Protesters continue to Occupy Toronto after court injunction

Occupy Toronto demonstrators are still camped out at St. James Park Wednesday after winning a court injunction Tuesday.

An eviction notice issued by the city was stayed by Judge David Brown. He will hear full arguments from both sides on Friday before making a final decision on the protesters’ fate Saturday.

There are some conditions to the injunction: no new structures can be erected on the site, and no new demonstrators are allowed to rally at the park.

Mayor Rob Ford said he was disappointed by the decision and had hoped the demonstrators would leave the park.

“People’s patience [is] running a little thin,” Ford said at Tuesday night’s Chief’s Gala.

“If that’s what the judge said, that’s what the judge said. We’ll see on Saturday morning and take it from there. We want everything to remain peaceful. They should just remove themselves from the park as soon as possible.”

Bylaw officers began handing out eviction notices Tuesday morning which said the city recognizes the right to protest, but that protesters are damaging the park and interfering with winter maintenance.

Toronto is not alone. Cities worldwide are moving in to end Occupy demonstrations. In New York City, police evicted protesters from Zuccotti Park. The demonstrators with Occupy Wall Street were allowed to return after the park was cleaned, but were not allowed to bring tents.

In Canada, Halifax, London, and Saskatoon have evicted their Occupy protesters. Groups in other cities, such as Vancouver, have remained defiant of requests or orders to leave.

CUPE has thrown its support behind the protesters, tweeting, “ Ontario and members will join labour movement in opposing eviction tonight.”

On its Twitter feed, the Ontario Federation of Labour said OFL president Sid Ryan would be flying back from Ottawa to join the Occupy camp.

In the meantime, an internet hacker group known as Anonymous has threatened to target the city if an eviction is carried out.  

It sent out an ominous tweet Tuesday saying, “Now you will feel the wrath of #Anonymous.”

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