“Our Streets” G20 Summit Protests.
TORONTO – A roving band of violent G20 protesters has rampaged through the streets of Toronto, setting fire to police vehicles and smashing windows, as terrified people ran for cover.
The protesters, dressed in black balaclavas and using what’s referred to as a Black Bloc tactic, remained at large as police cordoned off a huge area north of the fenced summit district and began driving back non-violent demonstrators.
“Our streets!” the protesters chanted in response.
Toronto Mayor David Miller implored citizens “to step back and be calm.”
“A very small group of people has deliberately come here to do violent acts,” he told CP24.
“It’s an illegal choice and they are criminals and police will do everything they can to apprehend them.”
A thick plume of dark grey smoke hovers above the city’s financial district at Bay and King streets where three police vehicles have been damaged by fire.
Police yelled at pedestrians to move away.
Riot police in gas masks, helmets and carrying shields held a line north of the protected security zone that’s already cordoned off for world leaders convening for the start of the G20 summit.
The renegade group of about 50 protesters left a trail of destruction down Queen Street West in the heart of the city as they targeted symbols of power, authority and capitalism.
Bank windows were smashed with hammers. Rocks were thrown through several Starbucks coffee houses. TV vans were smashed. Mailboxes were flipped and thrown through windows.
One protester threw a pickaxe through the window of a bank tower like a tomahawk as his posse roared its approval.
“Bomb the Banks,” was spray painted on walls.
One protester has been seriously injured after suffering a head injury and was carried away by others.
EMS says at least three protesters received head injuries in a confrontation with riot police, and were bleeding but conscious.
Storeowners wept on the sidewalks outside their shops, and parents hurried past carrying crying children.
An eclectic group of about 4,000 people ranging from greying seniors to families with strollers and tatooed hipsters had gathered to protest the summit. Things turned violent when the smaller group dressed in black broke away.
The larger protest peacefully continued along its route back to the Ontario legislature.
The “People’s First March” was organized by an umbrella organization of labour unions.
Queen Street was the key watch point since the G20 security zone begins just south of the funky commercial strip. There had been talk protesters wanted to take a run at the steel and concrete barricades.
Police have said 5,100 officers from forces across the province have been tasked with protecting the summit.
Security has been pegged at $1 billion.
The large but seemingly peaceful crowd held banners reading “Save the planet, sink Harper” and “G20 Fascism.”
Two people allegedly carrying “incendiary devices” were arrested near the protest before the march began. Reports say the two had so-called Molotov cocktails — glass bottles filled with gasoline.
The Integrated Security Unit says there is no word of charges and would not specify what was seized from the pair.
At a Saturday morning news conference, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network said protesters intend to confront the heavily guarded security fence surrounding the summit site.
The Canadian Press
