Evidence that Police let the Vandalism Occur on Purpose

This first video is basically a summary of the main events which show that the police allowed the riot to happen on purpose.



Now I will go though, in detail, a series of videos that were uploaded to youtube. The person who filmed these videos followed the black bloc riot though the streets of Toronto. After watching all the videos, it should be clear that police moved back their lines and evacuated the areas where the black bloc members were vandalizing property.

This video is shot at Queen and University, after the protest parade, but before the black bloc riot started. You can see that there is a line of bike cops on the south side of Queen, as well as a much stronger line of riot police one block south on Richmond.



In this next video, we see two red undercover police vans drive west along Queen St., followed by a quad of police on bicycles and two police cars.



In this next video, we see a line of bicycle police guarding Simcoe. st and another line one block south on Richmond.



In this next video, we see a line of cops on Duncan St. as well as a line of riot police on Richmond. Then a line of bicycle police come out to block Queen St. at McCaul St. (near the Much Music building). The line opens up to let a police car though.



In this next video, we see that line of police start to clear the area and push back the few random people who were loitering around for no apparent legitimate reason. We also see the drugged out hippie guy with blond dread locks go past on his small BMX bike. This individual was later arrested for arson of one of the bait cars on Queen just east of Spadina. According to another youtube video i saw, his name was made public and there are many clear images of his face. Just after the police tried to clear the street, we see the start of the black bloc riot. Even though this area was filled with police moments ago, it appears from the video that they knew that the riot was coming and tried to clear people out of the way. We even see video of a poor old security guard who must have been terrified, because one minute the street is calm and there are police everywhere. Then all of a sudden, all the police leave and black bloc rioters start breaking windows all around him. The riot continues east along Queen St. Notice that there is no longer a line of bicycle police at Simcoe St. or University Ave. anymore. We cannot see in this video if there was still a line of riot police on Richmond St. Queen St. was one of the main roads that the protester parade in the early afternoon went down. There was a line of police on the south side of Queen St. the entire day as far as i know. The police line disappeared only minutes before the riot crowd appears.



As the rioters continued traveling east along Queen St., we finally see a line of riot police on the south side of Queen St. at York st. There were not very many of them and they just held their line as the rioters passed them. Many acts of vandalism are taking place, including the breaking of a Starbucks storefront. The rioters then turn south down Bay st. and head into the financial district. There are no visible police at the intersection of Bay and Richmond.



In this next video, the rioters are traveling south down Bay towards King. Many acts of vandalism are taking place, yet there are no police in sight. The rioters arrive at the intersection of King and Bay to find several abandon police vehicles sitting there. There is a very small group of police (maybe 20) on King, just east of Bay. There are no other visible police at the moment.



In this next video, one of the police cars get set on fire. Several of the abandon police vehicles have been damaged. Curious and innocent bi-standards gather around the burning police car to see what is going on (and mostly take pictures for their facebook). The vast majority of the crowd by this point are just curious observers who are not taking any part in the vandalism and are simply walking around taking pictures and video. The number of actual black bloc members are quite small in comparison to the size of the crowd that has now formed. And not everyone wearing black and covering their faces were taking part in the vandalism either. Normal people started gathering around the burning police car like it was a bonfire. A police line starts to form on King, just West of Bay, but just stand there as the police car burns and black bloc members continue to vandalize police vehicles. The media now has their 10sec "riot" clip for the news. At the end of this video, the person filming this video should be standing roughly around where the original group of roughly twenty cops stood, so they appear to have been pulled out of the area. The group of black bloc and curious observers move east down Bay to Yonge.



This next video picks up at the corner of Yonge and King. There is a medium sized group of police outside the shoppers drug mart, on King, just east of Yonge.



In these next videos, the black bloc anarchists and a crowd of peaceful observers travel north up Yonge st. Black bloc members were committing many acts of vandalism. There are no police in sight.











Finally, in one of this person's last videos, we finally see some police. However, this location is half a block west of Yonge on College by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Center. You would not be able to see these police from the intersection of Yonge and College



So according to this person's video and witnesses who were there, there was not a single police officer in sight after the crowd started walking up Yonge St. The entire way from Yonge and King to Yonge and College, there were no visible police officers. The black bloc had free reign to cause as much vandalism as they wanted, along one of Toronto's main streets.

Anyone who was in downtown Toronto over the G20 weekend can describe the sheer numbers of police that were always present throughout the downtown core. There were literally police everywhere in very large numbers. It was common to see 100+ police officers in full riot gear at major intersections. So it's really shocking how there were virtually no police around while all the vandalism was taking place and that despite the $1 billion spent on security, the police failed to protect the city from a relatively small group of black bloc vandals.

The police seemed to have the entire downtown core on lock down the entire weekend. The only explanation for the lack of police presence is that police were ordered away from the areas where the black bloc rioters were heading. The evidence presented in this series of videos suggests that the people in charge of security ordered police (who were just following orders) away from the riot route which allowed the vandalism to take place. Who was in change and who gave these orders?

3 comments:

  1. Given your assertion that the black bloc were a small group of vandals compared to the thousands of peaceful protesters, why didn't the thousands of peaceful protesters stop the handful of vandals and continue on peacefully?

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  2. It isn't the responsibility of ordinary citizens to quell an out of control riot situation by confronting its perpetrators. Canadians paid $1.2 Billion on security to protect our city from violence and criminal behaviour. The bigger and more pressing question would be, why weren't security doing their job?

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  3. How on earth are you going to stop multiple people who have sticks and bricks and are smashing things? That is what POLICE are for. Do not even dare blame civilians for this.

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