G20: Toronto in Flames

[burn_this_city]

Sounds like they are attacking the US based stores along those streets.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/...-protests.html

Michael Hyatt, who was at a Yonge and Dundas gym, said the protesters seemed to target a number of U.S.-based chains.
“It is pretty horrible what they have done to a lot of the stores here. They’ve destroyed the windows at an American Apparel — they destroyed all the windows and pulled out the mannequins and [threw] feces into the store.
“It stinks and it is unbelievable. Foot Locker is destroyed. Pizza Pizza is destroyed. They’ve kind of gone up the street and picked at every U.S. vendor they could find. It’s really kind of sad.”

[FlamesAddiction]

No excuse for this, but people have some right to be pissed. I have a friend in Toronto who said the citizens aren't allowed to go to establishments or walk down streets in certain areas. He told me the cops were very rude about it too, calling them fags and pretty much trying to challenge them to fights.

Again, no excuse for violence, but their city was pretty much made into a police state during this convention and people hate seeing their freedom taken away.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

No excuse for this, but people have some right to be pissed. I have a friend in Toronto who said the citizens aren't allowed to go to establishments or walk down streets in certain areas. He told me the cops were very rude about it too, calling them fags and pretty much trying to challenge them to fights.

Again, no excuse for violence, but their city was pretty much made into a police state during this convention and people hate seeing their freedom taken away.

Then why the excuses, the only people restricting freedom here are the thugs causing violence and destruction.

And ya cops are always looking for a fight, I call BS on your buddy...excuses...

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Sounds like they are attacking the US based stores along those streets.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/...-protests.html

Michael Hyatt, who was at a Yonge and Dundas gym, said the protesters seemed to target a number of U.S.-based chains.
“It is pretty horrible what they have done to a lot of the stores here. They’ve destroyed the windows at an American Apparel — they destroyed all the windows and pulled out the mannequins and [threw] feces into the store.
“It stinks and it is unbelievable. Foot Locker is destroyed. Pizza Pizza is destroyed. They’ve kind of gone up the street and picked at every U.S. vendor they could find. It’s really kind of sad.”

Not only are they rowdy, but these protesters are also stupid. American Apparel was started and is run by a Canadian. Pizza Pizza is also Canadian company.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

No excuse for this, but people have some right to be pissed. I have a friend in Toronto who said the citizens aren't allowed to go to establishments or walk down streets in certain areas. He told me the cops were very rude about it too, calling them fags and pretty much trying to challenge them to fights.

Again, no excuse for violence, but their city was pretty much made into a police state during this convention and people hate seeing their freedom taken away.

From Wikipedia:
The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.
The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.[1]



I would like to see these courageous "protesters" bring their act to a real police state. like Iran or North Korea.

[Azure]

Time to use lethal force.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

No excuse for this, but people have some right to be pissed. I have a friend in Toronto who said the citizens aren't allowed to go to establishments or walk down streets in certain areas. He told me the cops were very rude about it too, calling them fags and pretty much trying to challenge them to fights.

Again, no excuse for violence, but their city was pretty much made into a police state during this convention and people hate seeing their freedom taken away.

Um, doesn't look like the police are doing enough even if they are being more strict. The thugs still making a ruckus.

Also gotta tally up bs about the cops trying to instigate fights. They seem to have a pretty big one going on already anyway.

[Nage Waza]

This is pathetic. There needs to be a movement where people stand up against the violent protesters and get out in numbers preventing this garbage. This is Canada, you should be free to speak your mind, but not free to destroy someone's livelihood.
These fools think they are defending human rights, but they are picking and choosing which rights count.
Let's see them do this in Iran or some other haven of freedoms.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Forget temporary. Protests in general should be outlawed, and these hooligans should be shot.

Some wiseass will now come out and say "well, when you run security on the cheap, what do you expect?".

He should be shot too.

Ban protesting? are you kidding me?

I hate, hate, hate the violent so-called protesters, and generally find the overall protests against this kind of event impotent, but nonetheless, the idea of "outlawing" protests not only distasteful but offensive in a democracy. What are we, the Soviet Union?

[TRIX]

I have been watching CTV Newsnet (or whatever its called, you know the station)

You know what would stop this stupid violent random meaningless destruction...one phone call pre-summit meetings

"Hi, Hells Angels, here's the proposed perimeter we want to secure, how much do you contract out for?"

Gonna guess a hell of a lot less than a billion dollars

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

From Wikipedia:
The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.
The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.[1]



I would like to see these courageous "protesters" bring their act to a real police state. like Iran or North Korea.

Thanks tips...

There have been some people reporting that the police have targeted peaceful demonstrators.... especially muslims. Police harassment is not an uncommon issue.. there are bad people everywhere and some cops are bad people too.

Not to mention, police powers have been enhanced to levels that go against the level of human rights we are accustomed to in Canada. People find it downright offensive to be told by police that they can't enjoy freedom of assembly or that they are subject to searches without a warrant. It's complete crap.

