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Conditions at G20 Dentention Centre are illegal, immoral and dangerous

Detainees forced in cages with little food and water for up to 35 hours

by Justin Giovannetti and Lex Gill


http://www.thelinknewspaper.ca/articles/2698

WE ARE CALLING AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IN THE MEANTIME, DISTRIBUTE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.

We (i.e., Justin Giovannetti and Lex Gill) are both able and willing to testify in front of a court of law, tribunal or hearing to attest to the validity of these statements. Much of this is now recorded on video and we have some contact information for the victims. We will NOT consent to contact with any police representatives (municipal, provincial, or federal) nor will we consent to speaking to other security agencies (CSIS, Canadian Forces, etc.). We can be contacted at lex.gill [at] gmail [dot] com, or jackgiovannetti [at] gmail [dot] com.

We just got back to our computers and are frantically writing this message. It is 4:45 a.m. on Monday morning. We are the only people who seem to know the extent of this story. Coffee and adrenaline keeping us going. When we got to Queen and Spadina after leaving the Convergence Centre raid today, we had already been blocked off by police lines. It was pouring rain, and we could hear a confrontation taking place further down the street. The cops didn't care whether or not we were media -- in fact, we heard that media was forced to leave before we arrived. Police acted violently and with sheer disregard for the law, attacking peaceful protesters and civilians unrelated to the protest. Tired, frantic, and feeling defeated, we came home and posted the message before this one.

We then did the only thing left to do, and headed to 629 Eastern Avenue (the G20 Detention Centre, a converted film studio), where detainees from the demonstrations were being taken. We knew people were being released sporadically so we grabbed as many juice boxes and granola bars as we could afford and set off with medical supplies. Journalists were basically absent, showed up only to take a few seconds of video, or simply arrived far too late to be effective.

It is next to impossible to set the scene of what happened at the Detention Centre. Between the two of us we estimate that we spoke to over 120 people, most of whom were released between 9:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. Despite not knowing each other, the story they tell is the same. It goes like this. Most were arrested at three locations: the Novotel on Saturday evening where the police arrested hundreds of peaceful protesters (look @spaikan on Twitter); Spadina/Queen's Park all day Saturday and early Sunday, as people were arrested all over the downtown for many different (and often bogus) reasons; and the University of Toronto, where hundreds of Quebecers and others were woken up and arrested at gun point early Saturday morning.

What follows is a list, as detailed as we can make it in a blog post, of what we saw and heard.

People were held for up to 35 hours with a single meal. None seemed to have received food more than twice daily, the meal they did receive was a hamburger bun with processed cheese and margarine described as a centimeter thick. Detainees had to create loud noises for hours to receive any food at all. All reported feeling more ill and dehydrated after eating than before. Some vomited and received no medical attention when they did. Water was not provided with the meal.

Inadequate water, as little as an ounce every 12 hours. Although some people reported receiving approximately an ounce (a small Dixie cup) of water every three hours, most seemed to have received far less than that. They had to create loud noises and continuously demand water, only to receive it up to an hour and a half later. Sometimes rooms with over a dozen people were only given a handful (four or five) cups of water and forced to share. Some reported the water as yellow-coloured and smelling of urine, which they didn't drink.

Facilities over-capacity.There were many reports of "cages" filled with 40 people, though a police officer told one detainee that they were intended for groups of no more than 15 to 20. Each cage had a single bench, with only enough seating for five people. There was only one toilet in each cage and it was without a door. Women were creating barriers with their bodies for others to create some semblance of privacy.

Major delays in processing.Many detainees were told that the only reason they remained at the Centre was due to unexplained delays in processing. Most detainees seemed to go through a three step system whereby they were put in an initial holding cell, only to be moved to a second cell after meeting a Staff Sergeant in a board room. This is where they were told what they were arrested for. Eventually they were moved to a third cell before release. This process seemed to take no less than 10 hours. Others were never told why they were arrested and never signed any documents. A few were released immediately upon arriving at the Centre and were never processed. Some were never brought to a cell, only made to wait in a line to be let out.

