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"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
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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
“At no time during the detention was anyone in my cage allowed to speak with a lawyer”
by: Philip Boyle
source
I was arrested at the protest in front of the Novatel Hotel on June 26th 2010. Below is my recollection of events. Approx 8pm The protest march stopped in front of the Novatel Hotel. The march was peaceful and was surrounded by a crowd of sympathetic onlookers, journalists, and the curious, myself included. The main group of protestors sat down in the middle of the street. Riot police first arrived on The Esplanade from the intersection to the east about 9pm. They set up a line quite far back, close to the intersection, and did not move. Shortly thereafter two buses arrived from the west and police set up a second line at that intersection. At the same time the east flank moved closer to the protestors, holding the line within 5 meters of the pack of individual sitting on the street. The mood remained jovial. The west flank moved closer with little ceremony but remained well back. An officer approached the main pack of sitting protestors and asked if the group was officially affiliated with the Novatel labor dispute. The protestors responded that they were in solidarity with the workers but that no official representatives were present that night. Further invitations by the protestors to negotiate the immediate outcome were not responded to. 9pm approx The west flank moved closer at this point with noticeable theatrics by rapping their batons against their shields while shouting ‘move, move, move’. To the best of my knowledge there were NO commands or cautions to disperse at any time. The only communication between the police and the protestors was the aforementioned inquiry regarding the Novatel labor dispute. The two flanks were now about 30 yards from one another with approximately 250 people between. The situation began to get tense as we were clearly trapped. The main pack of protestors remained sitting in the street with the onlookers having stood back along the sidewalks, including in the outdoor lobby of the Novatel where I was standing. I attempted to leave at this point by speaking and signaling to the police that I wished to cross the line and leave. Many others did the same. It was indicated to us quite bluntly that any contact with the officers (including shields) would be taken as assault. 9:15-9:30pm approx The arrests began at this point. Again, there was no statement to disperse. Small groups of officers – three to four – stormed the middle ground to remove single individuals and return through holes in the police line, which would quickly reform. The first few arrests involved protestors sitting in the street. By this time many of the onlookers were clearly panicking and some crying after realizing the situation they were in. Snatch squads continued picking people off one by one. Arrests were very indiscriminant. Onlookers began to be arrested, myself included. Four officers grabbed me while standing in the entrance of the hotel and pulled me behind the east line. I was held against the wall and searched for sharp objects. At some point during this time I sustained a black eye though I do not remember this actually happening. 9:30pm approx My wristed were cuffed to the back with flex cuffs (that an officer later acknowledged were far too tight when removing them with difficulty) and ankles in steel shackles. I and approximately 20 others knelt on the street as per police commands. I shuffled my feet and kneeling position over the next 20 minutes to keep my lower legs from becoming sore but stopped when a petite but extremely aggressive TPS officer screamed that I would be face-first into the road if I didn’t sit still. Eventually my arresting officer (Name: Brown, Rank: DC, Badge: 9366, Unit: D43) searched my person, catalogued and bagged my personal property, had my picture taken, and loaded me onto the waiting prisoner van. Flex cuffs on wrists exchanged for steel handcuffs cuffed to the front. Brown wrote on my arrest sheet that my offence was breach of the peace despite numerous cautions to evacuate the area. As noted above, there were no orders to evacuate the area given by the police. The only communication between police and protestors was in regard to the Novatel labor dispute. More importantly, officers did not allow anyone to leave the area if they wished (though YouTube videos of the incident show police allowing some to cross the line and leave). My police photo indicates the time of arrest to be 9:56pm. Upon being loaded on the bus the plastic flex cuffs were exchanged for steel handcuffs (cuffed to the front). Leg shackles remained in place. We were transported to the detention center shortly after 10pm. Upon departing the bus in the detention center the leg shackles removed and the steel cuffs exchanged again for plastic flex cuffs (cuffed to the front). The garage contained 4 20 foot by 10 foot cages. Two of these were at capacity. Most of the people on bus I was with put in remaining cages. I was with about 28 other men at this point (women detained in separate cage). Cages have outhouse toilets with no door or toilet paper. Further detainees trickled in overnight in vans and court services trucks but no major loads like ours. Guards repeatedly said that we were being processed at which time we would see a staff sergeant for the charges, get an opportunity to make a phone call, and speak to a lawyer. It was quite cold overnight with vehicles entering and leaving through the large garage door nearby. Some people slept on the concrete floor, which was cold and drafty. Two small cups of water approx 5 oz. served overnight. One cheese and butter sandwich served at 4am Sunday morning. We remained in garage cages until about 10am Sunday morning (11 hours). At this time we were moved to a cage of equivalent size in the main detention center. We were 26 in this cage. Guards repeated that we would see a staff sergeant and get phone calls and lawyer at that time. Two more cups of water were served between our arrival in the main detention center and our eventual release about 9pm Sunday, June 27th. One cheese and butter sandwich served about 3pm. Guards came to take our names and ID numbers at about 5pm Sunday, June 27th. Shortly after shift change at 6pm a new officer came and said they didn’t know where our paperwork was but they were working on it. Flex cuffs removed by 7ish. By 7:30pm one or two from our cage were released. I was perhaps 4th to be released of our 26. I was given my property bag and escorted to a cage near the exit where approx 10 others were being held. This cage and the individuals held in it were referred to by officers in the area as the ‘catch and release’. We were read a statement by an officer stating to the effect that all charges were being dropped but if we were arrested under the same or similar provision in the next 24 hrs we would immediately be charged with a criminal offence. We were individually asked to vocally indicate our agreement or choose to stay and face the charges on file. This was recorded via CCTV for evidence. We were individually walked to have our photo taken and escorted to the door. A different officer escorted us from the exterior door to the turnpike at the sidewalk and released. At no time during the detention was anyone in my cage allowed to speak with a lawyer or make a phone call. Time in detention: 22hrs. Food: two small cheese and butter sandwiches served 3am Sunday and 3pm Sunday. Water: 4 small cups.