Why they had to have this thing right in the middle of a public area is stupid. If they had it somewhere more remote, which has happened in the past, then there would have been no need for increasing police powers to battle protesters. It almost seems like they wanted an excuse to increase police powers.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by TRIX

I have been watching CTV Newsnet (or whatever its called, you know the station)

You know what would stop this stupid violent random meaningless destruction...one phone call pre-summit meetings

"Hi, Hells Angels, here's the proposed perimeter we want to secure, how much do you contract out for?"

Gonna guess a hell of a lot less than a billion dollars

So let me get this straight, you want to pay organized criminals to control other criminals? That worked out really well for the Rolling Stones concert in the 60's where fans were stabbed by the HA security.

Unfortunately the police are damned if they do and damned if they don't. A legitimate protest can quickly turn into a gong show just like we've seen today. The anarchists dress in normal clothes and mingle with legitimate protesters. Then they don masks and black clothing, cause as much damage as they can, change back into their normal clothing and blend in with the crowd. Their goal is to get the police to over react and tear gas the whole crowd, thus turning the masses against them. If they use force they get criticized, if they sit back and allow people to protest, the vandals strike and then they get criticized for not acting soon enough. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a cop on the ground in Toronto.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Thanks tips...

There have been some people reporting that the police have targeted peaceful demonstrators.... especially muslims. Police harassment is not an uncommon issue.. there are bad people everywhere and some cops are bad people too.

Not to mention, police powers have been enhanced to levels that go against the level of human rights we are accustomed to in Canada. People find it downright offensive to be told by police that they can't enjoy freedom of assembly or that they are subject to searches without a warrant. It's complete crap.

Why they had to have this thing right in the middle of a public area is stupid. If they had it somewhere more remote, which has happened in the past, then there would have been no need for increasing police powers to battle protesters. It almost seems like they wanted an excuse to increase police powers.

I can tell you that the vast majority of police officers there DO NOT want a confrontation. You think they look forward to getting bags of urine and feces thrown at them? Marbles, ball bearings, bottles, rocks, molotov cocktails? I agree with you that this is a huge mistake by the government to decide to hold the event in the middle of the city, but the police don't exactly have a choice in the matter. They have to react to the situation at hand. And by the way, it is pretty much impossible to not discriminate at some level. If I'm a cop on the street and I see a family with two little kids walking or a group of 4 younger males walking around, who do you think poses more potential for trouble? Take off your utopian glasses and be realistic. I'm not saying that police don't overstep their bounds sometimes but the vast majority are there for the right reasons and they have very difficult decisions to make with very little time. You're right, these summits should have been held at CFB Petawawa or Borden where they could have done their business without being bothered.

[TRIX]

I am glad I am not a cop either today

As for HA stabbing rolling stones fans...wasn't aware

Regarding HA maybe stabbing violent protesters like the black anarchists...wouldn't care

[TRIX]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

...these summits should have been held at CFB Petawawa or Borden where they could have done their business without being bothered.

very good point, I agree 100%

maybe next time they will???

[The Goon]

Taking it further, why don't the G8/G20 leaders simply have these summits via videoconferencing? The technology is there now, everyone saves time and money and cities don't have to put up with this BS.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by TRIX

I am glad I am not a cop either today

As for HA stabbing rolling stones fans...wasn't aware

Regarding HA maybe stabbing violent protesters like the black anarchists...wouldn't care

I hear what you're saying and it's easy for us to just say well shoot them or whatever. At the end of the day, they should be arrested and brought to justice. Obviously our "justice" system isn't perfect, but it's better than killing people for what amounts to at the end of the day, property damage. Unless my life, your life, or other people's lives are in danger, police shouldn't be killing people.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by The Goon

Taking it further, why don't the G8/G20 leaders simply have these summits via videoconferencing? The technology is there now, everyone saves time and money and cities don't have to put up with this BS.

well I do agree that meeting in person is more effective than over videoconferencing. I've done several video conferences and it just feels like you're always missing something. Meeting face to face is better because that's the way humans interact. But I really hope that from now on our country and others learn to manage these things better. There is no way in this day and age that we as a nation can justify spending over a billion dollars on a 3 day event when we're in deficit and that money could have been used for health or education. The UN has a nice big building in New York, hold it there!

[metallicat]

Why are they even having this ridiculous summit in Toronto? Absolutely insane that tax payers are on the hook for 1 billion dollars worth of security. It's obvious that the leaders need to meet, but does it have to be such a publicized event? Look what happens. This is a complete joke.

Screw the water cannons, bring out the shotguns.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Why are they even having this ridiculous summit in Toronto? Absolutely insane that tax payers are on the hook for 1 billion dollars worth of security. It's obvious that the leaders need to meet, but does it have to be such a publicized event? Look what happens. This is a complete joke.

Screw the water cannons, bring out the shotguns.

bring out the shotguns in a huge crowd and what.....possibly murder innocent people? i'm sure you're a really nice guy but i'm glad you're not a police officer