Inconsistent charges. Groups arrested at the same time and for the same behaviour were given different charges, with some let out and others given court dates. Many felt the police simply assigned a charge or did not know why they were being arrested. Some charges were changed or dropped before the detainees were released.

People put in solitary confinement. Most of the openly queer detainees reported to have been transferred to a "Segregated Zone." In cages built for one, couples of men and women were held. A lesbian is reported to have spent nearly 10 hours alone. Another woman said she was kept alone in a large cell for hours, asking to be moved the whole time.

No pillows or mattresses to sleep. No bedding was ever provided for detainees, who were told to sleep on bare concrete floors. Detainees were stripped of all but a single shirt and legwear. Many said they could not sleep during their day long detentions.

Unsanitary and unsafe living conditions. Many of the floors of the cages were covered with dirt and the residue from green paintballs used to identify suspects in crowds. Vomit was also on the floor and no cleaning of the cages took place.

Police intimidation of released detainees. With many of the detainees released and standing across the street from the detention centre, getting food and water from community volunteers while waiting for friends, police stood menacingly across the road. Almost all the detainees were frightened by the police presence and feared an attack. The police used the headlights of rental Dodge Caravans to light up the crowd, citing a need to "keep them visible."

Non-stop light exposure/loss of natural light rhythm/sensory deprivation. Detainees emerged with a broken day/night cycle, being deprived of all connection to the outside world or any other time-based events (ie. set eating times). While in their cages, detainees were subject to constant light.
Exposure to extreme cold.Detainees complained of the air conditioning in the building being very high. Many of them said that they were frozen and asked for blankets, a request which was always refused. Due to having only a single layer of shirt and sleeping on concrete floors, the cages were extremely cold.

Sexual harassment of women and Queer people. We heard many first-hand accounts of cat-calls and crude sexual comments directed at women from police officers at the Centre. Some women faced inappropriate sexual contact (including one girl who was forced to endure a police officer covering her body with detainee number stickers in order to touch her), and rough handling from police officers. Openly Queer boys were told to "straighten up," and there was at least one completely nude strip search preformed on a young woman with no reasonable explanation. It is unclear whether the strip searches that took place were consistently conducted by members of the same gender. It is also unclear as to whether any Transpeople, if detained, were put in cells of a gender of their own determination or in cells of a police gender assignment.

Youth as young as 15 in adult cells. Youth (under 18) detainees were held in the same cells as adults, some of whom had not been charged at all (and thus it could not be justified that they were being held on adult charges). A 16-year-old was held in an adult cell for at least 12 hours, the police were fully aware of his age, and his parents were at no point contacted.

Denial of legal counsel. When detainees asked to see lawyers they were told that they would receive legal counsel at a later time or at the time of processing. Often, these times went by and no legal counsel was provided. Those released without charge were told to avoid contacting lawyers. Most detainees said they were never informed of their rights.

No phone call. About only one in ten of the detainees we spoke to had been given access to a phone. Others were promised access at a later time and never received it. There was a father waiting outside for his 20-year old son who had been arrested Saturday afternoon or evening, and had yet to receive a call. Many of the detainees were told that only 20 phones were available in the building, holding over 500 detainees at the time. The offices of legal counsel also had no landlines.

Belonging stolen/damaged.Most detainees reported that at least some of their confiscated belongings were not returned to them, including passports, wallets, credit and debit cards, money, cellphones and clothing. When detainees were escorted outside the Centre, many were made to walk on the street without access to their shoes (sealed in thick plastic bags only returned at the limit of the Centre's property). Some shoes were missing entirely. At least one extremely visually impaired detainee's glasses were put with his belongings and were severely damaged when he recovered them (ie. broken in half).

Threats of assault/harassment.Many detainees, but especially French Canadian detainees (who were not served in French), were taunted and threatened with assault. Homophobic slurs were used by guards and one was told that if he was ever seen again in Toronto the cop would attack him. Other degrading comments were made, including telling detainees that they "looked like dogs."

