

McGuire went on to explain that police had been working a "16 to 18-hour day in the rain, fighting."

Police, said McGuire, decided to box in people at Queen and Spadina last night after they saw people they believed were in the anarchist Black Bloc who "actually donned masks" and were carrying weapons en route to the protest site. Everybody else, he said, were "people who chose not to disassociate themselves" with the Bloc.

"The inclement weather came upon us quickly," he said.

Everyone at Queen and Spadina was arrested, and the processing took hours, but then they were released "unconditionally" without charges by 9:40 p.m.. He didn't say what happened to the people alleged to be Black Bloc.

Star reporters described people swept up in the arrests who had only been trying to cross the street. Others stood for hours shivering in the deluge.

7:26 a.m.: Trouble at the shelter

There was word yesterday that the men who bunk at the Hope Mission, a Sally Ann hostel at the corner of College and McCaul, were being braced by the cops.

That’s trouble. The men who use the Hope are often fresh from jail, and many of them have issues: mental health, minor warrants, or addictions.

You can’t help a man if he’s afraid to go where he can get a little help. The Army wouldn’t let me talk to anyone inside. I talked to Tony on the street.

As we talked, I could see the cops in cars, and cops on foot, and cops on bikes; on average, groups of seven.

Tony, in fact, didn’t sleep at the Hope on Saturday night. “I was sleeping on a bench at city hall. Around 5:30 this morning, the cops, they surrounded me, about 12 of them, which is overkill.

“One was asking for my ID, and another one was asking what was in my bag; everybody talking all at once, it was confusing. And then they went for my bag. I wasn’t hiding anything. They asked if I had charges.”

He has had charges in the past, and he may have charges in the future, but he has no charges now, and he’s doing his best, and it bothers him when he’s pushed around. “They can get away with anything they want.”

That’s pretty much right. And I can tell you that I passed hundreds of cops yesterday, and no one bothered to search me.

Reverse profiling?

And then George said, “They got me twice yesterday, once with eight cops, once with five. It’s scary.”

Nerves on edge all over.

-- Joe Fiorito

Live Blog: Sunday June 27

4:22 a.m.

The pictures below are of work crews taking down fencing and removing concrete barriers in the G20 summit zone. All main roads were expected to be open for the morning traffic rush.

From Henry Stancu

2:16 a.m.

At midnight, contracted work crews began removing the perimeter fence. The barriers on Front St. were brought down by workers around 2 a.m.

From Henry Stancu

1:50 a.m.

Only about 30 people remain outside the Eastern Ave. detention centre now. When the detainees are released out onto the street, the dwindling crowd still claps and cheers.

From Henry Stancu

12:38 a.m. Police barriers come down, roads reopen

I see no police barriers now. All routes, including northbound from Lakeshore, are open. Fences still in place but gates open. There are NO police officers directing traffic.

From Steve Tustin

12:10 a.m. G20 closes up shop

Looks like they are closing up G20 shop and going home. All gates are open.

From Steve Tustin

12:04 a.m. Porter flight rerouted

Porter flight from Newark tried to land twice at Island airport but too foggy. Captain had to turn back at last minute. Pearson not available due to G20 so plane sent to Ottawa.

From Jim Byers

11:58 p.m. Gates open

The police have now opened all the gates at Bremner and Lower Simcoe. I see no police officers at any checkpoint. All roads are open to cars and pedestrians.

But north from Lakeshore to Lower Simcoe. Still blocked.
From Steve Tustin

11:30 p.m. Tales from the holding centre

Feeling humiliated, hungry and confused, Kiel Widmeyer was released today after spending more than 20 hours in what he called “a crowded cage” at the G20 holding centre.

“I called my dad as soon as I got out – it was the first thing I did,” he said, noting that his father had been worried sick. “The worst part of the whole experience was that they didn’t allow us to make any phone calls. Not one phone call.”

Widmeyer had arrived for a peaceful protest in front of the Novotel hotel on the esplanade Saturday evening with three friends – two of whom he’s been unable to locate since the arrest.

“Everything was going well. We were holding peace signs, we were singing. It was very peaceful,” he said.

