An attempt to create a satellite branch of the Occupy Toronto protest at Queen’s Park was shut down by police Saturday evening.Meanwhile, the hacker group Anonymous threatened a cyber attack on the city if officials interfere with the month-long demonstration.
The dismantling of the short-lived occupation was amicable. Toronto police Staff Sgt. Walter Brasca said protesters left peacefully and were given a ride back to St. James Park.
The protesters had set up two tents in the shadow of the provincial legislature building. Protester John Erb said left he the main site at St. James Park with a group of four fellow occupiers late Friday night, carrying a bold red and white sign saying “Occupy The World.”
Jeff Bezaire had been planning to bring his tent over too. “We can evolve the old park into something bigger and better here,” he said. “It’s an extension to the old park, that’s not going anywhere.”
For Erb, it was also a way to get the province to stop “burying their heads in the sand” about the movement. Premier Dalton McGuinty is leaving the dirty work to Mayor Rob Ford, he said.
When police arrived at the camp earlier Saturday, it appeared as if they would let protesters stay.
“We did not just order them to leave,” said Const. Geoff Henderson. The issues here are “very sensitive” and will be discussed with our superiors and Queen’s Park, he said.
There was some confusion for the protesters over who owns the area of the park they were occupying — the city or the province. The front lawn south of the legislature is provincial land — but the park north of the building, where they were set up, is city property.
At St. James Park, Occupy Toronto plans to hold their ground and lock the city into a legal battle.
City manager Joe Pennachetti has said the city could move in as early as this week, just as officials in Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary have announced plans to start removing camps.
In Halifax on Friday, police arrested 14 people while dismantling an Occupy Nova Scotia camp. On Wednesday, police in London, Ont. took down the tents of Occupy protesters.
On Saturday, a YouTube video claiming be the work of the hacking group “Anoymous” threatened a cyber attack on the City of Toronto and Mayor Ford if the occupation is “interrupted.”
“You have said by next week, the occupiers shall be removed. And we say be next week if you do not change your mind, you shall be removed from the Internet. We have already planned for this,” says a computer-generated voice, addressing the city and the mayor.
It’s not clear who posted the video.
At St. James Park, the threat of eviction is one of the subjects under discussion in a “working group.” Only two of the 20 participants are in favour of an all out move to another park but the idea of a “strategic spread,” to Queen’s Park was well received.
Numerous attributes made Queen’s Park attractive to protesters. It has a potentially sympathetic university population nearby, and plenty of space for a mobile kitchen, port-a-potties and even a Frisbee playing area. There are fewer businesses and residences that would be disturbed — a concern that stems from recent complaints by residents and business owners who say the St. James Park protest is hurting sales and making the area unpleasant.
“It’s time to expand,” said Paul, a volunteer at the Info Centre who declined to give his last name. St. James Park — home to about 300 tents — doesn’t have the space to accommodate the growing movement, he said.
Deborah Sheritan, at the Occupy Toronto camp for the first time, disagreed. The self-described middle-class woman said she is impressed with the staying power of the Occupy movement, but the group needs to build on what they have at St. James Park first.
“They have to be careful of their image,” she said. “It has to be clean and safe or they won’t be able to engage the middle-class.”
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Source: Toronto Star
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