Obviously illegal civilian arrests. Some civilians who were completely uninvolved in the demonstrations were arrested while exiting subway stations in the downtown core. Some were arrested after illegal searches of cars turned up "dangerous goods" (like books about activism and lemon juice). One fully-uniformed TTC streetcar driver was arrested for hours. He had been ordered out of his streetcar by riot police and was immediately arrested. We wish we were kidding.

No access to medication or medical treatment. While doing medical support, Lex met at least two people who had been denied medication. The first was a woman who said that she was pre-diabetic and needed medication for nausea and dizziness. She was denied access to medical treatment, despite the fact that by the time Lex found her she was extremely faint, barely conscious, and had difficulty sitting up. The second was a young man who was prescribed anti-psychotics and had missed several doses (he did not, however, have an episode at the time Lex met him). We heard stories of at least one person with Type 2 diabetes inside the Centre who had been deprived of insulin and fell unconscious. Many stories of a man handcuffed to a wheelchair, missing a leg (and his prosthetic) came from the released detainees. One recently-released detainee had four extremely poorly done stitches on his chin and was uncertain as to what shots (whether tetanus or anesthetic, or both) he was given. He was given the stitches at the time of his arrest and the wound was still bleeding badly (we had to sterilize it and applied gauze).

AbandonmentDespite all of the above mentioned crimes against detainees, most notably including medical issues, the Toronto Police had no plan for the detainees after they were released. They were simply escorted off the property and told to leave. Many had no idea where they were, had no access to a phone, had not eaten in a day, had no identification or money on their person, and were nowhere near mass transit. Had community volunteers and fellow released detainees not been present to assist them, we fear that some could have faced life-threatening medical emergencies or death.

We will be continually updating this blog over the next few weeks. Please share this with everyone you possibly can. People must know what has happened in Toronto. For those of you attending the Jail Solidarity rally tomorrow, please distribute this link widely.

Thank you.

For Justice,

Justin Giovannetti and Lex Gill


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Maya (Maya Rolbin-Ghanie)
Montreal
Member since June 2008

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I grew up in the woods in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. I am of mixed ethnicity. I love dogs so much it's hard to handle. I am a freelance creative writer and journalist. I have issues with patience and need to work on my skills in dealing with bureaucracy.

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Comments

kudos on this article

 Hey, I was arrested for 'breach of peace' at jail solidarity saturday night and I just want to commend the authors of this article for talking to all of these people (including me, I think, though I was near delirious from lack of sleep) and getting the real story.  It is 100% accurate to the best of my knowledge, which ought to be worth something.

 

This is true journalism, thank you Justin Giovannetti and Lex Gill!

 

Awww, I feel bad for jst

Awww, I feel bad for jst stumbling off... but the rain was just too much to stick around. You guys are doing all of us(and, in fact, our entire city)a great service by organizing this.

 

Is it shocking? Yes, yes it is.

Imagine it actually happening to you...

 

I was admittedly angry when reading so many people calling us liars and criminals on various wb sites, but truthfully, it is unimaginable that this could have occured during a summit to handle human rights(in addition to other) issues.

 

Good luck fighting the good fight.

kudos on this article

 Hey, I was arrested for 'breach of peace' at jail solidarity saturday night and I just want to commend the authors of this article for talking to all of these people (including me, I think, though I was near delirious from lack of sleep) and getting the real story.  It is 100% accurate to the best of my knowledge, which ought to be worth something.

 

This is true journalism, thank you Justin Giovannetti and Lex Gill!

 

You mean type 1 diabetes...

You mean type 1 diabetes...

correct

For 8 or more hours(time gets very hazy there)and when he finally got to see a doctor(despite having the medication in his belongings)the doctor tried to give him the wrong medication and was refusing to show the patient what it was claiming that "You are paranoid and suspicious, I was told there were going to be issues with you people taking advantage of the system." To paraphrase... he returned to the cll without any medication. Another hour or two pass and finally they bring the medication from his belongings.

sounds about right

I was swooped up in a mass arrest at the Democratic National Convention in Denver 2008 and these are basically the exact same conditions. The cold air was a tactic the DPD used as well, it's from CIA psyops shit if I'm not mistaken. No lawyers, no phones... Same shit. Next time maybe the peaceful protesters won't take the pigs at the word and join in on the confrontations. These violent, despicable swine need to be resisted.