As soon as it was made clear that police wanted them to leave, Widmeyer says that many of the demonstrators stood up, put their hands into the air and attempted to leave.

“But there was no way out. The police wouldn’t let us leave,” he said. “They let the media people go, but as far as us protesters, we were not let out. They started to charge at us, pushing us closer and closer together.”

One by one, hundreds of protesters were arrested. Widmeyer says he was bound by plastic handcuffs before having his picture taken and possessions confiscated.

He then waited in a paddy wagon for nearly two hours before being taken into the temporary detention centre at 628 Eastern Avenue.

“At first they put me in a cell all by myself, which was really terrifying,” he recalled, his voice shaking. “I was intimidated, being in there all alone.”

A short time later, more people were brought into the cell. The group waited, uncertain as to what was going on, for four hours before police took them one at a time to speak with a Sergeant.

“That’s when they finally told us ‘this is why you were arrested, do you understand?’” He said. “Then they told us that the charges would be dropped, and we were happy, thinking we thought we could go home. But then they just changed us over to different, smaller cells.”

The smaller cells were approximately 6 by 9 feet large, Widmeyer estimates, with as many as six people being held in each.

“The floor was concrete, with no blankets or pillows. Some had Porta-Potties, but most didn’t.” he said. “It was very bright and noisy. There was no way to sleep at all.”

Prisoners struggled to get food, water and bathroom breaks, but the worst part of the ordeal, Widmeyer says, was the way they were treated by police.

Protesters were told that five lawyers were on site, but Widmeyer says that nobody was actually given a chance to speak with them.

“Everyone was demanding to speak to lawyers, trying to enact their right to make a phone call, but the police would say it was too busy – that the phones were all in use,” he said. “Our cages were in a big open room, so we could call out to each other. Someone called out to see if anyone had been given a phone call and not one person had.”

The young man was also disgusted by how unprofessionally he was treated by guards at the detention centre.

“I’m only 5-foot-2; I’m not a big guy,” he said, explaining that on more than one occasion guards made jokes about his size among themselves.

“They would say ‘yeah, I’ve got a big one here’ sarcastically when they escorted me to the bathroom and laugh,” he said. “I just felt really disrespected. These are the guys who are supposed to protect our rights.”

From Lauren O’Neil

G20 wrapup video: A chaotic weekend

11:03 p.m. First person arrested under G20 law jailed again

Dave Vasey, the environmental activist who was the first to be arrested under the Public Works Act, was arrested again in the Novotel roundup Saturday night. He says police took their shoes. They were very cold and had no blankets to people huddled together.

His cell, about 6 ft.by 8 ft, didn’t have a toilet. They had to “beg” police to go to the bathroom. It would take about an hour before they were allowed to go to the toilet. He said it was “ filthy” in the cell.
He said he will launch another lawsuit about his treatment over the last 30 hours.

From Jayme Poisson

11 p.m. Life starting to return to normal

Bremner and Lower Simcoe

Four police officers are patrolling a perimeter where only hours earlier there were hundreds. Gates are still closed, but it looks like, for the first time in days, a non-accredited local was let through. Perhaps life will be returning to near normal tomorrow morning.

From Steve Tustin

10:55 p.m. University students get harsh lesson

Queen and Spadina

Two students from the University of Western Ontario political science and peace studies program say they got a harsh lesson in the real world, when they tried to cross the intersection at Queen St. W. and Spadina Sunday afternoon. They were meeting friends and spontaneously joined the march for a few blocks. They were curious.

Kelly Johnstone, 21, of Ajax, said she was shocked to be suddenly surrounded by police and then held in the middle of the street for four hours in the pouring rain.

Johnstone kept calling her parents to tell them she was being held by police. She felt cold and claustrophobic.

“We were waiting to be handcuffed,” she said. “I can’t believe this happened.”

She said they were told they were breaching the peace.

Her friend Alicia Kuin, 23, from London, Ont., who’s in the same program, said, “I’m frustrated, very frustrated. Very cold. Shivering and very upset at the government.”

From Peter Edwards

10:46 p.m. Police hold press conference

In a hastily called press conference at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Toronto police Staff Supt. Jeff McGuire said police had "significant evidence" that individuals planning to carry out acts of Black Bloc violence similar to Saturday's rampage along Yonge Street were "mixed in" with protesters on Queen St. today.

