Independent Journalist Amy Miller on Violence and Threats Against Women in Detention Centre

I, for one, am disgusted and yet not surprised by what Miller reports here. The G20 nonsense really showed us that we, as Canadians, need to take a long, hard look at ourselves as a people, as a country and as a society. Maybe if any good came of the awful week Toronto just endured it's that we're going to have to try to be better. The status quo was just upset. Hopefully it was upset enough to make people want to make things better.

Oh, and to the person who trashes Miller, writing anonymously "If this spoiled wanna be [sic] anarchist douchebag were a true humanitarian she'd be in Africa helping children not spreading unsubstanciated [sic] rumors in Toronto," I pose these questions to you:

Why aren't you a humanitarian, true or otherwise?

Are you in Africa helping children?

Why do you see value in trying to discredit someone who you've most probably never met who is doing nothing more than trying to protect her civil rights, and maybe yours as well?

Why can't you spell "unsubstantiated"?

In my view, these offensive -

Submitted by Anna Carastathis (not verified) on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 13:38.

In my view, these offensive - sexist - comments against Amy Miller should be removed from this site. Women who report sexual assault are routinely disbelieved and discredited in this society, particularly when the perpetrators they expose are agents of the state or powerful men. Miller and the others arrested and detained at the G20 protests should be supported by the entire left, and certainly by feminists. I commend Miller and the other women resisting and exposing police abuse and assault for their courage and strength. Misogynist and heteropatriarchal violence is and has always been a tool of state repression, a fact which is continually ignored by the male-dominated left. Women's experiences of police violence are routinely naturalized or rendered invisible through discourses that focus on men's agency as protesters and on men's victimization at the hands of police. These are not unsubstantiated rumours, nor claims in need of substantiation! Miller's testimony speaks for itself.

Who is she a journalist for?

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 18:03.

Who is she a journalist for? shouldn't this be bigger news? Iv'e not see a thing on these allegations in the news as of yet. Im not saying shes lying, although alliegations of this sort would be huge and with a large number of women involved, some others would be talking to the public no?

The National

Submitted by dru on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 19:35.

Had a very brief clip of Amy.

That said, the implicit assumption that it's not true if it's not reported by the corporate press might be true in a political sense, but the corporate press ignores lots of things that don't fit with its narratives... and the MO of most corporate media has been to act as public relations firms for the police, mitigating the damage done by footage that leaks out through social media and warning people not to draw any conclusions or trust any eyewitness accounts until an official investigation is completed.

I believe her

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 05:38.

After seeing Steve Paikin's report on The Agenda, I don't doubt that this is possible. If cops are capable of abiding the beating of a foreign journalist by their fellow officer, then there's clearly something very wrong with the accountability of the force, and the chain of command. There were plenty of cops with gas masks beating on people without name badges on their chests or ID numbers on their shoulders! Since they've proven that the commanders had no control or accountability, I'm more inclined to accept her testimony over the lies we've heard from our police chief. If the police can't prove that they had female guards attending female prisoners at all times, then they should be in big trouble, since this is exactly what we should have been afraid would happen. Cops are people, and some of them are criminals too. I've always been impressed in the past by Toronto's police force and their courtesy and professionalism, but we must remember that these riot cops are not Toronto police. It's like they imported a goon squad.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/06/30/14564416.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/police-admit-deliberately-misleading-public-on-expanded-security-fence-law/article1622864/?cmpid=rss1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3_4BTOavY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCWNqMV4Bgs&feature=player_embedded

undecided

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 17:40.

Interesting that "Scarborough Dave" would ridicule some who posted a spelling mistake, but doesn't comment on how Amy Miller (a journalist?) says "unappropriate", which isn't even a word.I too find it interesting that there's nothing about these allegations in mainstream media. They're hungry for news and this is news.... hard to believe that none of Canada's major papers or news channels will run this story unless there's too little proof.

Audio tapes have been made of all interactions inside the unit; perhaps Amy Miller will prove herself true in the end. For now, I suggest we watch and listen before judging. Too easy to bash mainstream video and say they're deliberately ignoring this story.

Yes, I see, well, that minor

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/03/2010 - 20:06.

Yes, I see, well, that minor gramatical error certainly discredits her. Perhaps she deserved it all then?

response

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/04/2010 - 10:20.

Nobody inferred that the woman "deserved" anything. Obviously, nobody deserves threats of violence. My point was that blogs are stating that this is actually a journalist (*which apparently gives her allegations more credibility)---and she's not. If these threats were made, I'm behind her 100%. I just don't think anyone is guilty until proven. Allegations can ruin reputations and should be handled carefully and thoroughly.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/self-anointed-g20-journalists-should-get-real/article1627346/

p.s.

Submitted by Toronto Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/04/2010 - 10:29.

If spelling and grammar determined whether someone deserves threats of violence or not, we'd all be in trouble. Couldn't help but notice in your enthusiasm to leap to conclusions, you spelled "grammatical" incorrectly.

"We saw a group of young

Submitted by Busting my Hump (not verified) on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 16:26.

"We saw a group of young people being detained, uh, and being searched, so we wanted to see what was happening."...is just about the dumbest f***ing thing I've ever heard anybody say

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