In the last two days, there have been at least 3 reported incidents of individuals being arrested without provocation and detained at length, according to Syed Hassan of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network.
In the last week, there have been 20 illegal detentions reported to the Movement Defence Committee (MDC), many of which were targeting Toronto’s homeless population.
Irene Ceric of the MDC described the trend as “disproportionate criminalization of protestors,” a pre-emptive tactic to intimidate activists and prevent people from “being heard outside of the fence.”
Peter Hopperton was stopped and detained on Tuesday by the police at Dundas and University. Hopperton says he was walking home with a few friends when four police officers got out from a large black SUV and placed the group under arrest after they refused to state their names. Hopperton and company were handcuffed, questioned and searched “up against the wall” for two hours. Following this, he was issued a ticket for failing to provide identification under the Highway Act.
The Highway act has nothing to do with Hopperton’s actions, says Ceric. In Ontario, it is not legally required for a pedestrian to carry ID, and it is within the limits of the law for any civilian to refuse to identify themselves to a legal authority, unless under arrest. “The laws have not changed,” she says “and heightened security does not mean the police get to rewrite the law on the spot.”
“None of these arrests, detentions, and fences are about G20 security,” says Hassan, “They are about G20 harassment.”
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