McGuire acknowledged that law-abiding citizens had been detained in the round-up at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave., but insisted police executed a tactic they felt was necessary to prevent a repeat of Saturday.

"A net gets thrown and people get caught... This is on the heels of what we felt (Saturday) ... We're not suggesting that we're perfect," he said, "We're facing very trying circumstances (and we're) doing the best we can."

Most of the detained individuals were released unconditionally, McGuire said, but added several of those found with gas masks were detained and transported to the Eastern Ave. G20 summit detention centre.

10:45 pm Prisoners tell their story

Queen W. and Spadina Ave.

Prisoners - those who say they were boxed by police lines and couldn’t get out - and were held in police vans were also suddenly set free around 9:30 p.m. Saying they still didn’t know why they were handcuffed for two hours and kept in police vans. They had been processed, then turned loose.

Clarence Boutilier, 41, an unemployed former restaurant worker, of Toronto, said he was taking pictures with his cell phone when he was suddenly arrested.

He was held in the middle of the street on suspicion of mischief charges.

“I wasn’t breaking the law, smashing things,” Boutilier said, “but I was treated like a criminal.”

Ten minutes after being set free, he shivered and asked for a match to light his cigarette.

He said while he was being held he was confused and cold. “the only way we could get out (of the intersection) was to be arrested,” Boutilier said. “We weren’t part of the protest.”

Katherine Budd, 24, a single mom, was chilled in the night air. Her T-shirt was drenched. She wore no jacket.

She said she was just walking across the intersection when the protest caught her eye.

“I figured it was just a bunch of hippies. They weren’t doing anything violent.”

10:17 p.m. Eastern Ave.

They are letting out groups of five or six demonstrators out of the detention centre every 15 minutes. A group is standing on the corner of Eastern Ave. and Pape Ave. Some are crying. Others embracing.

Ryan McLoughlin, 25, was detained Saturday night at the Novotel. He says he was brought to the detention centre in a black van which had partitions. He was left in the van for three hours. It was hot inside the van and some complained it was difficult to breathe.

Once in the centre, they were in a “wire cage” about 14 ft X 10 ft. covered with sheet metal. His compartment held about 40 people – it was extremely crowded. He compared it to a storage locker in an apartment.

“The whole thing was pretty makeshift.”

It was dirty – people didn’t want to lie down on the floor. They were handcuffed.

“It was extremely, extremely uncomfortable.”

He described an open toilet in the cage in which he was kept, where there no privacy as well as no toilet paper.

McLoughlin said they were fed “stale buns”, processed cheese slices, and three small glasses of water, three time over the 30 hours he was held.

He said his group tried to stay very quiet though other groups were rowdily banging on the walls of their compartments.

When he was released, he said he had glimpse of the scope of the entire centre. He was surprised at how large it was.

“It’s a prison camp in there.”

10:05 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

People released from police custody say they were given no explanation why they were suddenly freed. They’d been told they had been disturbing the peace.

They said there were about 600 people originally detained at the intersection. The ones set free were in the final group waiting to be processed. They said it was just luck that they were allowed to go. They were stunned to be arrested.

They say there was no violence at Queen and Spadina. They say they were walking through the intersection and the majority of people detained were not part of the demonstration.

“We were just walking around with friends,” said Sam Wisnicki, 22, of Toronto, who just graduated from the University of Western Ontario where she was studying political science and peace studies.

“Nothing was really happening,” Wisnicki said. “Everything was peaceful.”

The detainees say they were confused and frightened. They were also very cold – they shivered in their soaking wet T-shirts for four hours.

“We were surrounded,” Wisnicki said. “We were told to get down and were rounded up like cattle.”

She said she, along with two friends from Western, was meeting friends for dinner and stumbled on the protest and decided to walk with it for a couple of blocks.

“I can’t believe I’m in Canada. My charter rights have been trampled. My human rights have been trampled. It’s shameful.”

Some of the people shivering in the rain with her were tourists.

