TORONTO: Following the police arrest of multiple participants in a pro-Palestinian march over the weekend, demonstrators accused the police of using excessive force.
The Toronto Police Service said in a statement that while they were taking numerous people into custody during the downtown protest, they were managing the crowd.
The police statement is made in the wake of protestors’ accusations that police used excessive force, and there are videos online showing tense altercations between demonstrators and police.
When police sought to seize a truck from among the throng, some demonstrators reacted aggressively, according to the police, which caused tensions to rise during the protest. For allegedly operating the truck with passengers in the cargo bed while it was moving, one person was charged with stunt driving.
In addition, two women are accused of attacking law enforcement officials. While the other is suspected of trying to hit an officer with a flagpole, the first is accused of hurling horse dung at law enforcement.
Four more guys were taken into custody, according to a news statement released by the police on Sunday, for allegedly impeding the arrest of one of the ladies. After that, three of these people were released without conditions, and one was turned over to the Ontario Provincial Police because of an outstanding warrant that had nothing to do with the protest.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, a group that has been organizing protests in Toronto since October 7, posted to Instagram to claim that six people had been arrested “violently” and that the police had employed “brutal tactics.”
The group claims that for several hours prior to police intervention, the march was moving through downtown in a calm manner. The police had surrounded a demonstration site, according to the organizers, and had then moved in on foot and by horseback, injuring multiple people. In the meantime, police said that they had not heard of any injuries sustained during the protests on Saturday.
The demonstration was organized to demand the easing of the siege on Gaza and an immediate, permanent ceasefire.
