Protesting the protesters

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2010 (5838 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A demonstration in Osborne Village on Canada Day protesting police tactics during the G20 summit in Toronto inspired a storm of protest on our website.

Give me a break. Go home and grill a burger or two on the barby and have a beer. Don’t need any more friggin’ protests. Why don’t you break a window or two to show your solidarity?

— Robbyca

I’m tired of all the whining and misuse of our civil liberties. My grandfather, who fought a war for our freedom, would weep if he saw this. The police should not have been forced to react in the manner they did.

Shame on the violent protesters.

— tr4ckryder

Leave it to the malcontents to find a way to ruin what ought to be a day of celebration. I wonder how many of them are on the public payroll in their other lives.

— DAN

The vast majority of people who were arrested at the G20 were not members of the Black Bloc, nor were they vandalizing businesses. They were ordinary citizens who were at the receiving end of excessive force and illegal and arbitrary search, arrest and detention. I weep for our democracy when reactions to unconstitutional police action is a mere indifferent shoulder-shrug at best, and sideline cheering of the police at worst.

— WinnipegMan

Those protesters were completely in the right. The police should’ve let them burn more cop cars and ruin more businesses, maybe beat and rape a few people… That’ll show them we’re no China.

— D Rem

Everyone who is denouncing protesting: First of all, if you read anything at all about the arrest during the G20 summit, you would know the majority of the people arrested were peaceful, were in the designated zone, some were people passing by, some were even members of the media. Explain what they were doing wrong. When the rioters were vandalizing and destroying property, the police were nowhere to be found. They literally left their cruisers in the middle of the streets with the windows down, and the idiot Black Bloc took the bait and set them on fire. Police either weren’t there, or they just stood there and watched. Explain to me how that is good policing.

— ekrh

One good thing will come out of this: Police won’t have to wonder why nobody likes them.

— JustWondering

For those who are suggesting protesters are lazy hippies and so on: I was there today, part of the protest. I’ve lived and worked in Winnipeg for 25 years. I don’t own any hemp clothing and I shower daily. While you rednecks were sitting in your turtle pools swilling beer, some of us went out and stood up for the democratic rights of Canadians.

— Reverend Blair

I think it’s time for an anti-protester protest. My rights as a citizen of Canada were taken away by these idiots. I want to know why my rights mean so little to these selfish morons. Think about anyone else? Not a chance. They scream about their rights and the rest of us have to put up with it because for some reason their rights are more important than mine.

— suecee