Occupy protester alleges police brutality during arrest

mentalfloss

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Jun 28, 2010
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Ya think?




Occupy protester alleges police brutality during arrest

Occupy Toronto saw some of its tensest moments over the weekend, clashing repeatedly with police after one woman alleged officers brutalized her.

Angela Turvey, 36, was arrested Friday as police evicted a small encampment from outside a courthouse on University Avenue. Part of her arrest was caught on camera: the video shows Ms. Turvey lying on her side as an officer tries to cuff her. She protests that she suffers from neck injuries and can’t physically move her arms behind her back.

As the officer holds her down, she curses at police. Other protesters are shown moving in close before police back them up.

After she was released on bail Saturday, Ms. Turvey told reporters police had broken her nose and orbital bone. Her face was puffy, covered in black and blue bruises and her eyebrow was closed with stitches.

“I am feeling very sore in the face, my left arm is a little numb. My right arm is really numb. And that’s a result of being taken to the ground,” she said outside Old City Hall court. “I was not resisting arrest.”

She faces charges of obstructing police and assault with intent to resist arrest. Three other people were arrested at the same time as Ms. Turvey, also for obstructing police.

A police spokeswoman said Sunday she was not aware of any allegations in relation to Ms. Turvey's arrest.

On Friday night, protesters marched on 52 division police station on Dundas Street, a few blocks from the courthouse, demanding that charges against Ms. Turvey and her fellow protesters be dropped. One person was arrested as police tried to keep protesters off the street.

Demonstrations continued Saturday, with a crowd of about 100 people blocking Dundas Street outside the police station. That night, two more people were arrested. They were both charged with mischief interfering with property.

Several protesters will have bail hearings Monday.

The weekend’s events marked some of Occupy Toronto’s tensest moments. The local offshoot of the international protest movement, which demands a more equitable distribution of wealth, started in October with an encampment of hundreds of tents in St. James Park. Police dismantled it after several weeks in a slow, careful operation that drew accolades from the public for avoiding the sort of ugly confrontations that have plagued such protests in the United States.

Since then, the Occupy movement has staged sporadic protests and set up camp for short periods of time outside court and at city hall, targeting the budget-cutting efforts of Mayor Rob Ford. On their radio show Sunday, Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, were asked about the case.

“We believe in demonstrations and if someone wants to go out and peacefully protest, God bless ‘em,” Doug Ford replied. “But if someone wants to break the law – and I’m not saying they did – if someone wants to camp out in front of somewhere they shouldn’t, then they should move on.”

So far, there has been no indication that the province’s Special Investigations Unit, which probes deaths and serious injuries that happen in police custody, will look into Ms. Turvey’s case.

Occupy protester alleges police brutality during arrest - The Globe and Mail
 

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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Yeah, accusations abound in instances like these as we all know. We'll have to await the facts and such eh.


VIDEO: Occupy Toronto Protest Turns Violent, Police Attack Protestor - YouTube

Toronto police arrested four people Friday while evicting an Occupy Toronto encampment outside a downtown courthouse, and picked up a fifth person after a later protest.

The following people were arrested during the initial incident and are scheduled to appear in court on Saturday:

John Erb, 44, of no fixed address, is charged with:
Cause Disturbance
Assault with Intent to Resist Arrest
Assault Peace Officer
Possession of Marijuana
Fail to Comply Probation

Craig Poirier, 35, of no fixed address, is charged with:
Obstruct Peace Officer
Assault with Intent to Resist Arrest
Possession of Marijuana

Alice Evonic, 19, of no fixed address, is charged with:
Obstruct Peace Officer

Angela Turvey, 36, of no fixed address, is charged with:
Obstruct Peace Officer
Assault with Intent to Resist Arrest
More to come





In the meantime, this one youtube comment is equally unproven but could turn interesting:

This "transgender" person was oonce a man named Aaron Glen Turvey who molested his own daughter whens he was 2 years old. She/He/it is hiding behind the new identity of Angela Turvey. Underneath it all He/she/it is still the person that little girl still has nightmares and panic attacks over. Who still cries 9 years later that her bad daddy hurt her. Don't pity this person. Maybe he/she/it felt some of the pain that little girl felt 9 years ago.
 

Colpy

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The person was obviously resisting arrest as the officer was trying to cuff them, and he/she was refusing to comply. What happened before that?

Who knows.

If what Locutus says is true.....who cares???
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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The person was obviously resisting arrest as the officer was trying to cuff them, and he/she was refusing to comply. What happened before that?

