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Opposes the Tory Convention (Toronto, March 22nd & 23rd 2002)
well, I was one of the lucky 58 to be arrested and brutalized by the police on Friday night. I’m sending this to some friends too, so I don't have to repeat and repeat the story, but thought you may want some "inside" details. well, after we took over the building (for those who don't know, it was an ocap and ocf protest, with about 400 people, and we took over an abandoned building at the end against Harris policies and to provide affordable housing for the people who live and die on the streets because Harris thinks its ethical to allow people to succumb on the streets while buildings are empty.) the initial part was very liberating, we blocked off the entrance on the second floor and immediately, looking out the window there was about 300 cops in riot gear who had surrounded the protestors out on the street. lucky we had solidarity and witnesses who stuck around until we were all arrested, because they provided a sense of security. We had speaker phones and talked about why we had done the action etc, etc. The whole time we spoke out the windows we had guns with lasers pointed at our heads. We were there for about 1 and a half hours and then the tear gas came. they asked us first to come out peacefully (to be arrested) and we refused. we are not the criminals! so after the tear gas, we found some back stairs and went to the bottom floor of the building, after some talk we came to a consensus that we didn't have a choice but to go out to the awaiting police. our only other option was to go to the basement of the building, which was empty & we wouldn't be able to block the door. of course you can imagine the police were brutal. in my case I sat in a paddy wagon with 12 others (one of the ones where the two sides are separated. its about the size of a coffin) 8 on my side 5 on the other. they kept us in there from midnight until after 4 am. with the plastic cuffs making our hands numb and our shoulders falling out of our sockets as they had us cuffed for over eight hours.. some of the males were in the paddy until 11 am...that’s 11 hours. then we sat in a garage as they took there sweet time to strip search us (which is illegal under a new supreme court ruling...you can only strip search fully if you have concrete evidence that we have weapons, etc) we were sleep, and food deprived. being vegan, as others were, we were not fed at all. others did get a grilled cheese sand. one girl was assaulted by a cop, he punched her in her jugular because she took1/2 a step forward. she was handcuffed to two other girls, then he pushed her down and the two others fell on her. um, of course they were very verbally abusive, but we gave it back. the males, i found out after being released on bail, had been subjected to over two hours of freezing temperatures after the police opened all their windows, with snow coming in. we were brought from holding cell to holding cell, first 52nd division, and then us girls were brought to 55th division and finally to scarbourough court. thank god I have some good friends who were at the sat. demo, and not seeing us, realized we had been arrested. they waited all day at the court house, and one of them was my surety so I could get the hell out. many people did not get phone calls, i received one at 4 pm and called the legal number which was provided just incase. most were arrested with b&e but were charged with mischief. we are not allowed to associate with co-accused, however i was lucky to get exemptions on two people i can still see. also , i was never read my rights. not that that matter much, because they were not provided to us anyhow. I’m having some throat problems today because of the tear gas. that was fucking criminal to use tear gas in that situation! so, we are assumed the criminals because we use our minds and think progressively and attack a system which the police support, which allows for the death of homeless people, creates the homelessness in the first place, but we are supposedly the criminals. in this case natural law defies man made laws. people have the right to housing and food and we have the right to provide it for them. peace & solidarity,
Digital Photos by Gary Saturday - March Begins in Allan Gardens
Doug’s Photos of the Friday Snake March - at
Indy Media Protest actions against the Tory Leadership Convention in Toronto began Friday evening in bitter cold at Moss Park. Police surveillance was heavy with cameras and plainclothes officers. At one point I saw Jaggi Singh haranguing a line of undercover men that had faced off against his banner. Once the snake march began the cold seemed to ease. The sound of chanting and the percussion of pots and pans dominated the descending darkness. We took the streets in the night lights. The black flag, the red flag and the Ontario Common Front flag were carried at the lead as we continually foiled pursuing police by changing directions. It was an enthusiastic trip thru the downtown streets and it came to an end at Dundas and Bond streets. There we blocked the road and moved up against the boarded remains of the Mission Press. Cheerleading, chants, shouts took place and with banners