G20: Secret Laws and Police Brutality

The black-clad criminals that terrorized Toronto on Sunday, June 26, were not a group of ‘radical anarchists.’ Instead, they were the power-mad police force – keen on using their new toys in an act of tactical revenge for the previous day’s embarrassment.

Let’s not kid ourselves – these kinds of violations are commonplace in certain parts of the world. As Canadians, we like to believe we are above this. As we should now be aware, that is not the case. At any point, any ‘right’ or ‘freedom’ we believe to have can be stripped without provocation or explanation. Secret laws are passed. Secret agreements are made between police and officials. PR strategists help sell reasonable doubt and propaganda. And, as we’ve seen, public officials and law enforcement will blatantly lie with the same conviction used when taking their oaths.

That being said, over the G20 weekend, most police behaved in accordance with the law and their duties (as did most protesters), but there were some who absolutely crossed the line. And above all else, the decision making by top-ranking officials was reprehensible.

This is exactly why people protest in the first place.

The rioters broke windows and smashed cars (that were curiously left unguarded). The police violated human beings. The strip-searching of unlawfully detained peaceful protestors should be prosecuted as sexual assaults.

The media cannot be snuffed. That is illegal. Invoking George Bush’s mysterious ‘hidden-weapons strategy’ seems to work quite well for public officials hoping to create reasonable explanations for unreasonable behavior. Though, as we know, it is less about preventing mass destruction and more about propagating mass distraction.

On Sunday’s criminal policing, a Toronto Sun reporter says he heard the following, “’I just wish I could have pummeled the little bastards the day before,’ said one copper of the Black Bloc, adding it ‘would have been great to ring their skinny little necks.’”

It’s possible some of these ‘law enforcement’ cowards enjoy their jobs a little too much.