10:00 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

Spadina and Queen are clear of protesters but some who were not arrested say they are going to the Eastern Ave. and Pape St. detention centre to "show solidarity with crowds."

Alicia Papell, 24, spent five hours in a stand off with police but was let go about 10 minutes ago.

"I was arrested yesterday ... I know what that detention centre is like. My friends and I are going there now."

She said the group was protesting peacefully when cops got aggressive and started pushing them around. One of her heads was punched in the face, she said.

She and her friend Tyler were among the very few not arrested by the police.

As Queen and Spadina cleared out, a voice from a parked court services van rang out: "I want to pee...let me pee," said a girl, who had been arrested about two hours ago.

A few dozen police officers are still at Queen and Spadina but the majority have left or are leaving.

9:45 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

All of the crowds at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. were released around 9:40 p.m., but not before dozens of protesters were arrested and carted off in police court service wagons.

For the past two hours or so, young protesters and passers-by have been lined up, processed and detained.

A line of 25 people was still being processed moments before the crowd was let loose and headed north on Spadina Ave.

A girl, who is in a court van, complained that officers had not let her go to the bathroom in over two hours.

Meanwhile, two men in socks were forced to stand in pouring rain as police squared off with protesters and slowly pulled people out one by one.

Following the release of the final remaining people, at least 300 officers marched out of the intersection.

Street cars were stalled for 3 hours.

9:40 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

At Queen and Spadina there was a loud cheer from the shivering detainees who stood in the middle of the street waiting for their arrest to be processed. They were suddenly released from custody. They quickly walked east on Queen St. away from the intersection.

9:40 p.m. Queen St.

At 9:40 p.m. a loud cheer arose from the crowd as police freed about 50 of the detainees, who then walked briskly east on Queen St.

"We did it," one shouted, waving his fist in the air. Others pulled out their cellphones as they called friends and relatives to say they were freed.

9:40 p.m. Crowds released

Television footage shows crowds from Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. being released.

9:27 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.
Police are loading detained alleged protesters into chartered TTC buses.

9:14 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

A young man in his early 20s said he was merely crossing the intersection and watching the commotion, when he was scooped up by riot police.

The man, who wore only a T-shirt, jogging shorts and runners, said he’s on vacation in Canada from Ireland. He shivered in the rain, with his hands handcuffed behind him as an officer told him he had a right to call a lawyer. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled faintly. “Some vacation,” he said in a broad Irish accent.

Police are doing their paperwork in the shelter of store doorways. They ask the detainees if they have any medical conditions they should know about. One young woman shivering was wrapped in a silver Mylar blanket.

9:10 p.m. East side of Queen and Spadina Ave.

At least 50 people stood in the rain with their hands cuffed behind them at Queen St. W and Spadina.

About 100 police officers, some in riot gear, stood in the intersection while other officers stood beside detainees, waiting to process their personal information and put their belongings into clear plastic bags.

The mood was surprisingly congenial. One female detainee in her early 20s volunteered to let a police officer use her pen to fill out a form when the officer’s pen didn’t work. The police officer smiled at her, shrugged her shoulders and said, “You get to have your picture taken.” “Awesome,” the detainee replied sarcastically.

9 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

A detainee in his early 20s said he was simply crossing the intersection of Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. to see some friends when he was detained by riot police. The young man, who said he's on a month-long vacation in Canada from Ireland, said he wasn't protesting or demonstrating.

"Wrong place, wrong time," he said with a thick Irish accent as he stood handcuffed and shivering in the pouring rain, waiting to be processed by police. "Great vacation."

8:45 p.m. Five observers from Canadian Civil Liberties Association arrested

Five observers from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have been arrested this weekend.

The four men and one woman are volunteers, trained to take notes to document both police and protesters’ behaviours at the demonstrations during the G20 Summit, said Nathalie Des Rosiers, the general counsel for the Association.

Des Rosiers said that the first two observers were arrested on Saturday night in front of the Novotel hotel on the Esplanade when a peaceful protest turned into a mass arrest. The other three were arrested late Sunday afternoon at the Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. standoff.

“We are quite distressed by these arrests,” said Des Rosiers.

