Hope for a peaceful G20 weekend disappeared after windows were smashed from police headquarters to the business district, and police cars were torched by a contingent of violent protesters.
Mayor David Miller angrily denounced the act of a small group of protesters who broke windows along Queen Street West and throughout the downtown core, and set two police cruisers ablaze.
“This isn’t our Toronto,” Mr. Miller told CP24. “My response is anger. We have thousands of people peaceably asserting their democratic right to speak up. And a relatively small group, probably a few hundred, mostly people who seem to be not from Toronto, come here on all evidence to commit deliberate acts of violence. I think all Torontonians should outraged by that.”
He said he had “absolute confidence” in Police Chief Bill Blair, and said the Chief had told him they intended to “move very strongly” against the violent protesters. But he also urged people to be calm, and if they are visiting the downtown area where violent protests are under way, to leave.
The Mayor said Torontonians should be angry with the violent protesters: “I think Torontonians should be very angry with people who would come to burn cars and break windows ... to make, I don’t know what kind of statement they intend to make, except about themselves.”
Police fear the worst may not yet be over. "It's going to be a be a very long night," said Mike McCormack, head of the Toronto Police Association. He said fresh officers are poised to take the night shift.
That no officers or members of the public were seriously hurt is a silver lining to this day's events, Mr. McCormack said. He expects that at some point, police leaders will sit down and look at whether protester countermeasures were adequately planned by police. But "at some point it becomes a logistical nightmare," he said.
Mr. McCormack said that the radical protesters who attacked police cruisers and police headquarters were absolutely "disgusting" – unlike anything he has seen in two decades of being a cop.
Claudia Calabro, of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, blamed today’s violence on police presence.
“People are angry when you pen them in,” she said. “The marshalling was extremely poor. The excessive police presence has completely bulldozed our message.”
Ms. Calabro said the group opposes the G20 and would not denounce the tactics of protesters.
A distraught Adam Vaughan, whose ward was the site of today's violence, laid blame with the protagonists, and the event that brought them to toronto.
"Who brings a pick-axe to a demonstration? Not a protester, a psychopath," he said. "But how about Stephen Harper not bringing this to toronto? How about Stephen Harper giving us more than six months to plan?"
Premier Dalton McGuinty condemned those responsible for the acts of vandalism and violence. "There is no need for it," he said in a statement on Saturday evening. "There is no excuse for it."
The vast majority of the demonstrators have been peaceful and responsible, he said. "However, willful, mindless destruction and violence have no place in our province. I appeal to all involved to allow calm to prevail."
Protesters, police and bystanders all have different takes on Saturday's events.
Kitty Wong says she was dancing in front of police as a peaceful protest when one officer in riot gear kicked her in the shin before retreating behind two other officers. Shaken up as she spoke about the incident on Spadina, she said, "I feel we did everything to be peaceful."
Elsewhere, a few people chatted over half-eaten plates of sushi at Sushi Time Japanese restaurant on Queen Street. Waitress Ada Han said she didn't even have to lock her door when the protesters marched by.
"I don't want to justify a billion dollar budget by wrecking shit," said Craig Herbert, another bystander. So he borrowed a broom from the Ram in the Rye pub, where he works, and headed to nearby Yonge and College. There, he swept up glass outside a Starbucks and a Tim Hortons and kept sweeping on Yonge. "I like my city," he said.
Protester Jacob Pries gestures down Adelaide towered Yonge to tell the crowd there is an free path to the fence. "It just makes sense to be as close to the leaders as possible to make our voices heard," he said. Some felt the call to action and started walking. Some stayed behind to stare down the police line. Many ended up milling about on Adelaide and sauntering towards Yonge.