Who knows.

If what Locutus says is true.....who cares???
A lot of innocent people suffered similar abuse at the G8/G20. This is just another case of police exercising their power to oppress civilians and then charge them for their (the police's) excessive use of force. This can happen to any of us, even you, so yes, we should all care.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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A lot of innocent people suffered similar abuse at the G8/G20. This is just another case of police exercising their power to oppress civilians and then charge them for their (the police's) excessive use of force. This can happen to any of us, even you, so yes, we should all care.
The writing's on the wall. These are the same guys that defended random pepperspraying of seniors.
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
21,887
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A lot of innocent people suffered similar abuse at the G8/G20. This is just another case of police exercising their power to oppress civilians and then charge them for their (the police's) excessive use of force. This can happen to any of us, even you, so yes, we should all care.

The writing's on the wall. These are the same guys that defended random pepperspraying of seniors.


You have to take things like this on a case-by-case basis.............from the evidence presented.

This guy WAS resisting arrest by refusing to give the officer his arms to be put behind his back for cuffing. The officer was actually being quite gentle with him, as resistance to being handcuffed is usually overcome by pain compliance........bending the hand back over the wrist for example. Or striking the muscles in the upper arm with fist or baton.

I've had the course.

If the "gentleman" had a problem with his arms, the officers have other methods....multiple cuffs locked together is one......

I have no idea how he got his face smashed in, but history counts....if his struggling against being cuffed is any indication, and if he is as nasty a piece of work as Locutus says, he probably earned it.

This is NOT some peace-nik hippie protestor, nor an upstanding senior citizen.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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First let me say I do support some of the message the Occupy Movement is putting
out there. The original tactics were useful in spreading the message however it is
time for this group to spread words not confrontational actions. They have to be
more than a social protest movement now.
Words and details are more important than street confrontations. You are what you
are perceived to be.
When protesters and police collide over these types of demonstrations there is always
a measure of violence that happens on both sides. If the demonstrators want to push
the issue they should not resist arrest go peacefully and allow the cuffs etc.
If they are then beaten up, then it is police brutality. confrontation usually results in
pushing shoving and insults that escalated into more violent actions and that is a two
way street.
Occupy has to find a better way to get its message out there and fighting with police
on the streets is not the image they want.
 

pgs

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 29, 2008
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First let me say I do support some of the message the Occupy Movement is putting
out there. The original tactics were useful in spreading the message however it is
time for this group to spread words not confrontational actions. They have to be
more than a social protest movement now.
Words and details are more important than street confrontations. You are what you
are perceived to be.
When protesters and police collide over these types of demonstrations there is always
a measure of violence that happens on both sides. If the demonstrators want to push
the issue they should not resist arrest go peacefully and allow the cuffs etc.
If they are then beaten up, then it is police brutality. confrontation usually results in
pushing shoving and insults that escalated into more violent actions and that is a two
way street.
Occupy has to find a better way to get its message out there and fighting with police
on the streets is not the image they want.
Your right we don't want them mimicking the antics of those red neck christian tea partiers.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Your right we don't want them mimicking the antics of those red neck christian tea partiers.

This should go without saying.

But it's going to be hard if we have officer keep-darkie-down migrating up north.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Apparently it was entirely 'black and white' when you posted the OP.

How is that black and white?

It was obviously police brutality, but I never said it was justified or not.

Shame.

Just when I thought you could get out of that conceptual box you're always stuck in.
 

The Old Medic

Council Member
May 16, 2010
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Those people do not want an "equitable distribution of wealth". What they want is for people to work their asses off, develop companies and products, and then have the state confiscate their earnings and give it to them. They refuse to work, or to gain skills that would enable them to earn an adequate living. Therefore, it is mandatory that they be supported in the manner that they believe they are entitled to.

Many of them claim to be for the poor countries of the world. But, I don't see THEM actually going to those countries, and helping build infrastructure, dig wells for clean water, teaching better farming techniques, etc., etc.

I say, lock them all up and put them on a strict work or you don't eat program.

It is up to the people in poor countries to toss out their tyrants, and to refuse to allow new tyrants to take their place. Just as the American colonists threw out THEIR tyrants, and prospered greatly thereafter.

Look at Zimbabwe as a classic example. it was once a very prosperous country, with everyone decently fed. Then, Mugabe took power, and has been voted into his position as dictator, over and over and over again. Now, much of that country is starving. Aid that was given ended up in the hands of the "elite", instead of the people, and his propaganda machine told the people that the white folks were stealing everything.