All were wearing their white uniform, including a white hat with CCLA on it. They also have cards identifying them as impartial onlookers, said Des Rosiers, who confirmed that the Integrated Security Unit is aware of the observers’ presence at the protests.

“We have no idea what they have been charged with,” said Des Rosiers. “And that’s the concern.”

One of the observers was released after being detained for 16 hours. “He is still in shock,” said Des Rosiers, who added that he described his experience as chaotic. He also told her that the cages at the detention centre were full of garbage.

Similar monitors were dispatched at the Vancouver Olympics to watch over the protests there – none of those observers were arrested, said Des Rosiers

8:50 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

More than 100 police officers detained at least 50 demonstrators in the pouring rain in the middle of the intersection of Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

Demonstrators and passers-by, with their hands cuffed behind them, stood in the pouring rain waiting to be processed by officers and carted away in court services vans.

Officers took down the personal information of detainees, emptied their pockets into plastic evidence bags, and loaded them into waiting court services vans and a bus.

Those detained didn't fit into any neat category -- men, women, mostly in their 20s, most of them resigned to going through the arrest process without argument.

Several hundred paces away in the background, hundreds of riot police waited in case they were needed.

"You guys are saying 'Wrong place, wrong time'," a police officer said to two detainees who argued they were just passing by. "Yup," replied a young man in his early 20s. But that didn't make any difference -- the handcuffs stayed on and the two continued to be processed by officers who read them their rights and told they they had the right to call a lawyer. Whether or not they had the opportunity to call a lawyer is a different question.

Officers also asked detainees if they had any medical conditions that required special treatment. "Asthma," a young woman replied.

The atmosphere was surprisingly civil, with those detained volunteering their personal identification and readily answering police questions.

8:30 p.m., Queen St. W. at Spadina

Police begin detaining protesters at at Queen St. W. and Richmond.

Protests

8:15 p.m., Queen St. W. at Spadina

The angry crowd of hundreds huddled in the rain at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. was reduced to a small group standing face-to-face with police. While some of the protesters posed for photos in front of the police line, others were picked out of the crowd, one by one, as officers waded in to make individual arrests.

Police were screening the prisoners and detaining some while allowing others to leave the area.

8:15 p.m. YouTube footage of Queen and Spadina protests

8:15 p.m. Police may stay in Toronto after Sunday

Police imported into the city for the G20 have been put on stand-by and warned that they may have to stay in the city after Sunday.

“My understanding is that people are here until everything is under control,” said Sgt. Nathalie Deschenes, a spokesperson for the Integrated Security Unit. “There is no specific date set. People will stay as long as necessary.”

A total of 253 people have been arrested between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, which brings the total of G20 arrests to 604.

8:00 p.m. Power outage in Leslieville

There is a power outage in the city’s east end as the rain drums down in Toronto. The blackout is along Dundas St. E. between Coxwell Ave. and Leslie St., said Toronto Hydro spokesperson Tanya Bruckmueller.

The Eastern Ave. detention centre is not affected by the power outage.

7:51 pm Queen St. W. at Spadina. Standoff almost over

A few dozen die-hards are hanging on, still facing police at Queen St. W. and Spadina. A few of those danced on roller blades, wearing skimpy women’s lingerie. They are performing in front of police, as the crowd cheers them on. Traffic is starting to move north on Spadina Ave.

It looks like the standoff has come to a soggy end.

7:41 p.m. Toronto G20 Summit Accomplishments

The world’s leaders emerged from the G20 Summit with an agreement for advanced economies to cut their deficits in half by 2013 and stabilize their debt loads by 2016, according to Canadian Press.

Other key measures agreed to include:

— Setting up a working group on international development issues, the first time the G20 has given itself a formalized a role in helping poor countries.

— Reaffirming some of the countries’ support for the Copenhagen Accord to control greenhouse gas emissions.

— Continue developing strategies to cut fossil fuel subsidies.

— Speeding up reform of the IMF so that emerging markets have more say.

— Launching a food security program.

— Reiterating support for the Doha round of global free trade talks.

7:32 p.m. Soho and Queen. Protesters Detained

Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk reports that Toronto police swooped in and detained everyone in front of the Black Bull.

