F*** the Police

This weekend in Toronto, the G20 summit took place to chaotic response. It had been built up forever; $1 billion dollars spent on security and fake lakes for the 20 leaders to schmooze in front. For days before there were cop cars lining every street and a security guard on every corner. There were even an abundance of cameras that were popping up along main streets like Yonge. You'd think the cops would be prepared for the worst, because the worst happened.

Needless to say, even before the G20 began there were thousands of people up in arms! No one agreed with the amount of money put into one weekend for 20 rich leaders, nor did they agree with the location. Why hold such an event in such a congested and hectic city? These are the people who turned down the Olympic games in Toronto because they saw it as just an obstacle that kept them from getting to work on time. So why would the government go ahead and spend OUR money on something 9.9/10 people strongly disagree with? DEMOCRACY at it's finest. I've been reading the paper religiously throughout last week, and every single discussion or poll of the upcoming G20 summit were all negative. Ah, to live free.

So naturally, tens of thousands of people decided to get together in different ways to protest. There were marching and biking protesters all along the streets all weekend, some peaceful and some not. But I think one of the biggest symbols of disapproval was demonstrated the day before the summit was to begin: the town was deserted. If you've been to Toronto, or any big metropolis, you'd understand how extremely RARE that is. Not only did everyone disagree, but they were so fed up with what was to come that the majority of people decided on leaving town, myself included. Turns out that was a very smart choice. The protests that started peaceful were quickly tainted by the menaces who quickly threw on black clothing, dispersed from the group and started creating chaos. They smashed storefronts (mostly targeting bigger companies, especially Starbucks), grafettied the walls with slogans like "Class War", and set a total of four cop cars on fire. We watched the live feed of the cop cars burning with a crowd of people surrounded as the flames grew rapidly, but with one thing missing: no cops. No cops? Why were there no cops there when a car of THEIRS was engulfed in flames and making small explosions while citizens were in harms way? The reporter even commented, saying she didn't understand why there were no cops, if not just concerning the personal safety of the people they are "sworn to protect". Interesting how they can spend $1 BILLION on security and mere rioters can get ahold of 4 cops cars, all in DIFFERENT AREAS and douse them in flames.

But, of course, the cops weren't gonna let everyone think they weren't doing their jobs that entire Saturday. Nope, the next day they decided to take action! On Sunday there were major protests that were going on since the day before (yes, people protested the entire night). People young and old went marching carrying signs of Peace and Love, while another large group took to the streets on their bikes to protest. I guess in retaliation for their lost vehicles, the cops went ape shit, shooting gas into the screaming faces of protesters and grabbing random marchers and hauling their asses off to a detention centre. In one day the cops recklessly arrested 800 people. 800! One guy was sent in the detention centre for unknowingly taking a orange from a crate that belongs to the cops. The entire weekend, about 900 people were arrested. People were even arrested protesting outside the detention centre against people getting arrested for protesting. The weekend proved to be a FAIL! on all counts.

One, the peaceful protesters were snubbed, and the media and government alike, LOVED IT! Instead of the peaceful protesters getting any kind of message across, the news and the papers have all been entirely focused on the mayhem caused by, and I quote, "thugs". So, now Stephen Harper's big ass head has just swelled another two sizes, because now he can go around saying, "See, we DID need to spend $1 billion!" OR MAYBE IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN IN TORONTO IN THE FIRST PLACE! Now, not only do WE have to pay for that big $1 billion tab, we also have to fork it up to the city for repairs caused by the summit only because NO ONE WANTED IT.

Two, thanks to asshole, stupid-face Harper, Toronto is now seen as a dangerous, out of control place. America was even telling its citizens not to travel to Toronto because of the dangers. So, we lose money in tourism. Isn't that great after spending $1 billion? We use the same subway station and trains that were used in the 20's, and yet we are spending $1 billion dollars on ONE weekend, building fake lakes that are 6 inches deep and, therefore, completely useless.

And three, we've opened ourselves up to more crime. These crazy protesters that relentlessly went about damaging everything in their wake; most of them weren't even from Toronto! Apparently, those who were most against the G20, and happened to be violent by nature, got people from all over who are, you could say, professional protesters who use the Black Bloc tactic. I'm not gonna say that no Torontonians were at fault, but I think the summit did provoke them to seek outside, sinister help that maybe wasn't such a good idea. 450 people from Quebec took the bus over to Toronto to participate in the crimes, and only 125 of them returned since they all got BUSTED. They are a group of protesters known for being anti-capitalist, anti-state, and anti-authority, who think the Black Bloc way is a legitimate and affective way of protesting.

So, what has this G20 lead us to? Well, it's opened our eyes to how insignificant our voices can be, that the government would go ahead and spend our money on something we all disagree with (obviously!). But maybe it's also shown the government what kind of extreme lengths people will go to when they feel ignored and defied, and it's not over. People are outraged by the total disregard for safety and human rights the cops displayed this whole weekend, and they are protesting more outside all cop venues in the city. It is totally unnecessary for 900 people to have to go to court and be slapped with a criminal record because they were voicing their thoughts after police were pissed off at unrelated people who were actually a threat. Remember when they were explaining before that the security wouldn't get violent until protesters were displaying violence? Yeah, well apparently that meant if people were overly violent one day, so much so that cops went and huddled in a corner, anyone who was caught saying anything against the summit were part of the group of people who did the violence before and need to be beaten and handcuffed. Mostly, I hate cops. They are egotistic assholes who misuse their authoritative power to belittle and harass others. Little shit heads who probably got bullied/did the bullying in highschool and are making up for it in their adult life. That's why there are so many crooked cops who get into the drug business or just like beating the shit out of anyone if they can; they're FUCKING ASSHOLES.

So FUCK THE POLICE. Anywhere and everywhere. Whether you live in the formerly peaceful country of Canada, or the segregated country of America, the police have CONSTANTLY shown complete lack for human decency and rights. The best advice is to not join in all the madness, but if you feel strongly against something the government does, and you indeed will for SURE at one point in your life, you shouldn't have to fear that you're gonna get beaten, arrested or killed because you have an opinion. FUCK THE POLICE!