There's a reason for the black bloc. It ain't just for kicks.

Ummmm...what did you expect?

 ...Welcome to the detention centre, here's your key, you're in room 118?

Welcome to jail. Thats what it's like. It ain't comfortable, it ain't nice. You want to play? You've got to pay. Its unfortunate that innocent people were arrested, but it happens every day, all over the world, and sometimes those innocents are locked up for years, in way worse conditions, and sometimes even killed.

I applaude your protest, and standing your ground, but you were a symbol. Be proud of that, and keep fighting your original cause, whatever that was, and add a stripe to your life experience by spending a week-end in a detention centre. Chasing down an apology or trying to start up some kind of human rights case against the police force is a waste of time and energy. 

Just because this "happens

Just because this "happens every day, all over the world" does not make it acceptable in any way. This is absolutely a case of human rights deprivation and people SHOULD take a stand. If you don't care about your own human rights then that's fine but many people still do. 

"All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person" (art. 10, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR])

that is not how detention

that is not how detention centers and jails are run..... wake up

 WOW, you're not very bright,

 WOW, you're not very bright, are you? This is how our jails are run?

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you were one of the people who had their heads cracked with a night stick, hence your utterly stupid comment!

if youre not outraged, then youre not paying attention!

"It happens every day all over the world"

YES...and many of us are PROTESTING the fact that it DOES. its unjust.

10 Degrees

Hi,

 

My cell was right beside the thermostat and it consistently read 10 Degrees Celsius - it did rise slightly during Sunday, but lowered again as the sun went down.

One of my cellmates asked 11 different people to loosen his flexcuffs which were slicing into his wrists before someone actually returned to do so.

We were held for 22 hours in handcuffs.  

One racists cop said to the one black kid (I say kid intentionally - he was 16 years old!) "you look like you've been in jail before."

I will be suing the police myself if there is no class action lawsuit - which I hope there is. 

Medical Treatment

 It would be interesting to know the fate of people with issues like diabetes etc...

i can add to that.   20+

i can add to that.

 

20+ hours, no lawyer. 500ml of water, hunger strike due to shitty food. 4 hours for a cellmate to get insulin. 30+hours for another cellmate without charge... no one had a record of him...

 

another cellmate was sexually assaulted by meathead guard. women tied together and walked around in groups of 5.

 

but the solidarity was amazing, the cages got destroyed, the thunder was empowering.

"the longer we're detained, the larger the claim"

 

 

ACAB

so much bullshit.

 

 

Released Today after 24 hours

Hey there, this is going to be a pretty long play-by-play, but I wanted to get things out in writing while they are still fresh.  I would like to encourage people to do the same at length, for anyone who is interested to read so that as many people as possible can become aware of how many rights were disregarded at the G20 detention centre.

I was released today around 5 pm, after having been in custody for 21 hours.  I was arrested on the street with my friends after leaving a restaurant.  The arrest process took a very long time.  During this time, an Officer Proctor of Toronto Police told myself and my female-identified friends we were "cunts", "bitches", "hairy dykes", etc.  One officer grabbed my friend's butt, said that he was "with the pretty one" and then told her that she could expect a beat-down later that night.  He insulted another friend by telling her that she was ugly.  We sufffered a lot of petty but demoralizing personal insults (such as making fun of my tattoo, hair, piercings, hygiene (?!?!?!)).  People gathered around with cameras in spite of our requests to respect our privacy, and Officer Proctor openly encouraged the public to take pictures as they left us sitting on the sidewalk for an extended period of time, saying "Come on and take pictures... they love it!!"  He told us that we were "stupid whiny bitches" and that we were going to spend a lot of time in jail.  I was charged with Criminal Association for having a black sweater in my bag, along with some unused (i.e, new) bandanas, goggles, and earplugs (to protect against police violence).  Officer Proctor made some comment about about how my female friends and I could "have fun making out in the way to jail", following his hairy dyke comment.   