7:24 pm Queen St. W. at Spadina Crowd Thins

A prolonged deluge has cut the size of the crowd by at least half. A couple of women in their early 20s danced in the rain in the middle of Queen St. W.

Several dozen people on bicycles pedaled away. Others took refuge from the downpour in storefronts.

“A perfect end to a perfect evening,” one onlooker said, sarcastically. He added: “There’s no point in setting any fires now.”

7:07 p.m. Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. Tightly penned in

Joe Howell told The Star that, one by one, members of the crowd are being picked out of the crowd and taken through the police line that has formed near the northeast corner of the intersection.

It’s not clear whether these are demonstrators or bystanders.

They are going quietly, without resistance. Some wave as they are taken in hand. Meanwhile, it's pelting rain.

“We’re pretty tightly penned in,” he said. “The cops look pretty serious. They keep slamming their batons against their shields and pushing us closer together.”

Denise

6:55 p.m. Queen St. W. at Spadina Music and Sound of Helicopter

Chuck Berry hits such as Nadine competed with the whirring sound of a helicopter during the standoff. Both can clearly be heard, even by reporters wearing ear plugs to protect from the possible use of police sound cannon.

6:50 p.m.Queen St.West and Spadina Ave Protesters marched to waiting vehicles

Officers have detained several protesters north of Queen on Spadina and have marched them south on Spadina to waiting vehicles.

People blocked off at Queen and Cameron, west of Spadina, said the group was attempting to march to the Parkdale office of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network.

Police vans arrived at Queen and Cameron; some of the people assembled shouted “shame, shame.”

6:50 pm Riot police at Spadina Ave. and Queen St.W.

Hundreds of Toronto police officers in full riot gear occupy all four sides of the intersection of Spadina and Queen St. W., the site of often violent confrontation Saturday night.

Dozens of other police in riot gear block nearby streets including Cameron St. and Augusta Ave. Hundreds are boxed in – some are protesters, some gawkers. Dozens more police, also in full riot gear, are coming.

Six SUVs and vans with OPP officers have come from the west. The crowd is taunting them, shouting “stop antagonizing everybody.

” A line up of street cars – about four blocks long – extends eastward. All side streets within a six block radius have been blocked off. They have created a narrow funnel for protesters, gawkers and journalists, to pass through.

Yang

6:37 p.m. Queen St. and Spadina Ave. Police warn tear gas, rubber bullets at ready at tense G20 protest
Police are warning journalists that they're getting ready to use tear gas and rubber bullets on a group of protesters in downtown Toronto, Canadian Press reports.

Riot police have a group of people hemmed in at the intersection of Queen Street and Spadina Avenue.

A large number of arrests are being made at the scene.

Police have taken no chances today after roving bands of militant protesters burned police cars and vandalized banks.

GLAD TO BE FREE

Power
A protester is released from the Eastern Ave. jail earlier Sunday afternoon. (BERNARD WEIL/TORONTO STAR)

6:20 p.m. DeGrassi and Queen What police horses left behind

More than the presence of cops on quiet residential streets, it's horse poop that is annoying people.

At DeGrassi and Queen, where police made some arrests, cops on horseback were heckled for leaving without cleaning up the mess left behind.

“This is poop on sidewalk -- who is going to clean up?” said Nathan, who lives in the neighbourhood.

At least two horses pooped as protesters and cops held a brief standoff for about 20 minutes.

6:22 p.m. Queen St. W. at Spadina

CTV is reporting that police, wearing gas masks, are bringing out sound cannon.

Continue reading "Live blog, Sunday, June 27, 3:30 p.m." »

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KING AND BAY THIS AFTERNOON

3:26 p.m. Toronto jail conditions "Deplorable"
Legal observer from Toronto Mobilization Network is calling conditions in at the Eastern Ave. detention centre "deplorable." He says arrested protesters "often not being given timely access to counsel."

At a news conference in Parkdale, he says protesters being denied water to drink for up to eight hours and are being crammed into small cells.

3:25 p.m. "Confrontation is Welcome "

The web page for the group Fire Works for Prisons organizing the 5 p.m. demonstration at the Bruce Mackey Park, also called the Jimmie Simpson Park, on Dundast Street E.,
offers their strategy for the event.

