(Toronto) Pro-Palestinian groups allege Toronto police officers are selectively enforcing rules during protests after seven people were arrested and at least three charged during a demonstration Saturday.
The Toronto Police Service released a statement saying officers were conducting crowd control during a protest in the area of Gerrard and Parliament streets when they arrested and charged several people.
A man who was allegedly seen at the protest driving a truck with people in the vehicle’s bed was charged with reckless maneuvering and had his license suspended for 30 days.
Police say while officers were seizing the man’s truck, the crowd became “aggressive and violent” and a 24-year-old woman threw horse manure at officers.
Investigators say she was later charged with assault, alongside a 27-year-old woman who police say used a flagpole to target a police officer.
Police say they also arrested four men during the protest, then released three unconditionally. One of them was wanted after the protest for a separate matter and has since been transferred to provincial police.
Police did not provide details on why the men were arrested and then released. However, she clarified in her press release that the release of a person does not mean that they cannot be charged at a later date. She also indicated that her investigation was continuing.
According to a press release from the protesters, police monitored the demonstration for three hours before hundreds of officers in riot gear and on horseback arrived and blocked their movement on Saturday, immediately escalating their “brutality against pro-Palestinian demonstrators.” .
Spokesman for Jews Say No to Genocide, Gur Tsabar, said in the press release that police were selectively using the “obscure” traffic laws as a pretext to arrest protesters.
The statement said protesters found themselves “in the dumpsters of trucks moving at the speed of floats” on several occasions while in the presence of police during the numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
“After a good five months of chanting slogans, week after week, from the beds of slow-moving trucks and their trailers, Toronto police suddenly became ‘very concerned’ about our road safety,” Mr. Tsabar said.
“Really, kudos to the Toronto Police for following orders so diligently and unearthing an obscure Highway Traffic Act in a last-ditch effort to end our Charter-protected right to protest,” he said. he adds.
The police, however, responded in their statement that they had warned the organizers of the demonstration, and in particular the drivers, not to allow people to board trucks or attached trailers while they were in motion, adding that the rules were set out in the Highway Code.
“The police have clearly indicated that this provision will apply to all demonstrations,” we read in the press release. Toronto Police continue to attend protests and preserve citizens’ rights to protest while enforcing the law. »