The Last Exile

The fall-out from the G20 Summit, much like the protests against the police conduct, have yet to end in Toronto. As more time goes by a clearer picture emerges of the so-called ‘thugs’ detained by Police. Toronto Star.

A TTC fare collector spent a “terrifying” 36 hours in custody after being arrested in uniform on his way to work during Saturday’s G20 summit protests. Benjamin Elroy Yau, 37, said he was walking along College St. to the Queen’s Park subway station before his 6 p.m. shift when two police officers “tackled” him to the ground and yelled at him to stop resisting arrest.

“I told them I wasn’t resisting arrest, that I was on my way to work. I was in full uniform with TTC shirt, pants, full ID, my employee card, everything,” Yau said on Wednesday. “They said, ‘Really? Well, you’re a prisoner today.’ ”Moments before, another man had run into him but kept going, Yau said, adding that man was also arrested. There was no protest in sight and not many people in the street, he said. Berating Yau and swearing at him for being an “embarrassment” to the TTC, officers dragged him half a block in handcuffs and shackles and threw him into a paddy wagon, he said.

After a TTC supervisor arrived to vouch for him, he thought he’d be released but was sent to the Eastern Ave. detention centre instead. “I was petrified, I was shocked. I was essentially arrested for going to work,” said Yau, who is still traumatized by the experience. “It was just martial law. I had no rights.”

For those unfamiliar with Toronto’s geography Yau was not arrested anywhere near the ’security zone’. I certainly hope the billion dollar price tag for the G20 Summit includes a provision for the 714 people arbitrarily arrested and detained but released without charge.

A final link, to the Christie Blatchford fluff piece interviewing Police Chief Bill Blair. Read it or not but I can summarize it for the lazy by using a quote from Samuel Johnson; patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.