And now the whining begins
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 11:19AM It’s always interesting to see how people view the world and their place in it. Good examples of this are the complaints of our recent G20 protesters who now complain that the police were to rough on them. Just what did you expect the police to do when they have to protect some 20+ world leaders?
Added to the equation, is the fact that everyone knew that there would be violent protesters in their midst. This wasn’t a secret; it had been talked about for weeks. Even legitimate protestors had to know some radicals would be there to cause trouble. If you were the organizers of a legitimate protest, then you had a responsibility to weed these characters out of your march. If you didn’t and you allowed those that destroyed shops etc to enter your march, then you share the blame for what followed. Organizers had a responsibility to their group and the cause that represented to keep things peaceful and well organized. By not acting and tossing these thugs back out into the open, then you share some of the blame for any consequences that might have occurred.
Those consequences might have included the police wading into your group to snatch a particular trouble-maker that they had identified. When there are several days of demonstrations and the first one is violent can you expect the police to play kindergarten cop the next day?
Common sense comes into play as well. If there have already been violent incidents on day one, why would you go down to the G20 site just to see what is going on if you are not part of a legitimate protest? Playing tourist in the midst of demonstrations while riot police watch is not on my list of one of the brightest things for one to be doing. If tear gas has been fired and police lines are advancing, why are you standing there watching it unfold if you aren’t a protestor?
Unfortunately news reports focused on the violence and from what I saw on TV, there was little coverage of other quiet and legitimate protest marches. For those groups, it’s a shame that their message got lost in the coverage of the mayhem.
One of the best media quotes I saw came from a G20 protester who was complaining about the police and he said:
“The police broke the law. They’re supposed to take the hits and retaliate if need be. They’re not supposed to take pre-emptive strikes.”
That says it all doesn’t it.
Reader Comments (3)
You are absolutely correct. Those playing tourist, especially on Day 2 had only themselves to blame.
I'm still flabbergasted by the protester who complained about her Charter rights being violated because police did not serve her vegan food in the holding cell. Did she think she was in a five-star hotel?
Toronto Dumps G20 protesters out into a GTA Jail fyi Milton Halton Region Ontario
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