'You Should Have Stayed Home: A G20 Romp'

[JohnyCanuck]

Minutes before curtain on the opening night of "You Should Have Stayed Home: A G20 Romp" (playing at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver) Taylor, sitting amongst the audience wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word "freedom," describes this turning point with passion.

The show is an adaptation of an exhaustive Facebook note he penned after arriving home from his imprisonment, "How I Got Arrested and Abused by the G20 in Toronto." Written over the course of two days, it quickly went viral and Taylor realized he needed to elevate awareness about what happened beyond the alarming photos of anarchists torching police cars and smashing windows.

snip

Taylor begins at Queens Park, the Free Speech Zone on June 26, 2010. He was charmed by grannies marching in support of AIDS orphans and the sound of drum circles. Excited by the energy, he convinced his girlfriend and friend Ben to join him back at the park. He made a sign that read: apathy kills. They spent the evening enjoying the vibe, at times giggling at the earnest protest songs, but singing along to "Give Peace a Chance."

But the humour fades when he talks about the menacing turn around 10 p.m., near the Keg restaurant, when riot police moved in. Media were instructed to leave the area. Protestors sat on the ground to show their compliance. One by one, officers plucked people from the ground and deposited them into paddy wagons. It was a chilling round-up of more than a thousand people in a sweeping measure of intimidation.

http://thetyee.ca/ArtsAndCulture/2013/09/27/G20-Arrest/?utm_source=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=300913

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. 3 years later, and still no accountabilty

other than one indefensible cop thrown under the bus. The glacially slow and uneven justice system has protected those in power, and the media has happily moved on without ever challenging the 'acceptable' spectrum of debate.