Nobody beaten in Toronto

The BBQ Pit
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Link

Yes, another RO thread about violent police tactics. This one seems to have wrapped up all the elements of bad policing in one neat package.

Here are what seem to be the facts of the case:
-Mr. Adam Nobody (real name) was near the site of the G20 summit in Toronto this past summer, and decided to make a “joke” protest sign. ( “Let Donna Graduate”, a reference to Beverly Hills 90210)

  • The police charged him as he was finishing writing his sign.

  • Two officers punched, beat and kicked Mr. Nobody, resulting in three days in hospital and several hours of surgery to repair his broken nose.

-He spent 31 hours in jail, and was charged with assaulting a police officer, and obstruction of a police officer. These charges were subsequently dropped due to a complete and total lack of evidence against Mr. Nobody.

-A recording of the episode was captured by a bystander.

-The Toronto Chief of Police, Bill Blair claimed that the video evidence of Mr. Nobody’s arrest was “tampered with,” and that the missing seconds would explain why he was arrested. He further said that his impression was the police were dealing with a “violent armed offender.”

-After an sworn affidavit by the videographer of the incident that said Mr. Nobody did not attack the police and was not armed, the police chief was forced to admit that he made up the allegations and there was never any evidence he was armed, and that the video had not been tampered with.

-An internal investigation identified two officers who were the subject of their investigation, but those officers declined to be interviewed. Therefore, the internal investigators concluded they could not lay charges. In addition, it seems the arrest record was falsified; the badge number provided on the arrest report does not correspond to anyone on the Toronto force, or to any officer believed to have worked in G20 policing.

So that’s the end of it, as far as the Toronto Police are concerned. Everything is fine. No problems. Nothing to see here, move along please. It looks like (N)obody is going to take the fall for this one.

Interestingly, on the Globe and Mail comments section, I could not find ONE SINGLE person who is backing the police up in this matter. Usually there is at least one apologist out there who thinks that anyone beaten by the police “had it coming”, but not here.

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You will get them here.

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I hope he brings both a civil suit and a private prosecution.

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[nitpick]

In my opinion, threads about police violence and brutality are never simply Recreational Outrage. This is an issue central to the maintenance of civil society.

[/nitpick]

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That does it. I’m for sure taking that flag off of my backpack now.

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I agree, and I like the quote at the end of the linked article by Mr. Nobody’s lawyer, Julian Falconer:

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The flag’s OK. But if you go to Toronto, don’t make a sign that disses 90210. Apparently the fans are pretty rabid there.

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Well, there’s his problem. The chant was “Donna Martin graduates”. See, Donna accidentally got drunk at senior prom and wasn’t allowed to walk with the graduating class as a result.

And, yes, I am a schmuck for knowing that. I blame my wife and stepdaughter and their watching and re-watching of 90210.

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Why do Canadians have the best names? Is there any way someone can convince Nobody to stand against John Tory (an actual Conservative Canadian politician) in whatever race he runs next?

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Well, the “Nobody” part of his name was something he took on himself. It’s not the name he was born with.

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Probably a big fan of Homer. I’ll bet he’s been waiting his whole life for a chance to use that name, and here it ends up to his disadvantage.

“The Toronto Police beat Nobody up!”

“Well, no harm done, then!”

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How is the Chief not in jail?

I don’t get it, is this really the law of the land? The police chief can admit to criminal acts… and nothing happens??

SOMEBODY must be on his side, I suppose.

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I have a friend who can relate to the name thing. His last name is Cocaine. And he often has run-ins with cops. The fact that he can be a bit of a wise ass doesn’t help much either.

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Indeed Somebody is; The premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty:

Cite

(BTW - this article is about a new law that was passed before the G20, at the request of the police chief, Bill Blair. The Ontario provincial Ombudsman has recently concluded that this regulation (which was quietly, (aka secretly) passed by the government was likely illegal and unconstitutional.

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My best guess is that a lot of Canadian cops are getting training from American cops on beat downs, and former KGB agents are training the management on Big Lie practices.

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Usually I view Pit threads on anything G-20 related with deep suspicion, but this whole story is total bullshit. Heads should roll at the Toronto PD. Their behavior from top to bottom is completely inexcusable.

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I thought Julian Fantino was a bad police chief. I can understand and even forgive some of the police action during the G-20 (let’s face it, some “protesters” were looking to challenge the cops) but this story is ridiculous.

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Not likely to happen.

When the responsibility exists from top to bottom, who will make the heads roll?

  • Dalton McGuinty’s government passed, in secret, a regulation based on a 1939 wartime law. Essentially they declared a temporary chain link fence a “Public Work”, which allowed police to arrest and detain anyone who came near it.

  • Ombudsman Andre Marin has stated that it was “illegal” and “likely unconstitutional” for Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government to pass this regulation.

  • The police chief did not communicate the limitations of this new act to the officers, who then thought they had free reign to arrest and search anyone, anytime, anywhere.

  • The police chief has refused to cooperate with the Ombudsman.

  • The police officers in question have refused to cooperate with the internal inquiry.

So… WHO EXACTLY is going to “make heads roll”?

The end result will be some civil suits brought by those that were beaten up by police, which will drag on in the courts for some time, and finally be paid out of public tax dollars. Those who actually did these assault, or enabled the assault to take place will not pay any penalty whatsoever.

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What about Provincial Attorney General - can they do something?

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That would be The Honourable Chris Bentley? The Liberal Party cabinet minister in Dalton Mcguinty’s Liberal Party government?

I don’t think he’s going to grass on his boss.