"Representatives of media are not" welcome and anyone who films somone "without their consent will be confronted."

They say: "We are encouraging people to come organized with intention, to make this project their own," said the organizers on their web page. "Bring what you want to the demo: plans, noisemakers, banners, chants, and above all your passion for freedom. Confrontation is welcome."

The organizers say: "Prison is everywhere; it is nothing more than a reflection of the society in which we live. It is a daily threat and reality that has permeated every facet of society. With the deepening of surveillance, the integration of police forces, the increased use of private security, the existence of courts, repression and isolation, the walls of prison are already built around us.

"We’ll see you in the streets!"

12:27 p.m."It's a start," says Bono

U2 singer and activist Bono has given Prime Minister Stephen Harper a half-hearted endorsement for his moves on maternal health at the weekend summits.

“Prime Minister Harper’s plan for the G8 on maternal mortality is not everything that’s needed to tackle the moral affront of millions of mothers dying in childbirth, but it is a start on a job that world leaders need to finish,” Bono, co-founder of the advocacy group ONE, said in a statement.

He encouraged leaders to step up efforts to make further progress on achieving the millennium development goals (MDG), notably when they meet at the United Nations this fall.

“The MDGs must stay at the heart of the G8, G20 and U.N. until leaders agree to a concrete plan to get them back on track. Time is ticking away,” Bono said.

11:42 p.m.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair confirmed that 150 people have been arrested on Saturday.

From Madeleine White

11:27 p.m.

Toronto Star photo blog

Peaceful beginnings, violent ending as G20 protests grip Toronto

From Steve Russell

11:20 p.m.

The TTC has announced that subway and streetcar service in the downtown core will not resume tonight.

Subway service between Bloor station and St. George station is expected to return Sunday morning at its regular 9 a.m. start time.

The Blue Line Network – buses that run down Yonge St. after the subway closes – will continue tonight, but the 320 Yonge St. bus will take a detour on Parliament St.

The Bloor-Danforth line has not been affected by the G20 protests.

Streetcars are also out of commission for the rest of the evening in the downtown core.

There are a series of shuttle buses to move people in the west end of the city. One bus runs along Queen St. W. from Bathurst to Roncesvalles Ave. Another bus is running from Dundas St. W. station, along College St. to Bathurst St. and then heads north to Bathurst station.

There are also free shuttle buses running along Bathurst St. and Parliament St. These are expected to last until the subway closes.

TTC officials say they will make a decision on Sunday’s TTC service tomorrow.

From Madeleine White

5:55pm. Inside the Security Zone What secret law?

Police inside the security fence don't seem to be exercising the "secret" law that allows them to arrest people coming five metres from the fence - at least they aren't using it for the non-violent protestors. A French-Canadian woman dressed in a Mexican wrestling mask and pink superhero costume just put her fingers through the fence to ask a cop in a gas mask for directions to the subway.

5:52 pm. City Hall Outrage

Toronto Mayor David Miller tells press conference he's outraged at what's happened in city streets today. "A number of people intent on committing violent acts did exactly that ... I want to express my anger and my outrage at those acts," he said.

5:50 p.m. Inside the Security Zone

Some officers inside fence now removing gas masks

5:47 p.m. Sit-down showdown

A rallying cry: "TO THE FENCE!!!" Everyone cheered. A new chant: "To the fence, bring it down." They have passed Richmond.

3:34 p.m.:Bay and Queen

The violent protesters have turned onto Bay St. at Queen and are heading south to Richmond, getting closer to the fence; they smashed windows at a TD Bank.

3:31 p.m.Reflections from Sid Ryan

As black block protesters continue their violent protest, Sid Ryan's hails his group's Family Friendly protest:

"I thought it was fabulous--a family-friendly protest, just like we said it would go," Sid Ryan said.

"We talked about the issues we wanted to talk about: jobs, the environment, women's health."

"It wasn't marred by any violence, so our message wasn't taken off track."

"We've said from the beginning that this is a complete waste of taxpayers money, when we knew our protests would be peaceful--now Harper has to be held to account for spending $1.3 billion of taxpayers' money."

