@Gigi@kolektiva.socialWell, that was quite the day.
Back at the encampment, where the City took 2 tents and terrified one more resident into leaving (and then stole a bunch of his belongings as he took a load of his stuff elsewhere 
).
Considered stopping by one more action on the way home, but it's apparently been cancelled.
Home it is, then.
Willis will be happy with that.
@Gigi@kolektiva.social...and because it's on the other side of Yonge Street, it's 51 division at this protest.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialThe fact they're doing this METRES AWAY FROM THE LITERAL HOMELESS MEMORIAL is disgusting as shit.
In about 15 mins I have to dip briefly for a protest (there are 2 other LOs here rn), but the residents have approved the callout for more bodies on the ground for the pending clearing that the motherfuckers absolutely confirmed is happening.
Unfriendly reminder that at St Stephen's, the motherfuckers waited us out and didn't do THAT clearing until night.
Apparently, the City needs the park empty to "repair the grass and fix the paving stones".
Fuck everything.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialAs expected, every fash media asshole in this city is here, because they're disappointed that they missed last year's shit show.
Also, cops out the wazoo.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialA long day of #CommunityDefence is about half over.
Encampment support with the City threatening to clear tents at Holy Trinity. Love those tactical nurses! 
Court support for comrades.
(Standing room only!)
Two more community actions today.
@Gigi@kolektiva.social
️️️️️️️
Anyone remember when the antivaxxers regularly protested RIGHT outside of hospitals, SPECIFICALLY to target the hospitals...
and the City didn't bother having a public consultation on 
"Proposed Demonstrations Bylaw to Protect Vulnerable Institutions"️️️️️️️
Pepperidge Farms does.
That's because Pepperidge Farms was legal observing at the counter protests.
The photos below are from September 1, 2021 when they were vastly, and I do mean VASTLY, outnumbered by the counter.
We need to call this shit what it is: Anti-Palestinian racism.
Call it out no matter who is doing it, in this case: the City of Toronto.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialVery protesty day today.
US Consulate. Save our Sites. Bill Blair.
Looking forward to getting warm.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialLast night we fed people outside City Hall because the City would prefer to spend money on cops instead of care.
Today the City is driving that point home with their budget.
Part two of last night's action saw this speech get read to Councillors:
Hello City Councillor.
We have been instructed by the unhoused and poor community of the city of Toronto, that you have broken the rules and expectations that you represent ALL of your constituents while holding this office. You have badly neglected, maintained an aggressive ignorance towards, and thus harmed the most vulnerablized members of the city of Toronto. Because of your lack of attention to our situation, you have caused homelessness and homeless death. And therefore we are forced to evict you from this place of political power.
In order for you to overcome your attitudinal barriers to serving the people equally, we are coercing you into the shelter system where you can see what you have done.
Here are 2 plastic bags for all of your belongings. You have 20 minutes to gather your stuff and leave the premises. Here is a TTC ticket and a map to 129 Peter St. where you can try to access central intake.
Good luck getting a shelter bed because you have for decades failed to create enough decent shelter spaces for those who are on the street.... [say what you want here - rant away] Here are some hand warmers since the temperature isn't cold enough for you people to grant us the opening of a warming centre.
If you are not gone within 20 minutes we will have to call the police and charge you with trespassing.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialSnack not finished.
Popping begun.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialA little snack before shit pops off.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialOkay, I think I need to be kinder to myself and stop fretting about the fact I haven't finished writing this up.
I started it in November, but then got pulled into forming a whole-ass org on top of everything else.
Anywho, this is most of the shitshow that was Dealing with the Justice System While Black: The Racist Paint Incident.
What's missing is the court shit, but I ain't got time for that right now.
@Gigi@kolektiva.social
Dear Lordt:
Please keep the spice level mild and the police brutality to a bare minimum.
Oh man.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialThe sunrise is later than I imagined.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialIt's interesting to watch the mental gymnastics of the lifelong friendless trying to understand how people who don't view others in a transactional fashion interact with each other.
I get that you're completely baffled by anarchistic alliances, but even without that component, no one has to be giving others "orders".