In the detention centre, I sat with my friends in a block near the entrance and watched as girl after girl came back from strip searches crying; some of them having panic attacks.  I saw many cuts, scraps, and one person with their arm in a sling.  

A womyn in my block was denied medication for her withdrawl symptoms for hours.  The first officer, who finally retrieved the medication, then lost it and it had to be found by another officer.  This individual was not doing very well by the time she finally got her medication... they took her away and I never saw her again.  

The amount of water we were given was in no way sufficient enough to keep us well hydrated.  For the duration of my time in the detention centre, all I could eat was the pieces of white bread because I am very lactose intolerant and vegan.  There were three times during my stay were I got some sort of wierd orange colored juice in foam cups which I assumed had the purpose of keeping blood sugar up. 

A word on block conditions: we were not allowed to have toilet paper rolls, and so constantly had to ask for more toilet paper.  There were no doors, and so girls stood in front so that we could have privacy.  I had people in my cell whose teeth were chattering because they were so cold.  We had to take turns rotating the tshirts that we had been given (and eventually a few of us got pants or a sweater).  My hands were zip-tied together during my time in the first block, and so it was hard to even get tshirts and sweaters on if you couldn't slip one hand out, which some people were able to do.  Officers were not untying people so that they could properly put on tshirts etc.  Also, it was very hard to go to the washroom, and many girls had to help eachother pull their pants back up. 

I was finally taken into the level II questioning room, where the door was closed and I was found with three male officers.  I was asked if I had been read my rights at time of arrest, WHICH I WAS NOT.  I clearly stated that I had not been read my rights and one of the officers said "well I'll read them again."  They said that they might let me go or might hold me, at which time I would have to have a strip search.  I said that I DID NOT CONSENT TO A STRIP SEARCH, to which the officer replied "well, too bad, you're going to have one anyways".  I was then told that my charge had been changed to Consiracy with the intent to commit mischief of over $5,000, which is an indictable offense.  The had changed my charge.  I was told that I was going to be lead to the phones to call legal counsel after the level II, but that was not the case.  

After this, I was placed in a block apart from my friends, where I made new friends with beautiful people.  The people I was with had been there for longer than 24 hours and had NOT RECEIVED legal counsel.  A private detective or intellegence or whatnot visited me to find out about my I.D because I didn't have any.  When I refused to answer any other questions other than my D.O.B, name, and where I live, as well as give my parent's number so that he could confirm my identity, he changed his attitude completely from being nice to saying things about how I was the one "inside a cage" and he wasn't, and that I could let him help me out or else I'd "be in prison for a long time".  When he called my mom he told her that I had had an opportunity already to call legal counsel, which was not true.  After a while they were taken and I was left in a large block by myself for multiple hours.  The same thing happened for my friends.  At this point 6-7 hours had gone by since my level II.... around the 24 hour mark, and still no legal counsel.  I kept asking why, and one response I got was that there was only 2 phone lines and a lot of people.... 

I was then told by the private investigator fellow that my charges had been dropped without condition.  I was being released, as well as my friends who were charged with the same thing.  They apparently lost my shoes, which had been taken as evidence because they were black.  I was told to leave the detention centre without any shoes.  I never receieved legal counsel.  At the end, my charge was switched back to criminal association.        

------

I met so many beautiful people in those cages.  The songs, and constant check-in between friends in different blocks and the people within the blocks were amazing.  We are strong!!  This bullshit was designed to kill our spirits, but it can't.  Let's let the world know what a shit-show the detention centre, and the police state is by sharing our stories and shining light on the human rights violations that occured. 

