The Toronto Police shut down the Occupy Toronto encampment in St. James Park this morning, and from 3 AM through to about 8 I was onsite liveblogging it for Torontoist.
I have to say, I feel vaguely robbed by the lack of a riot. Dear police and protestors: next time I have to get up at 3 AM to cover your potential clash, please have at least a small riot or something, okay? Not a big one, just… something? This was so painfully civil it felt like somebody’s idea of a parody, “Canadian Protest Riot” or something. The police were respectful and helpful, the protesters were largely polite and cooperative (okay, there was one guy who was barefoot and half-dressed who kept taunting the cops and getting up in their faces, and honestly I don’t think it would have been controversial if the police had arrested him, but they didn’t), and the media were all over the place basically ensuring that both sides were as amiable as possible and kibbitzing with both sides.
I mean, nice to get back to that after the G20, don’t get me wrong. But why couldn’t we do this at, like, noon or something so we could all sleep in?
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Wait, so you only had ONE protester who was actively trying to provoke the police?
And the police weren’t viciously attacking the nonviolent protestors?
You Canadians can’t do anything right, can you?
(Except Health Care, I mean)
“and the media were all over the place basically ensuring that both sides were as amiable as possible ”
Kinda the role they’re supposed to play, right?
@Beacon:
No, you need to be in Halifax for the police brutality. *still irked*
You forgot to add the Rape trait to the OWS card.
Oops wrong thread sorry
What are they protesting?
Here in Ottawa they’ve been turfed out. They were protesting on the sidewalk outside the NCC offices, since the NCC owns the park they were squatting in.
So it seems Toronto police are capable of conducting an orderly and proportionate exercise in area control. Perhaps I’m just overly cynical and unforgiving, but though I recognize one could legitimately conclude the Occupy eviction incorporated ‘lessons learned’ from prior fiascos, the message I take from this is that, on prior occasions, the TO police simply chose to adopt a different approach.