"People won't let me harass whomever I want!" is a hell of a thing to whine.
Also:
Wow. That is one TINY Zionist counter-protest.
#GenocideIsNotDefence
#Toronto #TorontoActions #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow
#CreepySpouseInDaHouse
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialIt's like a reunion for the #UofT #SolidarityEncampment tonight.
And of course, #CreepySpouseInDaHouse is outside harassing people.
#FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #EndTheSiege
#TorontoActions #TorontoActivists #Toronto
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialMy speech from last night as it was written (but not exactly as it was delivered):
Hi I'm Gisela (Gigi) and I'll be your potty mouth host for the evening. First I just want to say to those of you who thought that when I step back from the MDC you would never see me again (gestures). [I skipped the end of this paragraph:] I like to think of it as moving from the Movement Defence Committee to the Movement Offence Committee. I mean, it's a committee of one at this point, but people are free to join!
A bit of housekeeping: Remember where you are and that they love spending our $$ on their expensive surveillance toys. If someone seems a bit too determined to have space-inappropriate conversation here, walk away from them.
You're welcome to add a message to the boards or make a sign, I highly recommend using block letters to anonymize your writing.
And now for the reason we're here.
We don't talk enough about the everyday, harms cops do in our community. We talk about the big things, when they commit the most egregious acts, but we don't talk about just the everyday bullshit that comes with interacting with police.
The one thing I've learned is that a lot of cops are very confused by this stance. I often say it's the burnish/tarnish dichotomy: they see their uniform as being burnished (or big upped) by the brave activities of one or two cops.
But what they forget is that the thousands upon thousands of shitty acts that they commit tarnish the entire force.
So let's talk about some of these shitty things as it pertains to protest.
I have seen a particular move they like to do where your arms are held up by two cops and your feet are swept out from underneath you towards the back, so you go down face first. At least two women have been knocked fully unconscious by this maneuver.
I have been present for 14 concussions delivered by TPS in the last year, and I have been informed of another 17;
There have been:
• Countless soft tissue injuries
• Nasal fractures
• Bruised orbital bones
• Wrenched and dislocated shoulders
• Fractured foot bones
• Sprained ankles
• Meniscal tear
[Someone called out "broken rib"]
They've stolen people's walking canes, broken people's glasses [lots of glasses], and intentionally stepped on someone's hearing aid.
They've pulled hijabs off women. They've "accidentally" torn and yanked items of clothing off men and women.
They've refused to give people clean water while in the holding cells.
They have used the knee on neck move made famous in the George Floyd case.
And this is just what I know about.
They've caused enough injuries that even the SIU is investigating. And while no one expects that the self-investigation unit will actually do anything, the fact that even the cops think the cops have gone too fucking far says something.
Speaking of investigating cop misconduct and overreach, let's talk about the avenues that we have to address the shit that goes on such as they exist.
In every last one of them, people get to be retraumatized because the person investigating is a cop. It doesn't matter if it's the OIPRD, the SIU or this new body that they're touting: it's cops investigating cops.
And because they're cops, when they ask for photo or video evidence of their own misconduct, it can be used to criminalize others or used against yourself if they decide to charge you later.
When talking about the Neptune Four situation, a police brutality case against four Black children, The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) said:
"The OHRC remains concerned that there is no effective mechanism to hold police accountable for systemic discrimination."
I would take that one step further and simply say that there is no effective mechanism to hold police accountable for anything.
And I remind you:
The system isn't broken, it was built this way.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialLast night we had complete #Toronto legend Cee Reality spinning and spitting for us at the Defund and Disarm Dance Party. Much love to him for putting up with our chaos and totally going with it.
He ended his set with an epic live version of Fuck the Colonizers.
The evening started with the cops barricading the courtyard so that we could not use that space to talk about their shitty behaviour at protests, but it's not like these things keep sound from going through them. 
Lessons were learned, surprisingly.
Also, kinda surprisingly, people want to do it again. I only got to give one of my two speeches.
Which I guess leaves me something for the next round.
The speech I did get to give was the one on police brutality. I guess it wouldn't be a TORONTO action against police brutality if there wasn't police brutality. (Flashback to the Justice for Regis Memorial March.)