 

jail

You have to be kidding me... They found a black sweater, goggles and bandana in your bag which you had just "purchased" @ the same time all the shit was occuring during the g20 and you had nothing to do with any of it... Lol...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Unnecessary

What I find so aggravating is that this whole thing could have been avoided! It's 2010!!! We have so much technology that the world leaders could have had video conference for all of this! No billion dollar bill, no senseless cop's brutality! Protests could be held online too! The written word has so much value - even as text! People only hear 30% of what's said, but what is typed won't go away. The leaders were never exposed to any protests, but maybe they would be if it was without the need for a swat team to be between you. I'm so sad that this is all that the world will see, televised media focuses on partial stories, you can only find the nitty gritty online, where people have less fear of repercussion. I'm so sorry for all who had to go through this horrific experience, I hope one day world leaders plan ahead and embrace what we have in technology to avoid these disasters. Stay strong in what you stand for!

Beth

abondonment

if only i had been so lucky to be abandoned outside the building and into the arms of supporters. i was driven away in a paddy wagon with about 6 other detainees and dropped off somewhere around carlaw south of gerrard. the driver let us out, handed us our big evidence bags full of our property and drove away. we stood there dumbfounded, digging through our bags on the sidewalk while pedestrians gave us funny looks, frantically throwing on any clothing we had to try and get warm, and trying to figure out where we were and how to get home. an undercover cop car crawled by with the two female officers simply staring us down.
thank you guys for being outside the center with food, water and love. i wish we could have seen you there.

Unnecessary ???

I can't believe the naivete of some of these posts,

If you're in the middle of the road and the police tell you to get off the road and you refuse, you're going to get arrested. It's not rocket science. In fact go out right now and stand in the way of traffic on a busy street start singing a protest song.

Then, when the police come and tell you to move, tell them you have a constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly... you'll be lucky to get the whole sentence out of your mouth before your'e carted off.  

As far as the conditions at the Detention Centre...  NEWS FLASH: The Detention Centre was really a jail.  OMG, Crowed, uncomfortable, you get  treated like a criminal... who knew??

C'mon folks, instead of spending (wasting) all your time and energy on complaining to the police, filing class action lawsuits, filing complaints with the UN because you're human rights were violated, etc., why not do something productive and put that time and energy into raising money to support whatever it was you were protesting about in the first place??? 

Or do you even remember what you were protesting about in the first placte???

 

Unnecessary ???

I can't believe the naivete of some of these posts,

If you're in the middle of the road and the police tell you to get off the road and you refuse, you're going to get arrested. It's not rocket science. In fact go out right now and stand in the way of traffic on a busy street start singing a protest song.

Then, when the police come and tell you to move, tell them you have a constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly... you'll be lucky to get the whole sentence out of your mouth before your'e carted off.  

As far as the conditions at the Detention Centre...  NEWS FLASH: The Detention Centre was really a jail.  OMG, Crowed, uncomfortable, you get  treated like a criminal... who knew??

C'mon folks, instead of spending (wasting) all your time and energy on complaining to the police, filing class action lawsuits, filing complaints with the UN because you're human rights were violated, etc., why not do something productive and put that time and energy into raising money to support whatever it was you were protesting about in the first place??? 

Or do you even remember what you were protesting about in the first placte???

 

it's prison, not a hotel.

it's prison, not a hotel.

???

this is pretty standard jailing procedure. if you've ever been arrested at any other time you'd get the same treatment. theres no beds or bedding or food when your held in short term lockup for less than 24 hours and the lights stay on all night so the officers can check on you and make sure your not doing anything your not supposed to be. and as far as water and medications and all that stuff goes how do you expect the police who are busy with far more important shit to manage the kind of numbers they had to take in. they probably did the best they could and for the most part those who were arrested brought it upon themselves. theres much bigger problems in the world than getting locked up for a few hours you people need to get a life.

I'm going to believe the

I'm going to believe the stories I'm reading because they are written with so much passion.

To me, its obvious these "detention centres" didnt follow standard jailing procedures at all. Even the worst criminal has a right to legal counsel, a right to know the reason for detainment, and a phone call. Food and water are basic human rights. Also, we as canadians have the right to protest! Many a peaceful protester had this right taken away.

I cant believe this happened in my country. What happened to democracy and human rights? It's even worse that there are those of you who think this is ok.

WOW

Sniff sniff, smells what? Smells like some pigs are trying to justify what happened in that detention center.

