Man shows up to face G20 ‘five-metre’ charges, discovers they don’t exist

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

The saga of the G20 five-metre rule continued Wednesday, after the only person charged under the controversial measure appeared in court only to discover that charges against him did not exist.

David Vasey, an environmental justice organizer, was arrested near the security fence in downtown Toronto on June 24 and taken to the Eastern Avenue detention centre. Hours later, he was released and told he had been charged under the Public Works Protection Act, a law updated to include the summit site for the duration of the G20.

Mr. Vasey signed a promise to appear in court. But after showing up Wednesday, he and his lawyer discovered that the case was not on the docket and there was no information pertaining to the charges. His lawyer, Howard Morton, says it's unclear if Mr. Vasey was ever charged at all, despite what he was told at the detention centre.

... Mr. Morton said that he and his client would be filing a civil lawsuit against Chief Blair, the Toronto Police Service, and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, which is responsible for the law, as well as entering a complaint with the province’s ombudsman.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/man-shows-up-to-face-g20-five-metre-charges-discovers-they-dont-exist/article1655049/

[asdjrocky]

1. Thow us in jail.

Hold us illegally, waste our time.

The PTB are out to get us.

[formercia]

2. Mission Accomplished. n/t

[asdjrocky]

6. Exactly.

You get it.

In Seattle in 99 they'd pick us up, take us to jail for 3 hours, then let us out with no charges.

One time I literally told a cop my name was Frank Zappa, and without blinking, he wrote it down.

[formercia]

10. Laws are for little people.

The 'elites' just make shit up.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Hey, what's a poor little fascist cop to do?

[asdjrocky]

7. Fascist is the word.

In Seattle they'd pick us up just to get us off the streets for a few hours and break our spirit.

Some of us have been dealing with fascists longer than others.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Don't I know it, Rocky.

I was there for the tear gas & phalanxes of cops & National Guards in 1969, after I got back from Vietnam.

[asdjrocky]

9. Both my older brothers were in Vietnam.

They both made it home, but one of them never seemed to come all the way home.

It was even harder for you guys, those 60s cops were some real ball busters.

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Toronto cops admit to a 2nd use of rubber bullets - after lying about it first.

If it wasn't bad enough that the Toronto police lied to the public about a new 'security law' - passed down by the Government of Ontario - giving them new policing powers during the G20 Summit only to have to later admit that no such law ever existed.

Now, Toronto police are backtracking on another statement they made claiming that rubber bullets were not fired into the crowd outside the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre on Sunday June 27, 2010.

Police spokesperson, Mark Pugash, first told QMI Agency (the Toronto Sun) on Monday July 26, 2010, that no rubber bullets were fired outside the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre only to contact QMI the next day to correct his statement; claiming he had received the wrong information.

Originally, the police would only admit to using rubber bullets on G20 protesters at Queen's Park.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/statica/2010/07/g8g20-communiqu%C3%A9-police-finally-admit-using-rubber-bullets-g20-protes

[Canuckistanian]

5. I imagine Franz Kafka would have some thoughts on this

As would Terry Gilliam, who made "Brazil"