held for camouflage a number of protesters began to tear the boards from the front of the building. These proved to be quite sturdy. They eventually broke and about 60 or so activists streamed inside. A minute later the OCF flag flew from a second story window and after that riot cops and paddy wagons advanced to pressure the crowd off the road. In the colored lights of night the scene was dreamlike … like I was in a strange movie and not a real life event … this film being one where OCF revolutionaries take a building for needed shelter and as a symbol of sorts. In true TV exaggeration, the police then grossly overreact and create a nasty scene of violence, arresting some people as they brutally clear the road. At that point I left by rollerblading thru lines of cops, being lucky they didn’t stop me. I didn’t return, but later read Lysander Zimmerman’s report which notes that an assault on the squat took place shortly after that. Riot cops fired teargas in the windows which forced a slow surrender from the building. By the time it was over 58 people were in custody and they are still in custody now. Apparently Police Chief Julian Fantino arrived on the scene and pub patrons and protesters cursed at him through the windows. On Saturday I did some cursing of my own at Fantino – calling him a bastard and other things when I saw him on the street. The reason for that being the brutal way police handled the noon march. Late Friday till 4 am Saturday I was at a Free U of T discussion group, noting a sign on the board for downtown bachelor apts renting from 8 to 9 hundred dollars a month. With people on welfare getting 500 a month, you can imagine how much housing they can afford. I know people that have never protested in their lives, but support actions like the OCF squat at Mission Press, and other drastic actions to highlight the need for affordable housing. Some short sleep, then I hit the Tory Convention. Running an activist news site makes it hard to get media accreditation so I simply signed on as a Tory Party member and went down as a voter for the new Tory leader. The convention was located at the rear south end of the centre, so I went around and used my voter card for ID. Tory democracy being of the sort where your voter ID card comes with a large picture of Ernie Eves on it and the slogan, Ernie Wins, the Party Wins. Inside the convention I had to run the gauntlet of candidate silliness, with ridiculous Flaherty and Ernie people chanting and competing for my vote. At the bottom of the escalator I stopped to talk with Tom Lavrih and a group handing out Green Tory T-shirts. The idea of a Green Tory is something most people laugh at … saying things like – A Green Tory is a person who only wants to cut half the forest down. But this group was actually some people from animal and green groups that want to convince the Tories to abandon clear cutting and Right to Hunt legislation. Good luck on that … because I heard that Ernie and Flaherty both use gun oil to slick their hair. Taking a tour of the joint, I found it to be a bore. The Tories are a dull snapshot of white Ontario. Only Tony Clement’s team included a sprinkling from visible minorities, and I realized that I’ve become so adapted to multiracial Toronto that I feel distinctly uncomfortable hanging out with the rich white folk. At 11.30 am I left, feeling rather nonplussed and emotionless. The Tories had failed to enrage or to even move me at all. Instead of carrying the usual picket signs, I rollerbladed into Allan Gardens carrying an Ernie sign and a Flaherty sign, and soon found myself being flanked by police yellow jacket bicycle cops. They sort of escorted me up to protest circle and then left. A crowd gathered under a sky of fast moving gloom, and the sun appeared briefly when we were about leave. The woman leading the march – think her name was Sarah but I’ll have to check that – and the banner carriers began the walk across the park to the road. Then as the crowd reached the sidewalk, the riot police marched down and immediately created a brutal confrontation. They refused to allow marchers to take the sidewalk and some pushing began. Apparently their plan was to provoke and grab some quick arrests. I got ahead of the cops and took some photos of that situation, but I lost those photos when a cycle cop jumped me and banged my camera. He began shouting at me and I struggled away, cursing at him. The scene continued and got uglier as the police decided to assault our march leader. They brutally threw her to the road and one picture from my other camera – number four above - shows a cop kicking her while she is semi conscious on the pavement. Many of us shouted and swore at these cops. One cycle cop was trying to target me because of my cameras so I moved into the crowd for protection. 