You give them an inch and they will take Nathan Phillips Square.
Mayor John Tory was not available for comment in locked city hall during this COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, a mysterious, organized group has been occupying the space out front with more than 40 tents and dozens of people.
If you dare step foot on the public space at Toronto City Hall, you will be escorted off by a collection of lawless, humourless thugs who have been large and in charge there for a week. As social media posters have found out, documenting their new town in a prime location featuring a food tent and portable toilets, will have you run off. The squatters use tarps to surround visitors, and, in swarming style, force them to retreat until they are off the square.
In our case, out of respect for their privacy, to not violate their social distance boundaries or provoke, we covered their tent city uprising from the perimeter.
It didn’t matter. They came to us.
In fact, as these bullies came toward myself and my photographer colleague, I was concerned that one was going to strike me with an umbrella. Instead, he opened it up in my face — while four men got well within my two-metre space. There was no point in calling on the police for any intervention or support. A bicycle unit had been there for a while but they left 45 minutes before the incident.
Apparently, this random group is the law in Nathan Phillips Square now.
They have created a No Go Zone. Like in Seattle, it’s a smaller version of an autonomous area. In fact, they had people follow us around — communicating to each other on walkie-talkie radios. It’s surreal. They have taken over Nathan Phillips Square. And the city of Toronto seems to be honouring that. In fact, it was actually myself and a fellow Sun photographer who were asked by a city security officer (just doing her job, we understand) to produce media credentials. This is Canada now. Media accreditation for walking near the Toronto sign?
No thanks, Mayor Tory.
This is anarchy. Just like in the other tent city nations downtown, the anarchists know they are untouchable. They know they have diplomatic immunity.
No one in the city seems to have any answer for it. Tory was off talking about a pie-in-the-sky non-police response unit as the ridiculous defund-the-police movement rages at council — while they ignore the takeover at the pubic’s very own city hall entrance. There is even one tent, set up right next to the building itself, not far from the signs and graffiti railing against colonialism and calling for abolishing the police.
City spokesman Brad Ross in an email wrote “on Friday, June 19 (Juneteenth), a group called ‘Afro-Indigenous Rising Collective’ organized a sit-in/protest on College Street in front of Toronto Police Headquarters. The group made their way down Bay Street to Nathan Phillips Square, where they have camped overnight since Friday. The group has remained peaceful throughout. The City continues to monitor activities at City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square in relation to this event, with the safety of the public and staff as its priority.”
They are not peaceful. They are intimating and violating basic freedom of movement.
People can walk anywhere in Toronto without any interference. At least, that’s the way it used to be.
Now that Toronto Police has laid drug and sexual assault charges in the tent city in George Hislop Park, with Tory’s blessing, they should issue social distancing tickets like they did at Trinity Bellwoods Park or at the beaches.
Better yet, take back Nathan Phillips Square!
Do it now before the “protesters” make a decision on what inch to take next.
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totally disgusting that Mayor John Tory lets this squalor at City Hall
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