That will teach them

Masked thugs run amok at G20 summit in Toronto

So another report has blasted the Toronto Police and OPP for their misdeeds during the G20.
I'm sure the harsh punishment meted out against al the police officers who broke the law will teach them the error of their ways and stop the police from abusing their authority ever...oh wait.
Of the 1,000 people arrested that weekend, fewer than 50 have been convicted of anything and only a handful have been sentenced to any time in jail. Of course, among the dozens of cops who violated rights, assaulted innocent people and abused their authority, not even a handful have been disciplined, let alone charged criminally. Even in cases where the perpetrators are known.
I keep reading otherwise reasonable people complaining about "masked thugs" involved in the G20 protests and the Quebec student protests and lauding the Conservative government's new law to put people in prison for wearing masks at a demonstration.
Given that police make a point of trying to video and photograph everyone in the crowd, even a peaceful demonstrations, and given what we know about how the security apparatus in Canada works these days (sending people abroad to to be tortured, handing over information on citizens to foreign governments, compiling dossiers on citizens engaged in legitimate exercise of their  democratic rights, infiltrating protest groups with informants and agent provocateurs, etc etc) and given the use of facial recognition software by the security agencies, one would have to be an idiot or a martyr not to wear a mask at a demonstration.
That is what our democracy has come to –– citizens are afraid to show their faces at a protest for fear of government reprisal.



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