12 people got arrested and bloodied in the Saturday scenes of police harassment. There was no need for any of it and the whole setup was due to police corruption. Fantino had without a doubt ordered his men to use violence to get cameras and media people out of the way so a planned police assault on rally leaders could take place. It did take place and the heavy duty police harassment continued all the way to the Convention Centre, with horseback cops, rubber bullet men and cycle cops keeping up with threats and harassment – refusing to allow us to cross to the west and so on. I escaped on rollerblades and went over to the labour rally to see if more support could be gathered. Steve Watson and some CAW people left to aid the Common Front people, but the rest of labour had apparently befriended the cops. They even decided to end their rally before the Common Front people arrived. On the way back to join the Common Front, I found myself suddenly surrounded by riot cops that had taken over that entire section of downtown. They wanted to know why I was in Toronto, and they subjected me to a complete search. This was apparently for my protection. I told them I was a Tory delegate, doing a bit of rollerblading and taking some digital photos. Fortunately they bought that story and allowed me to skate off. I made it back to the march and stayed with it as we passed thru columns of riot cops and eventually arrived at Simcoe Park. Later I went around to the back of the Convention Centre and into the Tory shindig. The race was down to one between Flaherty and Eves, and I caused a brief stir after being interviewed by Adam of City TV. I said I was a Tory voter upset over the police violence used against the Common Front. People did see me on TV and I got an email from a friend wanting to know if I really joined up with the Tories. Thinking about it now, I see the police actions as politically motivated. They are involved in politics and have endorsed Ernie Eves … which is why they set out to harass the Common Front. It wasn’t to protect the Tories as the rally would’ve ended at barricades at the front of the Convention Centre … quite a distance from the actual convention at the back. It is also true that any group that had really wanted to upset the Tories could have easily registered into the Convention itself and shut it down with internal protest actions. The OCF was using dramatic protest tactics to highlight the plight of the homeless, but they were not a threat to the public or the Tories. So as it stands now a lot of people are in jail and you really need a dose of courage to be a protester these days. On the other side of the coin it doesn’t take much courage to be a truncheon wielding horseback cop harassing mostly women, or to be a Tory buying the Ontario political system with money. People should keep on chanting Tory! Tory! Tory! Out! Out!
Out! and Cops! Cops! Cops! Out! Out! Out! of politics.
Doug’s Photos of the Friday Snake March - at
Indy Media
help those arrested on the weekend!!! The Fight Against the Tories Continues - Help
Sustain the Fight
Ontario Common Front activists took over a
building in protest of the government?s role in homelessness, with
the demand that affordable housing be built now! But the police moved in
quickly and brutally, making over 50 The Ontario Common Front will continue to confront the Tories and their policies. No matter what, the fight will continue! But in order to build as strong a fight back as possible, we need people to come to the defence of those arrested, committing to fundraising for their legal defence. We must kick fundraising into high gear immediately
to help provide lawyers, and transportation money for those from out of
town so that no one falls through the cracks. As the excitement of the
action fades from our minds, we Come to the defence those who have taken a stand for a better world. Help sustain this struggle. IN THE STREETS AND IN THE COURTS, FIGHT TO WIN
517 College street These are the demands the Toronto
Ontario Common Front is placing on the Tory government, or any government
that might replace them. While these demands are not exhaustive of
our vision of what fully constitutes a socially just and democratic society,
they do provide a basic minimum of what must be done in order to begin
to restore the damage inflicted on working people across this province
by the Tory government. If you agree with these demands, and agree
that it's time to build an effective resistance to the Tories and neoliberalism
in Ontario, join the Common Resistance and Retreat: The OCF actions over the weekend of the March
22/23rd were inspiring and Friday We defended our right to mobilize and our capacity
to challenge the agenda In the words of one young women who occupied the
building, Were here in The anger of the police at this was telling. Quickly
hundreds of riot Shortly after the evening news, they fired, unannounced,
numerous tear gas After being arrested the brutality continued with
people faced up to Saturday On the Saturday, the event proceeded despite the
intimidation of the 79 people were arrested in less than 24 hours
for engaging in protest Leaving the Fight to Single Mothers and Homeless People The role of the labour leaders in this situation
is sad to the extreme. No It is because of our respect for this proud and
vital history of struggle On the Saturday we faced down police repression
while the union leaders Two notable exceptions to the literal retreat
of the OFL were the Sleeping Giants We are all out to build unity in the face of the
Tories and their attacks The OCF is ready to fight the Tories and all they
stand for and, as this ========================= |
