Here are several reports taken from the Toronto Star
and the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Toronto Star, April 20, 2001
Cops fire rubber bullets, lob tear gas at summit
Crowds tear down sections of controversial security fence
Protesters mounted and felled a wire fence outside the Summit permiter.
''This type of behaviour that we have witnessed here this afternoon that was
carried out by a small group of extremists is contrary to all democratic
principles that are so dear to us,'' Chretien said in a speech during the
opening ceremony.
''These people do not represent the vast majority of those who have come to
Quebec City in order to express peacefully and calmly their legitimate
concerns.''
Riot police had pushed most protesters well back from concrete and wire
fences after a violent afternoon in the core of the old city resulting in
injuries and arrests.
Most anti-free trade protesters were herded about four blocks away from the
3.8-kilometre security perimeter surrounding U.S. President George W. Bush,
Chretien and others gathered for the three-day international trade meeting.
There were no immediate report of injuries, although a police officer was
hurt in an earlier altercation with protesters.
Crowds tore down big sections of the three-metre-high security fence before
tossing hockey pucks, bottles, rocks and smoke bombs at police.
Dozens of officers armed with batons and guns stood in a long line, forming
a huge human shield to guard the area where the cement and chain link
barricade was toppled.
They also fired rubber bullets and five-centimetre plastic projectiles.
Police said later they were not totally surprised that the fence gave way so
easily because it was a ''temporary structure.''
Provincial police Insp. Robert Poeti defended their actions.
''Police never lost control of the perimeter,'' said Poeti.
Many demonstrators were crying and covering their faces with handkerchiefs
to ward off tear gas. Police fired off canisters of the gas only to have
demonstrators toss many of them back.
One demonstrator placed all the blame on police.
''It think it's completely insane,'' said Jason Capell of Vermont. ''They
could have avoided this just by not putting up fences.''
There were no immediate reports of vandalism to homes or stores. One
section of the barricade and nearby trees and signs were covered with
toilet paper.
The violence disrupted the schedule of summit activities, delaying opening
speeches by Chretien and other leaders by up to one hour. Bush's bilateral
talks with other some leaders were put on hold.
Smoke rolled over blocks in the heart of the old city, spreading quickly
around the area near the legislature. The wind pushed much of it back at
police.
A lone man yelled at a line of policemen as they walked in formation,
tapping their shields to intimidate him.
''You ought to be ashamed of yourself,'' said the young man, who waved his
finger at them.
''These are like your teenage sons and daughters … they're just
protesting. This is not democracy what you're doing.''
By early evening, only a few dozen people lingered close to the police
line. One person held out a flower.
After the wall crashed down, some protesters took a metal gate and used it
as a battering ram to storm a row of officers.
Others urged an end to the melee. Some blamed the violence on a anarchist
group called the Black Bloc, some of whose members were seen climbing the
fence and clashing with officers. A Bloc leader was taken into custody.
''Please, please, no violence,'' someone pleaded with the crowd through a
megaphone. ''This is what they want you to do.''
The expectation of violence, which broke out near the convention centre
and hotel where 34 leaders of Western Hemisphere countries gathered, was
exactly what led authorities to set up the fence.
Buildings near the convention were sealed to prevent the spread of tear
gas.
Police dispersed people into side streets as helicopters circled above.
They were reconstructing the barricades with tractors but the concrete was
crumbled in some sections.
Several people were arrested, including April Mathisz, a Lethbridge,
Alta., teenager whose hands were behind her in plastic handcuffs.
''They tell me to go one way,'' she said. ''I went that way. Now they've
arrested me for obstruction.''
One man was hit in the face with a canister. Others were being treated by
paramedics.
Jeremy Thurston, 15, of Toronto, said he was tear-gassed.
''People's skin and eyes were getting burned.''
Union activist Chris Ramsaroop, 26, also of Toronto, said police started
tear-gassing people after protesters started chanting.
Asked whether he was scared, Ramsaroop replied: ''Yes, of course. There
were a lot of people here.''
Merlin Barrette, a resident in the area inside the perimeter, was angry
about the massive police force as he left to escape the suffocating tear
gas.
''I think people are right to revolt against this,'' Barrette said. ''Why
do they need all these police officers to protect 30 people?
''I have to go around the entire city to get to my house.''
Another resident, Martin Lavoie, said he was really angry at the
protesters.
