Sweetchuck
06-26-2010, 08:26 PM
Seems like these summits are more for the loons than anything productive. At least it should make for good material for Jon Stewart.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/26/police-say-protests-canadian-summits-tamer-previous-summits/
TORONTO (AP) — Black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful demonstrators protesting the G-20 global economic summit in Toronto, torching police cruisers and smashing windows with baseball bats and hammers.
Police with shields and clubs earlier pushed back another small group of demonstrators who tried to head south toward the security fence surrounding the perimeter of the Group of 20 summit site. Some demonstrators hurled bottles at police.
"This isn't our Toronto and my response is anger," Toronto Mayor David Miller told CP24 television. "Every Torontonian should be outraged by this."
The roving band of protesters in black balaclavas shattered shop windows for blocks, including at police headquarters, then shed some of their black clothes, revealing other garments, and continued to rampage through downtown Toronto.
Protesters torched at least three police cruisers in different parts of the city, including one in the heart of the city's financial district. One protester jumped on the roof of one before dropping a Molotov cocktail into the smashed windshield.
A stream of police cars headed to Toronto to reinforce security there after the smaller Group of Eight summit ended in Huntsville, Ontario. The vandalism occurred just blocks from where President Barack Obama and other world leaders were meeting and staying.
"These images are truly shocking to Canadians," Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a statement. "We are taking all measures necessary to ensure Canadians, delegates, media and international visitors remain safe."
Previous major world summits also have attracted massive, raucous and sometimes destructive protests by anti-globalization forces.
Police in riot gear and riding bikes formed a blockade, keeping protesters from approaching the security fence a few blocks south of the march route. Police closed a stretch of Toronto's subway system along the protest route and the largest shopping mall downtown closed after the protest took a turn for the worse.
A media bus taking photographers and cameramen to a hotel where the G-20 leaders will have dinner was turned back after police deemed it unsafe.
Dozens of police officers later boxed in a number of protesters from both sides of a street in a shopping district. The protesters encouraged the media to film it and they sang 'O Canada', Canada's national anthem, before being allowed to disperse.
At another location at the provincial legislature police also boxed in demonstrators before tackling some and making arrests.
As of Saturday afternoon, 40 summit-related arrests had been since June 18, police said, with security being provided by an estimated 19,000 law enforcement officers drawn from all regions of Canada. The security costs are estimated at more than US$900 million.
Saturday's protest march, sponsored by labor unions and dubbed family friendly, was the largest demonstration planned during the weekend summits. Its organizers had hoped to draw a crowd of 10,000, but only about half that number turned out on what was a rainy day.
Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said before Saturday's protest that authorities were pleased by the demonstrators' orderly behavior. Hundreds of protesters moved through Toronto's streets Friday, but police in riot gear intercepted them, preventing them from getting near the summit security zone downtown.
Toronto's downtown resembles a fortress, with a big steel and concrete fence protecting the summit site.
Previous global summit protests have turned violent. In 1999, 50,000 protesters shut down World Trade Organization sessions in Seattle as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There were some 600 arrests and $3 million in property damage. One man died after clashes with police at a G-20 meeting held in London in April 2009.
At the September G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke and rubber bullets at marchers.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/26/police-say-protests-canadian-summits-tamer-previous-summits/
TORONTO (AP) — Black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful demonstrators protesting the G-20 global economic summit in Toronto, torching police cruisers and smashing windows with baseball bats and hammers.
Police with shields and clubs earlier pushed back another small group of demonstrators who tried to head south toward the security fence surrounding the perimeter of the Group of 20 summit site. Some demonstrators hurled bottles at police.
"This isn't our Toronto and my response is anger," Toronto Mayor David Miller told CP24 television. "Every Torontonian should be outraged by this."
The roving band of protesters in black balaclavas shattered shop windows for blocks, including at police headquarters, then shed some of their black clothes, revealing other garments, and continued to rampage through downtown Toronto.
Protesters torched at least three police cruisers in different parts of the city, including one in the heart of the city's financial district. One protester jumped on the roof of one before dropping a Molotov cocktail into the smashed windshield.
A stream of police cars headed to Toronto to reinforce security there after the smaller Group of Eight summit ended in Huntsville, Ontario. The vandalism occurred just blocks from where President Barack Obama and other world leaders were meeting and staying.
"These images are truly shocking to Canadians," Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a statement. "We are taking all measures necessary to ensure Canadians, delegates, media and international visitors remain safe."
Previous major world summits also have attracted massive, raucous and sometimes destructive protests by anti-globalization forces.
Police in riot gear and riding bikes formed a blockade, keeping protesters from approaching the security fence a few blocks south of the march route. Police closed a stretch of Toronto's subway system along the protest route and the largest shopping mall downtown closed after the protest took a turn for the worse.
A media bus taking photographers and cameramen to a hotel where the G-20 leaders will have dinner was turned back after police deemed it unsafe.
Dozens of police officers later boxed in a number of protesters from both sides of a street in a shopping district. The protesters encouraged the media to film it and they sang 'O Canada', Canada's national anthem, before being allowed to disperse.
At another location at the provincial legislature police also boxed in demonstrators before tackling some and making arrests.
As of Saturday afternoon, 40 summit-related arrests had been since June 18, police said, with security being provided by an estimated 19,000 law enforcement officers drawn from all regions of Canada. The security costs are estimated at more than US$900 million.
Saturday's protest march, sponsored by labor unions and dubbed family friendly, was the largest demonstration planned during the weekend summits. Its organizers had hoped to draw a crowd of 10,000, but only about half that number turned out on what was a rainy day.
Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said before Saturday's protest that authorities were pleased by the demonstrators' orderly behavior. Hundreds of protesters moved through Toronto's streets Friday, but police in riot gear intercepted them, preventing them from getting near the summit security zone downtown.
Toronto's downtown resembles a fortress, with a big steel and concrete fence protecting the summit site.
Previous global summit protests have turned violent. In 1999, 50,000 protesters shut down World Trade Organization sessions in Seattle as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There were some 600 arrests and $3 million in property damage. One man died after clashes with police at a G-20 meeting held in London in April 2009.
At the September G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke and rubber bullets at marchers.