Click on any story below to read!
"Catch & Release"
by Nathan Adler
7/16/2010 12:11:00 PM
Jail experience harrowing
by Skylar Radojkovic, Owen Sound Sun Times
7/13/2010
Bad News at Bancroft Avenue
by Dylan C. Robertson
7/13/2010
Arrested And Jailed In Toronto – A G20 Protestor’s Firsthand Account
by Sarah Pruyn
7/7/2010
Of my illegal detention (with 899 others) and the G20 protests
by Ben Powless, Organizer, Defenders of the Land
7/5/2010
Independent Journalist, Daniel Adam MacIsaac
by Ali Mustafa
7/5/2010
Ashamed
by Tracey Cox
7/3/2010
"The story of my unjust arrest" - Lacy MacAuley
by Lacy MacAuley
7/1/2010 10:32:00 PM
Without provocation, they attacked our peaceful protest”
by Adrian Naylor
7/1/2010
One woman held by police 'didn't even know what the G20 was'
by Alison Hendersen
7/1/2010
“They were going to release us until this one cop came and saw that we had the legal number written on our arms. She then said that we were elegible for arrest.”
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
“several police officers lining the west side of the street had removed their names and badge numbers”
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
“they were detaining me until I told them where I was staying in Toronto”
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
“They demanded identification and searches of bags and persons, without cause, and under the threat of physical violence, detention and legal action”
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
“I was beat roughly 20 times with batons”
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
“blood poured out of his head, down his face and on to my friends jacket, dripping on my pants”
by Bethany Horne
7/1/2010
Queen & John Eyewitness Report
by Emily B.
7/1/2010
untitled
by James
7/1/2010
“I cannot stress this enough: it was a completely peaceful protest. People were being arrested in a brutal, violent, and seemingly random way.”
by Johanna Lewis
7/1/2010
“I was there as a monitor for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. . . like many others, I was never given an opportunity to remove myself from the intersection”
by Julia Croome
7/1/2010
“It is important to note the horrid conditions in the jail. The cells, which were over-glorified dog cages, were often over-crowded.”
by Maximilian Pacheco
7/1/2010
“I have been having nightmares”
by Natasha Borris
7/1/2010
“At no time during the detention was anyone in my cage allowed to speak with a lawyer”
by Philip Boyle
7/1/2010
“police said they had the right to conduct these searches”
by Robert Bertuzzi
7/1/2010
what happened last night at queen and spadina g20
by Rodrigo Bravo
7/1/2010
Violence on Toronto streets for G20
by Ryan Bolton
7/1/2010
“Five officers grabbed me, hit me repeatedly with batons and fists, threw me to the concrete, crushed knees into my cheek bone, back and thighs, dragged me on the pavement and put handcuffs on me”.
by Seamus Wolfe
7/1/2010
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I took the day off work, I’m so upset”
by Sherry B. Good
7/1/2010
“I saw many injured detainees with arms in slings and faces bruised and swollen being led quickly with their ankles chained”
by Taiva Tegler
7/1/2010
“In a matter of seconds, without warning, we were trapped. Our questions were met with blank stares, our panic with more pushing, complaints with arrest”
by Terra Dafoe
7/1/2010
“we were staging a peaceful protest when riot police surrounded us on all sides and would not let us leave”
by Trevor Grant
7/1/2010
Of a million G20 stories in this taken city, this was mine
If anything, there was less black being worn on Queen than usual
by Tabatha Southey
7/1/2010
Personal Experience
by Greg Stones
7/1/2010
'Unlawful Assembly'
by Syl Grady
7/1/2010
untitled
by Karen Nickel
7/1/2010
untitled
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
Mourning Canadian democracy
by Roberta McQuade
7/1/2010
untitled
by Kiel Widmeyer
7/1/2010
In His Own Words (Interview Transcript)
by Jesse Rosenfeld
7/1/2010
untitled
by Neil Stanton
7/1/2010
Singer Marc Mysterio caught in Toronto riots during video shoot
by Marc Mysterio
7/1/2010
Thorold, Ontario Amputee Has His Artificial Leg Ripped Off By Police And Is Slammed In Makeshift Cell During G20 Summit – At Least One Ontario MPP Calls The Whole Episode “Shocking”
by John Pruyn
7/1/2010
How I Got Arrested and Abused at the G20 in Toronto, Canada
by Tommy Taylor
note: photos/videos are not included in this but all text is original. To read this story with images, please click on 'Source' above
7/1/2010
Man and family being picked up from work brutality attacked by police
by Anonymous
7/1/2010
and this time, it won't be me.