''It's just a gang of Communists in black boots and wool hats,'' said
Lavoie. ''Only one per cent know why they're here.''
Earlier on Friday, a Ste-Foy, Que., police officer was injured by a group
of protesters as he watched them head toward the perimeter.
He was hit with a blunt object after being surrounded by several
demonstrators.
The officer was taken to hospital.
.......... snip .....
Many stores and restaurants were boarded up or even closed completely in
anticipation of up to 25,000 protesters.
.......... snip .....
Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
Toronto Star, Apr. 20, 2001. 09:16 PM
Black Bloc blamed for summit violence
QUEBEC (CP) - An international rag-tag group of anarchists called the
Black Bloc was responsible for the violence at the Summit of the Americas
on Friday, police said.
Members of the fringe group, who traditionally wear gas masks or scarves
and black clothes, were also responsible for violence that ravaged Seattle
during globalization talks in 1999.
Authorities say Black Bloc members are the ones who crashed into riot
police in Quebec City on Friday with sticks and metal gates, who tore down
parts of the security fence protecting summit delegates and who threw
rocks and hockey pucks at police and reporters.
''It was easy,'' said one man dressed in black after he helped to tear
down the fence.
''With only four or five of us, we brought it to the floor.
The confontation led police to toss tear gas into the crowd, spreading
clouds of noxious smoke through downtown Quebec.
Many people were seen crying and clutching their faces in pain.
Police said members of the Black Bloc also smashed cars belonging to the
media and beat a suburban police officer with metal bars.
He was in hospital Friday recovering from his injuries.
''It was mainly people from the Black Bloc but there were some others,
too,'' RCMP Const. Elaine Lavergne said Friday.
''We saw some others wearing different colours.''
Police initially said one of those arrested was a leader of the Black Bloc
but they later said the man had nothing to do with the group.
Canada's security intelligence service has warned for months that the
Black Bloc might be ready to strike in Quebec City.
''The Black Bloc is a loosely organized cluster of anarchist affinity
groups and individuals, estimated in North America to number a few
hundred, who come together to participate in protests and
demonstrations,'' says a report last August by the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service.
''Given the virulent anti-globalization rhetoric directed against the
Organization of American States, the threat of summit-related violence in
Quebec City cannot be ruled out.''
Police did not say where the Black Bloc protesters were from. However,
some were overheard speaking English while others spoke French.
Some in the crowd of protesters … the vast majority of whom were calm …
urged the fence-breakers to remain peaceful.
The Black Bloc draws its inspiration from a 1980s fringe group from
Germany, says an Internet posting by self-desrcibed anarchist Michael
Wright.
The Black Bloc - whose official name is reportedly the Revolutionary
Anti-Capitalist Bloc - was founded in the United States about 10 years
ago, says the article.
''We are willing to go out there and defend others from police violence .
. . and to stand up to the cops rather than sit down and hope for the
best,'' says Wright.
The group came to prominence as a leading symbol of the violent side of
social activism during the Seattle riots, which led to scores of arrests
and millions of dollars in damage and which forced authorities to call in
the U.S. National Guard.
The group, which has no rigid structure, uses as its logo a circle
surrounded by a black square.
Wright describes the group's activism as different from the pacifism
endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi.
Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
Globe and Mail, Friday, April 20
Business as usual, protesters and police promise
By ALLISON DUNFIELD Globe and Mail Update
Although protesters pushed down a section of the fence surrounding Quebec
City and in so doing pushed back the start of the official opening
ceremonies of the Summit of the Americas, officials denied that there
would be any changes to the timetable.
"The program is on schedule and tomorrow [Saturday] the same thing," said
Denys Tessier, director of media relations for the Summit.
However, official opening ceremonies which were to include speeches by
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, U.S. President George W. Bush and Chilean
President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, were rescheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30
p.m. EDT.
CNN reported that several representatives from Bolivia and Brazil who were
supposed to meet with Mr. Bush did not make the meetings earlier Friday
afternoon because of the protests. As well, there were reports that five
members of a Caribbean contingent weren't able to make it to a meeting
with Mr. Bush.
But Mr. Tessier said that Saturday's events are scheduled to take place at
the venues and times planned, with the first plenary session taking place
Saturday at 9 a.m. He would not say what would happen if another protest,
with up to 25,000 people or more expected, took place Saturday.
"I cannot predict the future."
