Activists need to keep pushing back against kettling and other tactics of police violence

It’s easy for me to remember what happened in June 25, 26 and 27, 2010, for the G20 Summit demonstrations in Toronto when the city was taken over by thousands of police officers -- and their overreactions, mistakes and mass kettlings. The impact of these days of action are still being felt.

While the acute trauma from the demonstration, especially for people who had contact with the police that led to their mistreatment by way of detention, arrest or incarceration at the infamous Eastern Avenue Detention Centre.

G20 class-action lawsuits against Toronto police over 'kettling' get go-ahead

Two class actions over alleged civil rights abuses and "kettling" during the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto were given the go-ahead by the Ontario Court of Appeal Wednesday.

The class actions involve over 1,000 people. The lawsuit alleges people were arrested in large groups and held in "inhumane conditions" at a detention centre located inside an unused film studio on Eastern Avenue.

Oakland Police Department Settlement: City May Pay $1 Million To Protesters

The City of Oakland has agreed to pay approximately $1 million to end a lawsuit filed on behalf of 150 demonstrators alleging police misconduct in their 2010 mass arrest.

The preliminary settlement approved by a federal judge ends the class-action lawsuit filed by the National Lawyers Guild on behalf of 150 people arrested but not charged with a crime during a protest in November 2010. The protest followed the sentencing of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle for the shooting death of Oscar Grant, which the demonstrators complained was unacceptably light.

G20 'kettling' commander among 45 officers to be charged

Misconduct charges are expected against 45 Toronto police officers involved in the G20 summit two years ago, including five senior officers, one of them the commander who gave the notorious order to "kettle" protesters.

A copy of an investigative report carrying the logo of the provincial watchdog agency, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, was provided to CBC News late Thursday night by one of the 37 people who filed complaints about their treatment during the kettling incident. CBC News was unable to confirm its authenticity with the OIPRD.

The report says some of the responsibility for detaining several hundred people for four hours in the rain goes all the way to the top, to Toronto police Chief Bill Blair and Deputy Chief Tony Warr, though it falls short of mandating charges against them.

“Kettling” tactic denounced by Toronto police backed by European court

The European court of human rights ruled Thursday that a contentious crowd control tactic called “kettling” is the most effective method for containing protesters.

The controversial technique, in which riot police box in protesters from all angles, leaving no room for escape, was denounced by Toronto police following the June 2010 G20 summit.

Police here have said they will never again use the tactic after infamously “kettling” about 300 protesters and bystanders, near Queen St. and Spadina Ave., in early-evening pouring rain on June 27, 2010.

The act, captured in a dramatic live television broadcast, led to hundreds of arrests. Most detainees were released without charge later that day.

Police Chief Bill Blair condemned “kettling” in his 2011 review of G20 policing.

“Premature displays of real or implied force can lead to negative crowd reactions that may escalate a situation,” Blair wrote.

Toronto police swear off G20 kettling tactic

Toronto police will never again use the controversial crowd control technique known as kettling, which was employed for the first and last time in the city’s history during last year’s G20 summit.

The decision was revealed to the Star in a police statement Tuesday, along with the information that two Toronto police superintendents were “responsible” for commanding and controlling G20 policing in the city outside the security fence.

On June 27, the final day of the G20 summit, some 300 protesters and bystanders were boxed in, or kettled, by riot police at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. for about four hours.

Not long after the enclosure, rain began to fall in torrents as some stood shivering in summer dresses and tank tops.

“The crowd control technique implemented at Queen & Spadina on June 27 will not be used again by the Toronto Police Service,” spokeswoman Meaghan Gray said in the statement, a response to a list of G20-related questions sent by the Star.

The incident, broadcast live on TV, was the dramatic climax of the summit weekend, which saw black-clad rioters rampaging through downtown Toronto and the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

The vast majority, if not all the people detained at Queen and Spadina, were released without charge shortly after 10 p.m.

Full Article
Source: Toronto Star