If there were no Black Bloc, it would have to be invented

How unfortunate that the vandalism of the Black Bloc turned media attention away from the legitimate messages of the peaceful demonstrators. Or so we're told by Bill Blair, Toronto's chief of disinformation and outright lies er, Police, sentiments that were echoed by several other media outlets. Oh yes, poor media, prevented from covering anything at the real protest rally by the urgency of a few burning cop cars, footage which was repeated over and over and over.

How unfortunate that the peaceful demonstrators in Queen's Park later that day had refused to specifically condemn violent forms of protest. That was all the proof police needed to accuse them of harbouring criminals, making them all de facto criminals and justifying whatever actions police took.

Several of these protesters “actually donned masks” and were carrying weapons en route to the protest site, [police spokesman] McGuire said. The others, he said, were “people who chose not to disassociate themselves” with the Bloc. Toronto Star

And wow, did they ever take action! Mounted cops trampling people underfoot, beating seated people with their batons, darting into the crowd and snatching people, then preventing anyone from seeing or recording what was happening behind police lines. The brutal kettling outside the Novotel Hotel, at Queen and Spadina, outside the detention center on Eastern Ave. and of course the single largest mass arrest in Canadian history - over 900 people, most of whom were never actually charged with anything - because they didn't do anything wrong.

"Hey Joe, that's really burning. Think we oughta do something?"
"Nahhh."

But was this really an "unfortunate series of events" or was it the intended script from the very beginning? Was the purpose of the 20,000 strong Integrated Security Force ever really meant to keep the peace?

Consider this one little fact, gleaned from the wife of one of the officers. During summit duty training cops were shown video of a police officer being dragged into the crowd at a violent protest in Berlin and beaten to death. Now, before you go all "I completely condemn that kind of violence" let's think about what the effect of seeing such footage might have on your average cop. It sure ain't sensitivity training, folks.

Consider too what effect seeing cop cars burning and windows being smashed by black-clad "anarchists" would have on the average cop who had no idea that this was permitted to happen by their superiors. Shame? Outrage? Feelings of impotent rage?

And now consider being told that those supposed peaceful people in Queens Park actually approved of the violence, and were helping the criminals to hide within their ranks. A chance to get back at those violent "thugs", to teach the punks a lesson, to redeem oneself and one's pride.

I believe it takes a lot to get police to turn on their fellow citizens to the degree they did over that nightmare weekend. Of course it helps if they are from out of town, from places like for example Calgary. What's better than a chance to kick some spoiled, commie Toronto butt?

This ugly narrative played out exactly as it has at every recent globalization summit from Seattle, to Miami, to London, to Pittsburg and now Toronto.
1. identify groups who oppose globalization and neutralize their leaders either through intimidation or arrest
2. intimidate the general public through threats of violent riots taking place
3. intimidate protesters through illegal search and seizure
4. expand the term "weapon" to include items of protection like bandanas and gas masks
5. permit vandalism, or if there is no vandalism, instigate it
6. respond with a brutal, military style crackdown on everyone in the vicinity
7. suspend civil rights (with or without the authority to do so)
8. mass arrests

Obviously the essential trigger for this series of events is some form of violence: anarchists, terrorists, black bloc tactics. It doesn't really matter what the label is. They are the bad guys and we will smash your rights to get them and keep you safe. We know you'll understand.

The Patriot Act, the bullshit at airports all over the world, spying, wiretapping, you name it. All are justified in the name of protecting the citizens, when the real purpose is the suspension of civil rights. So let's give a big shout out to the Black Bloc for helping the powers that be, the IMF, WTO etc, to put us all under the jackboot of repression. If they didn't exist, they'd have to be invented.

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Blair lies, citizen rights in the toilet

I have no doubt there were plenty of regular police officers who were angered and shamed by the fact that vandals were allowed to rampage for an hour and a half through Toronto on Saturday. I had an earful from one such officer last night, the partner of a close friend of mine. She was furious with me (I assume over what I've suggested about agents provocateurs), and talked about the abuse that police faced: bottles, bricks and even feces thrown, insults hurled, being spat upon etc. This is disgusting, unacceptable behaviour, and clearly intended to be provocative. Ultimately, it was. I know this officer is a fine person, calm under stress, honest to a fault -- an officer of the peace in the true meaning of the words. I have never heard her so angry, our friendship seems to be toast and I'm sorry about that. There are good cops and bad cops, just as there are good protesters and violent protesters. Good people deserve our praise and the violent, on either side deserve our condemnation.

I also spoke to a retired police officer/consultant from Michigan. I wanted to know if there could have been a mobile squad that could detach as needed to pursue these vandals. He said it was absolutely standard operating procedure to have a quick response team in place. I'm going to assume things were planned well enough that there was such a force, and that it simply wasn't deployed. Not only was this a tactical failure, but it's turning into a public relations failure as well.

"The bosses of this police force and other police forces decided to play public relations, and instead of doing their jobs, they let the city burn," said Naomi Klein on Monday.

Yep, show the public just what kind of violent elements there are, and maybe that will justify the massive expense. And in making that decision, a volatile situation was made more so. It was immediately after the vandalism that things got ugly. Decent cops were humiliated and angered, innocent people were rounded up and stripped of  their rights.

And now Bill Blair admits police never had those far-reaching powers, that he was making it all up, re-writing the law on the fly. The problem is, police believed they did have those powers, forcing people to submit to searches, to provide ID or be arrested, preventing journalists from covering arrests, not just within the 5 meters of the security fence, but all over the city. Since there never was such a law in place, all of those actions were illegal. Police were lied to by their own chief.

Don't blame the victims, blame the hidden agenda of our leaders: Harper, for overspending and over-militarizing the city, McGuinty for his secrecy, Blair for his lies, and whoever else was involved in planning and running this debacle.

We need an independent inquiry, and we need it now.

UPDATE: Facebook group demanding inquiry is here.

Thanks to Galloping Beaver for the video link.

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