Further to yesterday’s post about what some women have endured at the hands of police while detained by Toronto’s horrific police force during the G20 demos in Toronto, here is a compendium of links put together by my friend, Pete Garden, who runs Turning the Tide Bookstore in Saskatoon.

Dear friends, fellow community members and supporters of Turning the Tide Bookstore,

As many of you know, 20 of the most powerful people in the world and their respective entourages gathered in Toronto and Huntsville, Ontario for the G8/G20 meetings. Protecting them was a $1 billion dollar security apparatus including a 6 km long security fence and thousands of police and private security. Mobility of the entire city was limited by the security presence and in many areas of downtown Toronto, Charter rights were suspended before the meetings even began. The events which unfolded over the weekend saw thousands (some say upwards of 25,000) of protesters taking to the streets to bring their challenges and concerns with the policies of this elite group of leaders to the attention of the world. The weekend also saw militant protesters in the black bloc attack corporate property and police vehicles followed by the largest mass arrests of protesters (nearly 1,000 people) in Canadian history.

While black bloc tactics of property destruction were a divisive issue within the movement and public at large, protesters were united in one voice against the draconian police crackdown on overwhelmingly peaceful protests. According to long-time social justice activist an author Judy Rebick who as at a press conference with police representatives today, the Toronto police have admitted to receiving stand-down orders while property destruction took place and many people suspect that police cars were abandoned in the middle of streets as decoys to attract vandalism and were let to burn for over 30 minutes for media photo-ops. Many believe that the police used this situation as a pretense to brutally repress protesters not involved in property destruction (about 50 to 100 people were involved in the vandalism while nearly 1000 have been arrested).

Meanwhile, independent media journalists and social media tools were used to document what happened over the weekend and what thousands of people around the world are seeing is quite shocking. Other independent and a handful of mainstream were providing substantial critical coverage of what was going on within the G8/G20 meetings.

Many of us have been glued to our computers watching as our friends in Toronto bravely challenged the security apparatus and felt brunt of the violent crackdown of the state. We hope that once you have seen and read about what happened over the weekend that you will take action both to support the protesters who were arrested and do what you can to hold our governments and the police forces responsible for their actions.

What we hope to provide here is some of the most important coverage and analysis of the events that unfolded on the streets and behind the fences at the summit.

Taking Action:

Stay tuned for the announcement of a Saskatoon fundraiser for the G20 arrestees.

http://movementdefence.org/G20appeal
Appeal for broad political support for the G20 arrestees.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadians-Demanding-a-Public-Inquiry-into-Toronto-G20/131026933597789
Facebook group demanding a public inquiry into the actions of the police in Toronto

Call your Member of Parliament, write a letter to your local newspaper, call in to radio shows, mobilize your friends.

The Issues:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/28/toronto_police_arrest_over_600_in
Democracy now! has produced the best video piece overview of the summit and the issues of the protesters were raising.

http://www.rabble.ca/rabbletv
Rabble livestream rebroadcast of “Shout Out for Global Justice Teach-in” on June 25th with Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, Vandana Shiva, Leo Gerard, Maude Barlow, Pablo Salon, and Clayton Thomas-Muller

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/opinion/sticking-the-public-with-the-bill-for-the-bankers-crisis/article1620729/
Naomi Klein’s analysis of how the G20 leaders are sticking the public with the bill for the banker’s economic crisis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3vRNBeMwVA
An interview with Vandana Shiva about the (il)legitimacy of the G20

http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/564338–harper-rejects-advice-to-eliminate-production-subsidies-for-oil-sands
Harper refuses to eliminate subsidies for the tar sands

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/free-market-stealth-economics-g20/3867
Free Market Stealth Economics at the G20 – An analysis of the threat of bilateral trade agreements

Police repression and the security apparatus:

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heb9BXjYcII
Peaceful protesters singing O Canada rushed by a line of riot police

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiLt40d_AbU
Police attack a peaceful group gathering outside the jail to support their fellow activists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7OA920pbv8
Journalists attacked, deaf man arrested for failing to hear police orders

http://vimeo.com/12925239
Independent journalist Amy Miller describes detention including rape threats, strip-searches of women by male officers and touching that could be considered sexual assault.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZgjX5vHt2o
A young man embarrasses police before protests by demanding his Charter rights while entering a public park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaYbq484abs
Police surround protesters and attack at Queens Park on Saturday

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/fr/video/compilation-videos-about-police-violence/3897#comment-4727
Compilation of videos on police violence

Articles:

http://www.thestar.com/article/828876–porter-when-police-stick-to-phony-script
The Miami Model – the blueprint used by Toronto police for repression during summits.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/828367–g20-law-gives-police-sweeping-powers-to-arrest-people?bn=1#article
Secret law passed to give police powers to violate charter rights and arrest.

http://rabble.ca/news/2010/06/challenging-toronto%E2%80%99s-corporate-security-walls
The link between the security fence construction and Canada’s arms industry

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/829921–i-will-not-forget-what-they-have-done-to-me?bn=1
“I will not forget what they have done to me” – 20 people arrested at the G20 tell of ‘inhumane’ treatment at the hands of police

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/world/americas/28security.html
A New York Times article critical of the police crackdown.

http://transformingpower.ca/en/blog/toronto-burning-or-it
Toronto is Burning! Or is it? By Judy Rebick – a look at the media distortions in the coverage of Saturday’s events.

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/%E2%80%9Ci-woke-gun-pointed-me%E2%80%9D/3836
“I woke up to a gun pointed at me” – Pre-G20 house raids target activists and neighbours

The Black Bloc

http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2010/06/g20-capitalism-is-attacked-in-streets.html
Agree with them or not, it is important to understand the black bloc and why people engaged in more militant tactics.

http://vimeo.com/12920201
Professor David McNally discusses the political ideology of Anarchism and the black bloc tactic.

Thank you for reading and please forward to your networks

UppityUpdate: TorStar editorial re the “brutal spectacle”