They treat people better in prison than in that detention center, from what we can see with the testimonies provided. Being imprisoned doesn't mean you don't have rights, even if it is for less than 24 hours. Also note that some people spent more than 24 hours in cells. It doesn't allow law enforcement officers to sexually abuse women, insult detainees, beat people up.

When being arrested, they must tell you what are the charges on you. If they don't have anything they must release you immediately.

 

Shocking!!! Terrible!!!

I Always supported our police offices and  most of them do a fantastic job. Some of these stories are just plain terrible. I can't imagine that these were the police i hold high respect for. This is really shocking.. Thanks for posting gave me real indepth look at what happened there

However i still believe the tatics the cops used were not violent but in same case neccesary. I will honestly think some of these protestors that refused  to leave when asked to  have to own to some resonsibity. They cops were just trying  to limit what had happened on Saturday on Sunday. However i think they went too far in arresting that much.. Without proper review its really hard to make a proper judement.

Though i thank all who were writting about the experience i hope you guys are recovering fine and  i hope a proper review will be done. This blog sure was huge eye opener and something i needed to hear to gain a good glinpse i went on there.. Truly disgusting and just awful people should be accustomed  to insults like that that is terrible. I expect way more professionalims from our local cops. Terrible

Again, I hope all who  are posting their experinece at the detention centre really appreciate it and i hope health gets better and you guys can live normal lives again thanks for sharing.

"I can't believe the naivete

"I can't believe the naivete of some of these posts, If you're in the middle of the road and the police tell you to get off the road and you refuse, you're going to get arrested. It's not rocket science. In fact go out right now and stand in the way of traffic on a busy street start singing a protest song. Then, when the police come and tell you to move, tell them you have a constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly... you'll be lucky to get the whole sentence out of your mouth before your'e carted off. As far as the conditions at the Detention Centre... NEWS FLASH: The Detention Centre was really a jail. OMG, Crowed, uncomfortable, you get treated like a criminal... who knew?? C'mon folks, instead of spending (wasting) all your time and energy on complaining to the police, filing class action lawsuits, filing complaints with the UN because you're human rights were violated, etc., why not do something productive and put that time and energy into raising money to support whatever it was you were protesting about in the first place??? Or do you even remember what you were protesting about in the first placte???"

I think that one of the points the original poster was trying to make was that these conditions and experiences were completely unncessary. Sexual harrassment? Food, water, and medical deprivation? Flagrant discrimination against homosexuals? I'm sorry, this is not right, or something to be expected. Our decency, respect, and tolerance should not be broken down this easily...

Given power, they shall abuse it. Stanford Prison Experiment, real-life version? I'd say so.

was the stand-down order a psy-op against police?

Joe Warmington's article in the July 5th Toronto Sun quotes individual officers as expressing deep frustration at not being allowed to take action against the "Black Bloc" -- the very type of violent vandals they were equipped and trained to deal with. These cops confirmed rising suspicions that there was such an order because otherwise their non-action was anomalous and inexplicable.

And they did obey the order, though it must have been highly embarrassing to them to stand there in full riot gear and let a riot occur against civilians and businesses. The order was a psychologically-damaging violation of their duty and strong desire to serve and protect the Canadian public. 

So what happens with all that frustration, embarrassment and deeply-wounded personal conscience and devotion to duty? Though we have not yet heard more than these initial statements about their being frustrated, in some cases "livid" at being denied the logical route of action, this stand-down order was like a temporary dam holding back what must have been like a roiling flood of soul-destroying emotion. 

So when police were finally directed to move against the protesters into which crowd the now anonymously-clad Black Bloc had melted, the pent-up anger then probably overwhelmed their ordinary rules of conduct, so that these officers started breaking laws themselves and acting totally contrary to their normal procedures by assaulting unarmed and unresisting people. Their behaviour mimicked that of the Black Bloc but turned against human beings instead of mere property. 

If there are class-action lawsuits, these should be directed against whatever agency, government or individual -- Canadian or foreign -- gave this stand-down order. The police were also victimized by it, psychologically rather than physically. 

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