First big G20 protest tense as thousands march
TORONTO - Anyone wondering where the angry summit protesters were had their answer Friday as thousands marched in Toronto's streets and police in riot gear descended en masse to contain them.
What started as a peaceful gathering in a city park morphed into a massive march and tense standoff. Police held back demonstrators just north of the summit security zone before the crowd turned back.
The imposing steel and concrete gates surrounding the security zone were forced to close early as the protest simmered. Police would only say "specific security concerns" prompted the action.
After days of colourful and whimsical protests it was the city's first taste of what police, and the city, have been bracing for.
Gaetan Heroux, a protest organizer, called the "angry militant march" a great success that prompted a huge show of authoritarian force.
"It was a wonderful protest, the fact that we had close to 3,000 people," LeRoux said.
"We said we weren't looking for confrontation."
Protesters would spend the night in Allen Gardens, where the march began, and hoped to join other marches Saturday, he added.
What's been billed as the largest planned protest of the summit is scheduled for early Saturday afternoon outside the provincial legislature. Plans also call for a march through the city.
Three teens who got caught up in Friday's confrontation described the sea of police blue as "unnecessary."
"We have a right to protest," said Kelly, 18, of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.
"And I didn't feel very comfortable being strangled by a cop just because I was standing on the street."
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The G8/G20 meetings took place in Ontario from June 25-27, 2010. Toronto-based organizations of women, people of colour, indigenous peoples, the poor, the working class, queer and trans people and disabled people organized a peoples convergence with 40,000 people taking to the streets, standing up for justice in collaboration and solidarity!
Activists, community members, inspired and outraged individuals came together as a movement to demand justice for people and the planet. Over a week of mobilizations, events, workshops and direct actions took place in the face of state and police repression, violence and infringements on rights and freedoms.
We must continue to mobilize and build greater solidarity among our communities- an important part of this is supporting all those arrested during the G20 summit, including our allies still in detention, and those released on bail.