by A Canadian Serviceman
7/1/2010
Fear and mayhem in Toronto
by Lawrence McCurry
7/1/2010
My Experience
by Jesse Miller
7/1/2010
Inside Torontanamo
by Matt Shultz
7/1/2010
Beaten by police before being arrested
by Andrew Stakhov
7/1/2010
Don't breathe or I'll kill you
by Facebook User: Drew Ferguson
7/1/2010
“I was held for 21 hours for peacefully protesting.”
by Marc Gleeson
6/30/2010
Thugs take over Queen's Park
by Matthew Webb
6/29/2010 10:08:00 AM
How I Ended Up In A G20 Jail
by Michael Talbot
6/29/2010
Union Station Washroom
by Andrei Poliakov
6/28/2010 5:30:00 PM
I was just harassed by Toronto Police
by Mike Brock, Western Standard
6/28/2010
Sonia's Story
by Sonia Zawitkowski
6/27/2010
Luke's Story
by Luke Keeler
6/27/2010
Someone call 911!
by Eda Martinovic
6/27/2010
Selwyn arrested at G20 protest
by Selwyn Firth, Mayoral Candidate
6/27/2010
Civil Rights, Interrupted: A G20 Arrest
by Mark Donald
6/26/2010
My Story - Help ID This Criminal!
by Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy
6/26/2010
Pre-G20 Atrocities
by Sean Salvati
6/23/2010
Eye Witness Accounts
“It is important to note the horrid conditions in the jail. The cells, which were over-glorified dog cages, were often over-crowded.”
by: Maximilian Pacheco
source
Hello, my name is Maximilian Pacheco, I am a 20 year old Political Science and History student at U of T. I was born and raised in Toronto. Below is a detailed account of what happened to me: Myself, along with my two friends, Jamie and Danny, were attending the peaceful protest at the Novotel on the Esplanade when, along with hundreds of other people (protestors, journalists/photographers and simple onlookers), we were arrested around 11pm. At first our path eastward was blocked by a number of riot police. Though they were blocking our protest from moving away from the thick of action (in the downtown core), there was no indication of the coming events. Then without warning, two buses full of riot police moved in on either side of us. The riot police were deployed on both sides of us in such a way so that we couldn’t escape. This happened, in my estimation, in less than two minutes. When I and the other protestors asked if we could leave, we were denied. We asked police if we were getting arrested: one replied that if you didn’t do anything wrong, you were not getting arrested. They also pointed into the middle of the street saying there was an exit for protestors to leave: of course no such exit existed. Whether the officer honestly thought that there was such an exit or if it was an attempt to corral us into the middle of the street is unclear. The riot police started their mass arrest operation by employing their intimidation tactics, then by opening up gaps in their line in which a handful of riot police would run into the crowd and grab individual protestors. This persisted for roughly 10-15 minutes, until it became clear to everybody that all of us were not leaving anytime soon and it was probable that we were all getting arrested. The situation was confirmed by one police officer who informed us, via microphone, that everybody was under arrest for breach of the peace. It took approximately 45 minutes to an hour for everybody to get individually arrested. When I was finally personally arrested, I was not read my rights or informed of my charges. We were taken via paddy wagon to what turned out to be the Eastern Detention Centre. We were made to wait in the extremely uncomfortable vans for approximately 20 minutes. When we were taken out, my metal cuffs were replaced with plastic, and I was transferred to a cell with approximately 20 people, of which all were male. I stayed in this cell for hours (we had no way of actually telling time) until I was moved to a second cell, in which I stayed for an hour. After this, I was taken to be processed. Initially during this process, I was told by a female court police officer and a male police officer that my charges were being dropped. When I was taken into the makeshift office to get formally processed, however, I was told by a female and male Toronto police officer I was being charged with not only breach of the peace, but mischief as well. I was never informed of this up until that point. When I made this clear to the police officer, she told me in an aggressive manner “well know you have been informed.” After this process was completed, I was moved on to a third cell, where I would spend the remainder of my time in the detention centre. It is important to note the horrid conditions in the jail. The cells, which were over-glorified dog cages, were often over-crowded, as is the case with my second cell in which there was between thirty