G20 Summit Begins in Toronto: So Do the G20 Protests

by Amy Judd | June 25, 2010 at 01:21 pm

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The G20 Summit Has Begun in Toronto and Over 1,000 Protesters Have Taken to the Streets to Oppose the Gathering

Between 1,000 and 2,000 people marched through the streets of Toronto on Friday protesting the G20 Summit. Some sources reported the protest was mostly peaceful with a few arrests confirmed, but other sources such as the Toronto Community Mobilization Network put the number of people participating closer to 6,000 and described some intense clashes between police and protesters. They reported one organizer was punched in the face five times, and journalists were detained and arrested while filming.

The crowd gathered at Allan Gardens before the march to voice their oppositions and hand out their agendas.

See Some Photos From the G20 Summit Protest

According to InsideToronto, as protesters gathered at the park police stopped them and asked for ID and searched their bags and chants of 'Let them in!' and 'Public Park!' filled the air.

One protester, Andrew Pritchard, said, “This is a violation of my rights. I don’t support that at all. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve never been arrested in my life, and now I’m being search for weapons.”

As the protest moved to the streets, the police put on their riot gear with helmets and visors reports GlobalBC.

Among the demonstrators are union members and anti-G20 activists. There are also demonstrators clad in black and wearing masks marching behind an anarchist banner being watched closely by police.

Canadian police now have the right to use sonic cannons to control protests if they need to, but only on their lowest setting. The case by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) was thrown out on Friday after the court ruled police could use these acoustic devices for crowd control. The device can emit a pitch up to 150 decibels that can affect people 200 metres away. They have been told they can only use them as 'communication tools'.

Civil rights activists however argued that the canons, "originally developed for use on the high seas, and subsequently used in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan," were "dangerous" and not appropriate for urban policing.

G20 protests have long been a fixture of G20 Summits and there have been numerous clashes in the past.