I would feel remiss if I did not express in words the utter contempt, anger, and disgust I feel in the pit of my stomach reviewing the footage and listening to firsthand accounts of the atrocities committed at the most recent G20 meeting in Toronto, Canada. I have watched these events closely in recent years as they have been the focal point of protest, wherever and whenever the G8/G20 decide to quite literally take over a city; parading black riot-gear clad stormtroopers through the streets.
On Thursday leading up to the meeting news came in that Charlie Veitch of ”The Love Police” had been arrested for failing to provide his papers quick enough. Now having followed some of Charlie’s work in the past and knowing the kind of stuff he likes to do, I understand why his work might not be accepted as easily with law enforcement in North America. Police in the UK are generally more civil, a quality sometimes lacking from “civil” servants on the other side of the pond. However, from what I saw and have heard from both sides of this incident leading up to today, this seems to be a witch hunt. Charlie’s crime was not one of non-compliance; it was a crime of not bowing down and submitting quick enough. Don’t question, shut up and comply or be arrested and jailed at once.
Charlie was later released and went into great detail about his ordeal with many independent media sources. The Alex Jones show featured him as well as RT (formerly Russia Today). This in my opinion was seen as a slap in the face to the authorities who had sought to deter The Love Police from making another appearance at the conference. So much so that hours ago Charlie was again arrested trying to return to London. The Toronto Police issued a press release shortly after his arrest claiming he was being charged with “impersonating an officer”. A charge in which any sane judge or jury will throw out after reviewing the video of Charlie claiming to be “MI-7″ in jest. This man was not dressed as a police officer; he was not roaming the streets in a police cruiser attempting to solicit sexual favours from female speeders, or wearing a balaclava and kicking in the door of a nearby drug dealer to seize his supply or any of the other crimes you would associate with the charge. No, he has been charged with having a sense of humour. If there is anything he is guilty of in my opinion, it is attempting to treat these conditioned tools of the state as actual human beings. To try to have a laugh with them, to try to rebuild some of the trust so many of us have lost in those who are meant to protect us from all that is evil. Those who may have instead become that very thing they swore an oath to protect us against.
Now on to Friday. I was preparing for the event, had coffee on the go, my favorite independent media sources neatly lined up in tabs on my browser and CNN whispering lies in the background for the sake of perspective. Based on what had recently happened with Charlie, and knowing what type of things to expect after years of paying close attention to these events I thought I was prepared. I honestly don’t think anything could have prepared me for what would transpire over the coming weekend and now days after. I have seen violence perpetrated against peaceful activists gathering at previous meetings. Just last year Ian Tomlinson collapsed and died shortly after an altercation with police at London’s G20 meeting as he walked home from work. I was also fully prepared to catch footage on youtube of poorly execute infiltration by the police posing as anarchist as they have done in years past to try and discredit the peaceful and sensible activists who were and always have been the majority at these events. Sensible, logical, open-minded individuals gathered to discuss issues of global significance . Fine specimens of humanity. Which quite frankly is more than I can say of the individuals we the people “elected” to be doing that very same thing, but were instead being protected by a perimeter of fencing and Toronto’s finest dressed in black ready to pounce like a rabid pitbull.
I have to wonder why it is necessary to spend upwards of one billion dollars to protect these leaders from their adoring public? The answer there is quite simple. It is not. Yes there were a few spots of violence to be found, and if you were watching any mainstream media source it would have been sensationalized to the point of absurdity. Masked molotov cocktail wielding youths smashing anything in their way, hell in the streets, an orgy of anarchy for the world to see. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were a few incidents of violence. Yes. But the question is: After a over a billion was spent to train the boys in blue to dawn the Gestapo black and pummel the shit out of anyone remotely out of line, how did they not seize the opportunity to bash and hog-tie these anarchists? Again a simple answer, they were preoccupied rounding up the peaceful crowds into blocks and bludgeoning them with the finest non-lethal weaponry tax dollars can buy. Cowardly acts such as the National Anthem incident in which a line of police stampeded protesters, some of which were seated and defenceless as police fired rubber bullets into the crowd right on cue; the very moment they had wrapped up their tribute. This is an act that would send a patriot of any nation’s blood boiling. A truly savage display. I have reviewed several bits of footage from this incident, and I can not say with certainty what happened in the moments prior to the few moment caught on camera. But from every angle and every vantage point available, I can see no provocation on the protesters behalf. Certainly nothing to warrant the actions of the dozens of police who charged them.
But not even that horror show could prepare me for the police misconduct at the “Torontamo” Bay/FEMA Camp style detention centre. The facility was setup in an abandoned film studio not far from the event, and capable of storing hundreds in cages like dogs according to reports. Charlie Veitch reported on the Alex Jones Show of being handcuffed for 5 hours without water and not allowed the use of his hands when using the toilet, which he claims was facing a camera. He also said guards at the facility would approach the cages and ridicule those inside. Yesterday, journalist Amy Miller came forward with her account of serious sexual misconduct by male officers assigned to stripsearch female detainees. Amy says she was threatened with rape and “gangbang” by officers. She reports of other young women being visibly shaken after thier ordeal, and that one woman claimed to have been fingered by an officer.
As we now move into Wednesday I can only hope that when I awake from the hard slumber I fully intend on taking, that Charlie Veitch has been freed and is back home. That the remainder of detainees have been released. That those assaulted see justice and those who committed these acts face it, and that this isn’t all for nothing.
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