and forty people. Other than a little bench, there was nowhere to sit except on the concrete floor. The air-conditioning was at an unreasonably high level. We were seldom given food and drink: when we were it was awful sandwiches and small, styrofoam cups of water. If your guard was nice, he would let you drink it quickly and poor you another one before he came back in 2-4 hours. If you were lucky enough to have a cell with a bathroom (which luckily all of mine did), there was no door. In addition, you had to ask for toilet paper, and often guards would take long periods of time to bring it. In addition, there was no consistency in the handling of the protestors in there. Some were cuffed for the entirety of their duration, such as my friend Jamie Murray. I had my cuffs removed when I was processed. However, my shoes and glasses were taken away from me for the remainder of my time in the detention centre. I had been previously allowed to keep them, and other people had been randomly allowed to keep their belts, glasses, watches, shoes while others were not. The loss of my glasses for the remainder of my time was very traumatic: not being able to see for an extended period of time really starts messing with your head. Repeated requests for phone calls and lawyers were denied. Eventually, guards came to our cell and took individuals to either make a phone call or see the Duty Council: we were made to make a choice. They said this was done so that everybody could be accommodated. However, on my way to see the Duty Council, I was brought through the centre where the phone calling was happening, and I saw a number of empty phones. When I finally saw the Duty Council, all he did was take down my basic information, asked if I had any priors (which I didn’t), asked me for contact information for next of kin, and then informed me that the police would most likely pursue the charges against me, and I would probably be made to sign some document upon my release agreeing to a set of release conditions and to show up at court on a certain date. He then informed me, in what I felt was a suggestive manner, that if I plead guilty, I would probably only get limited community service and no criminal record. But how could I get a criminal record from a breach of the peace charge (which was one of my charges) which was a non-criminal charge? Surely a lawyer should know this, especially one who was Duty Council at the centre for the detention of protestors. I told him I would not be pleading guilty, and he informed me that though this was my right, it could be risky if I lost. My encounter with the Duty Council lasted for no more than 5 minutes. I was brought back to my cell where I awaited my release. When I was finally released, I was cuffed to another cell mate who was also being released, and was moved to a waiting cell for under two minutes, where we were promptly un-cuffed, given our property bags and were being marched to a door. I was asked if I preferred to go with or without socks, and before I could really answer, I was out the door into the torrential rain. I was then escorted out the front gate: I was not informed of the status of my charges (I found out the next day that they were dropped when I called the Toronto Police), or told anything for that matter. I was released between 7:30 and 8 pm approximately. As a final act of police cruelty, I was not allowed to put my shoes or glasses on before exiting the building. I found out the next day that my friend Jamie’s parents, who Jamie had managed to contact in the time before we were all individually arrested, had got a lawyer, Peter Hatch, to come look for Jamie, Danny and myself. When he came to the front of the Eastern Detention Centre and told them he was representing the three of us, he was informed that they did not know if they were holding us and that regardless, he was not allowed to come in and look for us. I feel my rights were violated in the nature of our arrest, both in the uncompromising and illegitimate nature of it, and also because I was not read my rights or fully informed of my charges. I also felt that the conditions in the jail ran contrary to the provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that protected against cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, my rights to legal representation were ignored: they did not let my real lawyer see me, it took an unreasonably long time for them to provide me with any legal help, and when they did, it was very inadequate (to say the least). I was also denied a phone call at anytime, less I wanted to surrender my constitutional right to a lawyer. The injustices of the past days must be rectified.