Protesters held for hours at Spadina and Queen
Posted June 27, 2010 11:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – A few hundred protesters gathered on Spadina at Queen Sunday afternoon, with the goal of heading south, but were soon surrounded by riot police who crowded them on all sides.
They were held in the intersection for several hours in the pouring rain, before finally being freed just after 9:30 p.m.
In previous protests, there were always escape routes. In this case, there was no way out, as police surrounded media, protesters and regular civilians.
“Everyone in this intersection is going to be arrested,” a senior police officer yelled to the crowd. “You will all be arrested for conspiracy to commit mischief. I want everybody to line up single-file in front of me and you will be arrested.”
Protesters reported that police said very little to them while they were being detained.
A few were picked out of the crowd and formally arrested. They were then shipped by bus to the G20 Detention Centre.
680News reporter Kevin Misener was part of a group that included three other members of the media who volunteered to be arrested in order to get out.
Misener was temporarily detained and police frisked him from head-to-toe, front and back. They also searched his bag, pulling everything out and asking for identification.
He managed to get out of the blocked-off area and is safe and sound.
Meanwhile, Garth was walking through the crowd when police blocked his way.
“They didn’t give us no warning. They just blocked us all in and told us we couldn’t leave,” he told 680News, shivering after standing out in the rain for several hours.
“No police officers would answer any questions,” he added, “nothing. The police wouldn’t talk to us at all.”
Another man caught in the middle, Chris told 680News “I was simply trying to get to Bathurst and Queen, and I was caught right in the middle.”
“We were just stuck there. We were stuck and we could not move. There we were surrounded by riot police who outnumbered us at least three to one…we’re huddled all around each other, around single umbrellas that people had brought,” he added.
“It was very tragic, very scary.”
At a police news conference late Sunday evening, Staff Superintendent Jeff McGuire told the media that Black Block type protesters were spotted weaving through the crowd, and after seeing weapons, officers were afraid the situation would escalate.
“This was on the heels of what we faced. That’s not suggesting that’s all that drove it, but that’s still fresh in everyone’s mind,” he said.
“I cannot apologize to [those detained], and I won’t. I can tell you that it’s unfortunate that they found themselves in the situation. It’s unfortunate the whole city had to go through what we’ve gone through this weekend, but the officers had the lawful right to detain them for this breach of the peace.”
Police said they arrested a few accused anarchists, but could not identify what weapons they were carrying. There were no reports of any property damage within the Queen and Spadina area, and other reports stated that most of the protesters detained were peaceful.
- Listen: Kevin Misener’s experience with police at Spadina and Queen
- Photos: World leaders at G20 and G8 summits
