Toronto G20: Eyewitness Report

July 5, 2010 at 7:15 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by


Our last update offered an overview of what happened in Toronto during the anarchist actions against the G20 June 25-27. We’ve received the following blow-by-blow report from on the ground there, offering context and analysis from inside the riots that shook Canada’s largest city. Anarchists have fully emerged in North America as a force to be reckoned with following the events in Toronto, and it is important to understand how this came about. The black bloc has become a household name throughout the region, and we must use this exposure to our advantage by maintaining our visibility even in the face of repression. We must also look critically at the events of the weekend in order to make strategic advances toward our goal of completely dismantling the domination and hierarchy of the present world.

Information on the situation facing arrestees in Toronto is still sketchy at best, as most of those with serious charges have not received bail hearings yet and full coordination of support campaigns has yet to emerge. We will present an additional update on repression and arrestee support as soon as possible.

Full report here.

b. traven said,

July 6, 2010 @ 2:40 pm

Here we see the state going after longtime organizer Jaggi Singh, just as they did–fruitlessly–after the anti-FTAA mobilization in Quebec City back in 2001:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/832490–activist-surrenders-to-face-g20-charges?bn=1

You know it’s politically-driven harassment when even the corporate media has to admit that “Singh’s Wiki entry reads like a long rap sheet of incarcerations during summit protests. Charges are always dropped or he is later acquitted.”

Jaggi is a hero, and deserves support alongside all the other arrestees in Toronto.

b. traven said,

July 8, 2010 @ 11:39 am

Preliminary prisoner support information:

http://mostlywater.org/node/92175

ret marut said,

July 19, 2010 @ 1:35 pm

There’s a thorough report on the Toronto G20 mobilization here:

http://sketchythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/07/zig-zag-fire-and-flames-militant-report.html

ret marut said,

August 23, 2010 @ 10:54 pm

Two small corrections to this text from a comrade involved in the events:

—–

First, the crossbow and chainsaw were not seized from a LARPER (there were
items indeed taken from a LARP guy, such as dulled out arrows, coat of
mail, and shit like that…), but from an eccentric bush-dweller type
named Gary McCullough, who was incidentally visiting his elderly parents in
Toronto and decided on a whim to sniff out the security parameter a few
days before the G20 summit began.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/toronto/police-arrest-man-with-cache-including-crossbow-near-g20-zone/article1616347/

He was pulled over near the fence because of the sketchy-looking makeshift
rack on top of his car.

He was charged with ‘weapons dangerous’ and sent to Maplehurst
max-security correctional facility, near Toronto, where at least one anarchist arrestee was also detained for a few weeks and met him.

The tragedy with this man is that he is, to this day, unjustly being used
by the State to give legitimacy to the repression, as he had nothing at
all to do with the protests and just happenned to be at the wrong place at
the wrong time, with the wrong roof-rack.

On top of that, his story is being ignored by the media and the community,
as he is not part of the activist milieu. OCAP members are trying to
provide him with support, but access is really limited.

The story does not end there. McCullough is still in custody as of this writing. He has a history of “mental health issues” and the Justice of the Peace (as they are ironically called) who heard his bail hearing on July 6th deemed his charges irrelevant, but nonetheless decided to send him back to jail to undergo psychiatric evaluation (what they call “programs” inside). A few days after this, he had a violent run-in with another inmate and had to be transfered to Protective Custody, where he suffered more abuse, according to his lawyer. He suffered a crack rib and was seen by a medical doctor, but has yet, more than a month and a half after the JP sent him back to jail, to meet a psychiatrist.

Hi lawyer is trying to have his case reviewed at this point, but things go forward at a crawling pace.

Gary McCullough’s story is truly heart-breaking, beyond fucked up, and is
hard evidence of how the system is broken and corrupt to the last degree.

At least anarchist arrestees had serious support on the outside, but this poor
guy is still sitting in jail after almost 2 months now. All because of the
Crown’s conniving and the Justice of the Piece of shit who sent him back
to jail despite his acknowledgement of the charges being bogus.

—–

Secondly : of the 17 people charged with conspiracy, 15 are from Ontario
and 2 are from Montreal, Quebec.

That’s all! This article is awesome and by far the most accurate account out there.

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.