G20 activists rally to denounce police tactics
G20 protesters are gathering across from the Toronto Police Service Headquarters, to denounce what they say is excessive use of force and mistreatment of those arrested.
Police have bolstered security around the building, and one man has already been arrested.
A crowd has gathered on the south side of College Street, and more police are arriving on TTC buses.
"Over the past two days, police have rounded up and arrested hundreds of people," the Toronto Community Mobilization Network said Monday in a news release.
"They have been denied access to lawyers, telephones, food and water, and held in deplorable conditions in makeshift steel cages.
"We need to get our people out. We need to take our city back from the armed fortress that it has been turned into."
More than 900 people have been arrested since June 18 as a result of the mayhem and vandalism that occurred on the weekend. More than 600 of those arrests occurred in the past two days.
CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss said as of Monday morning, many people were waiting outside the temporary detention centre on Eastern Avenue for their loved ones to be released.
Special courts have been set up to process prisoners, but the high volume has made for slow going.
Bliss said many people coming out of the detention centre said they didn't know it was a crime to wear black downtown.
On Saturday, a peaceful protest organized by the labour movement moved out from Queen's Park.
An organized group of vandals using so-called Black Bloc tactics emerged from the crowd -- and mayhem ensued.
For about 90 minutes, the vandals damaged banks and coffee shops. No damage total is available yet.
In response, the police conducted raids and arrests at the University of Toronto, picking up people who had travelled here from Quebec. That province has an active militant anarchist scene.
On Sunday, police were actively stopping and questioning young people on downtown streets. They continued making arrests.
There were police-demonstrator clashes outside the detention centre, leading to more arrests and officers firing tear gas pellets.
Late in the afternoon, a large group of people was spotted walking westward on Queen Street West. They stopped at Spadina Avenue and took over the intersection.
Hundreds of police in riot gear boxed them in on Spadina Avenue. Police claim they had information that a group of Black Bloc vandals might have been donning masks, picking up weapons and preparing to engage in more vandalism.
Police then made an estimated 100 arrests before the crowd, soaked by heavy rains, was allowed to disperse.
Mayor David Miller and Chief Bill Blair have both defended the conduct of police on the weekend.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...anti-police-rally-100628/20100628?hub=Toronto