So, in addition to the litany I delivered last night, both directly to Global News and the assembled group, and will attach down thread, the cops added:
• badly gouging someone in the eye, such that they were STILL at the hospital this morning;
• sprained elbow;
• not giving someone having an asthma attack their inhaler.
Fuck the colonizers, fuck the colonizers, fuck 'em
Fuck the genociders, fuck the genociders, fuck 'em
Fuck the occupiers, fuck the occupiers, fuck 'em
Canada, America, Israel: fuck 'em
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialOkay, last post before bed (theoretically).
If you are coming out tomorrow night, plan to dress warmly because it's supposed to be a low of 7°C.
Here's the media advisory that went out today, along with the important slides from the Notes & Program series (I am dropping the title slide).
(It should probably go without saying that fascist media will not be welcome at an anti-fascist action. But I suspect we're going to get some showing up and not enjoying themselves.)
️️️️️️️
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
October 25, 2024
Torontonians from Across the GTA Unite to Take Over TPS HQ for a Bloc Party with Radical Beats and Resistance 4 Dance Party to Defund 'n Disarm the Police
WHEN: Friday, October 25, 2024, 8pm
WHERE: TPS HQ, 40 College Street
Toronto, ON. From Gaza to the Yintah, from Hong Kong to Atlanta, people across the globe are rising against the state's violent tools of oppression: the police.
Toronto activists will throw a radical Defund 'n Disarm Dance Party right on the doorstep of the Toronto Police Service (TPS) Headquarters. As the brutal enforcers of state power continue to escalate heir violence in our communities, this party stands as a direct confrontation against their unchecked aggression,
This isn't your typical protest. We're hitting the streets with music, dance, and a mic open to the people to tell the cops exactly what we think of their tyranny. With TPS officers freely doling out concussions like lollipops over the past year, the time has come to return the energy - but through community solidarity, rhythm, and resistance.
In a year marked by the rise of fascist policing across the globe, this action stands as a symbolic and celebratory defiance of violent state control. We are not just calling to defund and disarm the TPS-we're demanding a future where cops, as we know them, no longer exist
This action is part of a growing global movement against state violence. From the killing fields of Gaza to the defiant streets of Hong Kong, people are uniting to resist militarized police forces and he global war machine they support.
We invite the media to witness an unapologetic display of Toronto's resistance. We invite you to hear firsthand from those most impacted by police brutality: the Indigenous, Black, and marginalized communities who have had enough.
• Police don't keep us safe: Communities across Toronto, especially Indigenous and Black communities, have been disproportionately targeted by TPS violence.
• Defund, Disarm, Dismantle: It's not enough to talk about reform-the TPS, like police forces across the globe, is an institution beyond repair. We demand its total dismantling.
• Direct action, direct resistance: We are reclaiming the streets as spaces for our community, not for state repression.
️️️️️️️
Let's all hope my urge to wheat-paste the 100 action items (from the Ontario Human Rights Commission Report to the TPS on their anti-Blackness) on the pillars out front goes away by morning.
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialFrom the Yintah to Gaza
From Hong Kong to Atlanta
What is the one thing we all have in common?
We all know cops are fascist tools of the murderous state.
So, #Toronto:
What would happen if we threw a FTP Party at Police HQ, and no cops showed up?
I don't think we need worry about that, given their escalating bullshit over the past year.
These motherfuckers are out there doling out concussions like lollipops, so it's long past time we took the party to them.
Mic available to tell them exactly what you think of their behaviour.
Attire: BLOC THE FUCK UP.
#ACAB
#FuckThePolice #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle #TorontoActions
Edited because stupid autocorrect doesn't like "bloc".
@Gigi@kolektiva.socialWe're down to one ranty auntie (is that Bahira?) and a walk-through by Al SatanIsYourDaddy (Banerjee's weird sidekick/hypeman).
The cops left en masse, so I think it's time to call it and see if the cops are harassing Indigenous folks at their action.
#TorontoActions #Toronto #FuckTransphobia #WhoKeepsUsSafe #CommunityDefence
#LOLife #LegalObservers
