A Very Sad Time For Democracy Indeed

Steve Paikin was in the area when the Guardian reporter was beaten up by police and peaceful demonstrators were treated as criminals.

Someone got the whole thing on videotape. What a horrible display. They tell the people to move and yet they have them boxed in. If I saw this video without knowing, I would never believe this was Canada. Never, never, never.

I guess that's what a billion dollars buys these days.

Two National Post photographers were arrested:

Two National Post photographers were arrested Saturday night during anti-G20 demonstrations in downtown Toronto. Brett Gundlock, a staff photographer for the Post, was tackled and taken away by several police officers in riot gear as they attempted to disperse protesters hanging around near the Ontario legislature.

Kier Gilmour, a photographer for Canwest News Service who witnessed the arrest, said the officers knocked Mr. Gundlock to the ground and then dragged him away. He had been standing with several other media photographers at the time. “They slammed him down, onto his ass so to speak, then they dragged him back up and pulled him back to the police line,” Mr. Gilmour said.

This young man I love.

The Village Voice:

Thank god for the internet. Raw Story is collecting some dispatches from the ground and -- would you believe it -- the press and the protesters are on the same side, because the police are beating them up.

More Here

Young gay man stereotyped.

And we get to pay for it.

Joe Warmington wrote an excellent column, and for the Sun, no less.

It’s not everyday one is witness to martial law on the streets of Toronto. It happened Sunday at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. If it wasn’t that, please tell me what it was. Thanks to the G20 Summit, the rules of protesting and how police deal with it, have been changed forever. The tactic may be effective. But was it right?

In 25 years as a reporter, I have never witnessed anything like what transpired. Nor have colleagues like AM 640’s John Downs and Toronto Sun veteran Rob Lamberti, who were locked down, as well.

A sad time for democracy indeed.