Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain
June 27, 2010 – 10:22 pm
Police detained hundreds of people for several hours in the rain at the intersection of Queen Street and Spadina Avenue before sending a large group to the temporary detention centre and releasing the rest.
The detained group included protesters, several journalists, many pedestrians who just happened to be passing by and at least a couple of puppies.
The group was made to stand in the rain for well over three hours without food, water, access to bathrooms, rainwear or shelter.
Police did not issue a warning before corralling the group in a thin strip just north of the intersection and afterward refused to explain why they were being detained.
“Mass arrests are illegal,” Natalie DesRosiers, president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said last night. “They are contrary to the presumption of innocence. They are arbitrary arrest. They should not be doing that. They know they should not be doing that.”
Police selected particular members of the crowd for arrest. At around 8 p.m., people began volunteering to be arrested. Later they actually began lining up to be cuffed so they could get out of the rain.
Eventually there were two large groups of people, one in cuffs, each person with an officer next to them; and a second in a large group hemmed in by dozens of officers in full riot gear. Most of the people were in shorts or pants and T-shirts and tank tops. Some could be seen on the television shivering as they were made to wait in the street.
“I’m freezing cold. We have no food, no water, no shelter and I’ve had to pee for the last five hours,” Sammy Katz, a man detained in the intersection, told CP24 by phone from inside the corral.
Another detainee said he had a panic attack and was allowed to leave.
At about 9 p.m., a man named Roop left the secured zone and crossed a line of police bikes north of the secure zone on Spadina.
He said he was released because he was a type 2 diabetic and said he needed medical care.
“I’ve been in there the whole time. I’ve never seen something like this before. People are freezing and soaking wet. I know they are saying we should have left, but not everyone heard them say that.”
Also inside were three legal monitors with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Ms. DesRosiers, president of the organization, said she had lost contact with the monitors and presumed they were arrested.
“It’s outrageous,” she said, calling the action an infringement of constitutional rights and “abusive.”
“I’ve been talking to them for the last hour and a half. They wanted to leave. We told them to leave, but they could not leave.”
She identified the three monitors as Julia Croome, Johnathan Deschman and Rachel Browne.
Ms. DesRosiers said all three had previously been introduced to police and were wearing special hats, T-shirts and identity cards.
“They know what they look like.
Two CCLA monitors were arrested yesterday. One was released after 16 hours of detention, while the other, Jon Pippitone, had been detained for almost 22 hours at press time.
“We’re quite distraught,” Ms. DesRosiers said. “It seemed completely chaotic in terms of what the police wanted them to do. It was peaceful, there was no violence. It seemed that probably the orders were not clear from the top brass.”
At 9:30 p.m., police loaded the cuffed detainees — many of whom had volunteered to be arrested — into four Toronto Transit Commission buses.
Ms. DesRosiers said she suspected police were frustrated and “in a punitive mode.”
At a press conference on Sunday, Toronto Police Staff Sergeant Jeff McGuire refused to apologize for the incident.
“We had reasonable grounds to believe that a breach of the peace was going to occur,” he said. “We did the best we could. I’m not saying we’re perfect.”
Sgt. McGuire looked sheepish as he said officers had been working 16 and 18 hours straight over the weekend. “This is a very challenging time for our officers as well,” he said. “I hope the public can continue to support us.”
“I cannot apologize to them, and I won’t,” he added. “The officers had the right to detain them for that breach of the peace.”
At 9:40 p.m., every member of the group was unconditionally released on orders from Police Chief Bill Blair.
Liem Vu, an intern with the National Post, had been on the scene shooting video and was among those detained during the nearly four-hour ordeal.
“The majority of [the detained people] were not a part of the protest. They just happened to be walking by,” he said. “It started raining. People were shivering. A lot of people were scared. They didn’t know what was happening. I’d say the general feeling was fear.”
National Post, with files
from Katherine Laidlaw
and Terrine Friday
from Katherine Laidlaw
and Terrine Friday
Posted in: G20, Posted Toronto
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