York University: No Cops on Campus by AB

The "No Cops on Campus" protest itself had no message, so I have to provide the context for it. The organization that organized this event had to interrupt, this means to force classes to cancel, in order to get participants. The message was unknown to most onlookers since their speaker's microphone cut out and could not be heard, as well as there being banners of varying messages.

One week before this event GRAIN, the GrassRoots Anti-Imperialist Network, sponsored a protest in York University's Vari Hall. Cops were hired for security as in all large York University protests.

Here I must provide you the context. The leaders of GRAIN are not York students. Most are activists in Montreal, where they are well known for a violent situation that they participated in at Concordia University. They vandalised the school and attacked the police. This got a few students suspended from the campus for violence.

In the event at York University, titled Repression at York University, and this somehow means an event against the 2005 inaugeration of US President George W. Bush, GRAIN members clashed violently with police.

Small indicents occured like one GRAIN member pouring hot coffee on one of the cops. Some members were taunting and bothering one of the female cops, but one event was the climax. A lesser-known GRAIN member reached and took one cop's gun from his belt. If you live in Los Angeles it will be a surprise for you to know the cops didn't kill the member right after that, as they are expected and trained to do in your city. What the Toronto cops did was hold down the person's hands, as he wrestled agressively on the floor against being restrained. Basically, he realised very quickly he would be charged for taking the cop's gun from him, and wanted to escape.

He is now claiming police brutality, but I seriously think he should understand that he is lucky to be alive after pulling a stunt like that.

If you don't think this is what happened, that's fine. You are entitled to your opinion. After hours of provoking the police, and having to steal one's gun to get a reaction, I think claiming police brutality is either what he wanted to happen knowing GRAIN's anti-police history or that police brutality is his defense from being arrested and fined. He is doing perfectly fine, by the way. Most people claim he was beaten, and in the video footage you'd have to guess what happens since there was a crowd around him when the incident broke out. There are some pictures supported by GRAIN themselves that you can look at to judge for yourself.

Whatever you believed happened, it turned into a No Cops on Campus event the next week, where I mistakently attended, and decided to take pictures and then make comments. ABS Visitors enjoy. The image navigation is on the right panel, and comments are below the pictures. All rights reserved blah blah blah.