8:30 p.m., TORONTO: TOP BRIEFER

Kazuo Kodama is earning high marks at the summit's media centre in Toronto for his regular updates on the behind-the-scenes action at the G8 gathering in Huntsville. Kodama, the official spokesperson for the Government of Japan, is now on his third briefing of the day, each one stretching at least 30 minutes, offering reporters detailed reports of summit discussions and themes.

8:20 p.m., HUNTSVILLE: FORCED LANDING

A Georgian Bay Airways pontoon plane was forced to land Friday on Lake Simcoe because it was thought to present a threat to the G8 summit.

After being delayed by police at Toronto Island Airport even though flight restrictions don't start until Saturday, it was finally allowed to take off for Parry Sound. Shortly there after the radio failed and that alarmed security officials even though the pilot, Anne-Marie Chartier, called London tower to explain what happened.

She was then forced to land her craft in Cook's Bay near Barrie when her radio failed and the universal squawk code to report radio failure was deemed suspicious.

8:12 p.m., TORONTO: WALK TO THE HOLDING FACILITY

About 40 protesters are walking from Allan Gardens to the detention centre police have set up at the former Toronto Film Studios on Eastern Ave. They are seeking to assist a deaf protester whom they say was detained at about 2 p.m. after attempting to cross police lines to buy water; they say they want to ensure he is provided an American Sign Language interpreter and legal assistance.

Foreign reporter shut out of G20

Pakistani journalist Syed Asfar Imam has been to the Congo to cover the United Nations mission, to England to interview the late Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and to the U.S. for the Kashmir Mission Program.

Last week, Imam, chief international correspondent for Aaj TV news network, got his media accreditation to cover the G20 summit in Toronto. But he won’t be here anytime soon. The Canadian High Commission told him it would take three months to get a visa.

So Imam said he contacted Dimitri Soudas, communications director for Prime Minister Stephen Harper — and was advised to join him on Twitter to follow news at the summit.

Nicholas Keung Immigration Reporter

A peek at the summit

We’re just a regular old non-hamburger-selling hospital, we promise

In a presumed attempt to avoid the vandalizing wrath of protesters who hate both big corporations and world-class medical facilities, the Burger King and Tim Hortons signs at the Hospital for Sick Children’s University Ave. entrance have been covered with green garbage bags.

And then Donald Rumsfeld will speak about good war planning

Former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove is in town Friday night to speak at the G20 Summit for Faith and Business Leaders, an event organized by Christian conservative Charles McVety. More strangely, Rove will also hold a news conference “commenting on the G20 and the moral question of massive spending and debt.” Rove can comment, but not credibly: even when defence is excluded, Bush spent more in inflation-adjusted dollars than any president since Lyndon Johnson.

Possible intended messages of the summit media centre’s four-dimensional 4D Ontario ride

Ontario: Where you will think you will have fun but quickly get nauseated

Ontario: Where residents spend large quantities of time whitewater rafting and riding horses through forests

When life gives you fences, make a fence blog

Someone has launched a blog and art project called “Fenced Out,” soliciting photos of “whatever you find put up on (or over)” the G20 security fence. After the summit, this someone says at fencedoutblog.tumblr.com, “we will digitally stitch the collected photos together to create a different kind of fence — an online mural made up of the public’s interventions, that will endure well after the steel and concrete barrier is taken down.”

Detention, The Film

Police have set up a temporary holding facility for detained protesters at the former Toronto Film Studios on Eastern Ave. Here are some movie sequels the cops could force the protesters to participate in if they feel like violating some Charter rights:

Men in Black III. Synopsis: Anarchists fight aliens.

Billy Elliot II. Synopsis: An 11-year-old anti-globalization activist discovers a gift for ballet while dodging rubber bullets.

Ocean’s 14. Synopsis. A motley collection of Oxfam employees executes a casino heist and uses the proceeds to expedite the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Summit-related tweet of the day

Dan Speerin: “The argument of it being an honour to hold the G20 would be a lot more believable if last year it wasn’t in Pittsburgh.”

With files from Robert Benzie and Antonia Zerbisias

Source: http://thestar.blogs.com/g20/