"So why didn't these idiots just stay at home? What were they trying to prove?"
I patiently tried to explain to my friend that we live in a free democratic country and we have a right to get involved in a peaceful protest.
"What are you talking about? Did you see the burning police car? That was no peaceful protest, my dear!"
My friend's voice sounded slightly acidic and took on that snarky I'm-way-more-informed-than-you tone. I stared at my feet in silence. This conversation took place almost a year ago.
Today, we all know other facts that have come to our attention since the G20 police crackdown. The police beat many innocent people with their batons. The police first denied and then admitted that they shot rubber bullets at the protesters. The police also made up their own arrest and detention laws as they brought down the hammer on our collective civil liberties.
For those of us who have experienced brutal oppression brought on by a police state in other parts of the world, we simply could not believe that this scene was actually unfolding in downtown Toronto. I continually winced as I saw the police batons viciously rise and fall on the cowering bodies that had their hands up in the classic act of total physical surrender. The state was clearly the master. We were clearly being told to be the obedient servile servants.
As an experienced Toronto criminal lawyer I have defended many individuals accused of serious gun related crimes. A "typical" club shooting, for example, involves two groups of young men who take out their guns and start shooting at each other. Innocent people who just happened to be at the club on a given night are sometimes shot and killed. What is always amazing is that when being interviewed by the police, around 50 or more individuals at the club claim not to have seen anything or insist that they were in the bathroom at the time of the shooting. When no witnesses come forward, the police publicly wring their hands about the lack of "community cooperation" or the lack of "trust" between the police and certain visible minority community groups.
This wringing of the hands about cooperation and related blather about trust certainly did not apply to the police themselves when one of their own was being investigated in the aftermath of the G20 summit. No police officer who worked with Const. Glenn Weddell could recognize him as he allegedly beat a local Toronto man and shattered his arm.
It would appear that some police officers took great exception to the fact that they were being photographed as they meted out their version of street justice. Eventually, there were two "failed" investigations. There was a supposed total lack of evidence. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigated and interviewed at least 11 police officers who were working alongside Weddell during the incident. One of the interviewed officers was actually Weddell's roommate during the G20. Each and every one of these officers basically shrugged their shoulders and claimed that they knew absolutely nothing. They were all in the proverbial bathroom as this beating was going on. The truth appears to be that Const. Weddell was well protected within the thin blue line.
Full Article
Source: Huffington
I patiently tried to explain to my friend that we live in a free democratic country and we have a right to get involved in a peaceful protest.
"What are you talking about? Did you see the burning police car? That was no peaceful protest, my dear!"
My friend's voice sounded slightly acidic and took on that snarky I'm-way-more-informed-than-you tone. I stared at my feet in silence. This conversation took place almost a year ago.
Today, we all know other facts that have come to our attention since the G20 police crackdown. The police beat many innocent people with their batons. The police first denied and then admitted that they shot rubber bullets at the protesters. The police also made up their own arrest and detention laws as they brought down the hammer on our collective civil liberties.
For those of us who have experienced brutal oppression brought on by a police state in other parts of the world, we simply could not believe that this scene was actually unfolding in downtown Toronto. I continually winced as I saw the police batons viciously rise and fall on the cowering bodies that had their hands up in the classic act of total physical surrender. The state was clearly the master. We were clearly being told to be the obedient servile servants.
As an experienced Toronto criminal lawyer I have defended many individuals accused of serious gun related crimes. A "typical" club shooting, for example, involves two groups of young men who take out their guns and start shooting at each other. Innocent people who just happened to be at the club on a given night are sometimes shot and killed. What is always amazing is that when being interviewed by the police, around 50 or more individuals at the club claim not to have seen anything or insist that they were in the bathroom at the time of the shooting. When no witnesses come forward, the police publicly wring their hands about the lack of "community cooperation" or the lack of "trust" between the police and certain visible minority community groups.
This wringing of the hands about cooperation and related blather about trust certainly did not apply to the police themselves when one of their own was being investigated in the aftermath of the G20 summit. No police officer who worked with Const. Glenn Weddell could recognize him as he allegedly beat a local Toronto man and shattered his arm.
It would appear that some police officers took great exception to the fact that they were being photographed as they meted out their version of street justice. Eventually, there were two "failed" investigations. There was a supposed total lack of evidence. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigated and interviewed at least 11 police officers who were working alongside Weddell during the incident. One of the interviewed officers was actually Weddell's roommate during the G20. Each and every one of these officers basically shrugged their shoulders and claimed that they knew absolutely nothing. They were all in the proverbial bathroom as this beating was going on. The truth appears to be that Const. Weddell was well protected within the thin blue line.
Full Article
Source: Huffington
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