>From mid-afternoon Friday onwards, police and protesters clashed at the
security fence surrounding the older area of Quebec City. Protesters threw
paint and rocks and police fired tear gas into the crowds, causing large,
billowing clouds of smoke.
Jennifer Story of the Council of Canadians was in the midst of the
protestors at the Quebec City perimeter fence.
In a telephone interview she said she was disappointed that individuals
trying to express their opposition to a proposed Free Trade Area of the
Americas and globalization would be tear-gassed and intimidated by police,
but that from what she'd heard, activists were prepared to continue their
protests Saturday.
Ms. Story said she had not heard of plans to take down the security wall
Saturday.
"I know that there's going to be a march - people are prepared to support
people at the security perimeter," she said. Ms. Story, who had several
tear gas canisters thrown at her, said that she was "scared and... shaken
but mostly disappointed," in the action taken by police during Friday's
protests.
She said people were dipping bandannas in vinegar and passing them out to
protect themselves against the tear gas, and she saw some medical
personnel present.
Roger Paquet, emergency medical co-ordinator for the Summit of the
Americas, said several people were treated for facial irritation following
the deployment of tear gas. The injuries were considered minor.
Mr. Paquet said that Quebec City is well equipped to deal with any
injuries that may result from clashes.
"First of all, we have doubled the number of ambulances, just in case,"
said Mr. Paquet, in an interview on CBC Newsworld. "All of the emergency
rooms in the city have been alerted, and there are double the number of
police.
"There hasn't been any special training programs. These are people who are
involved in treating emergencies on a daily basis, and they are ready to
help out if necessary."
Commenting on the day's events, Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians
told CBC that "The police are just doing their job, the provocation has
come from a government that has closed its eyes. Jean Chrétien and his
level of understanding of the world is appalling. He doesn't understand.
He has chosen to become part of the global elite."
Globe and Mail, Friday, April 20
'We thought it was adequate'
By SASHA NAGY Globe and Mail Update
The safety of some of the world's most powerful politicians has not been
compromised, despite the relative ease with which security fencing was
breached, the joint security forces for the Summit of the America's said
Friday.
Three leaders of a Quebec-based anarchist group called the Black Bloc,
were arrested after a dozen protesters brought down a portion of fence
along Rene-Levesque Boulevard around 3:30 p.m.
A large group of about 2,000 people marched from Laval University into
town to the security fence that had been set up to divide the protesters
from summit meetings.
The fence was pushed over by a group of about 12 people, many wearing gas
masks and armed with hockey pucks and other objects.
"That fence is obviously not set in concrete, but it did well to define
the perimeter. We thought it was adequate," Inspector Robert Poeti of the
Quebec Provincial Police said.
"Obviously, the thing with the officers, they never lost control of the
situation. No one was able to get directly into the security area.
"I can tell you without a doubt, our police operation to maintain the
perimeter was a success. The fence is not an iron wall."
Insp. Poeti defended the use of tear gas to disperse the crowd, saying it
had the desired effect of separating the violent protesters from the
peaceful ones.
The fall of the fence should not be considered a harbinger of things to
come later in the weekend when several large protests are planned, said
Staff Sergeant Mike Gaudet of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The police, he said, will only show as much force as needed. It would be
wrong, he added, to take the breach of the fence as a sign of weakness or
lack of preparedness.
"We believe in a measured approach in how the police will interact with
the demonstrators. Police will act according to how the crowd behaves,"
said Staff Sgt. Gaudet. "We have every intention of allowing the
democratic right of individuals to peaceably demonstrate.
"But when they choose to let that protest become violent, then we will act
accordingly. And we feel we did that when the fence came down."
Insp. Poeti said the protesters saw police reacting with strength when
confronted.
"It's possible that these people were testing us to see how prepared we
would be. But there are certain limits."
Journalists complained at the press conference that they were locked in
the summit's media centre when the protest became violent. Staff Sgt.
Gaudet said the decision to lock down the centre was based on public
health concerns, in an attempt to prevent tear gas fumes from
contaminating the building.
Police also said that a fourth man was being held, but has not yet been
charged. Staff Sgt. Gaudet said he was intercepted en route to the
demonstration.
"An individual who was coming into the area was intercepted. We were aware
of that individual. This person was preparing to join the ranks," he said.
"The decision was to apprehend him before he went any further."
.......... snip ....
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