Concrete Chunks Reportedly Found Hidden Downtown, Police Get Water Cannons For G8, G20 Summits
2010/06/22 | CityNews.ca Staff
Trees have been removed, some statues temporarily relocated and now downtown restaurants are taking away their patio furniture before thousands of protesters converge on the area around the G20 summit venue this weekend.
With just days to go until international leaders arrive in Toronto there are signs across the downtown core various businesses are battening down the hatches.
Police have stepped up their presence significantly and searches of the security zones recently turned up apparent weapons caches, containing chunks of concrete that were hidden under bushes. The locations haven't been released.
Officers will use water cannons to control unruly crowds if necessary. The devices are mounted on trucks and apparently result in fewer injuries than other crowd control techniques.
Last month, Toronto Police purchased four long-range acoustic devices, or L-RADs, for the summit.
The statues outside the Hockey Hall of Fame have been covered with plywood, apparently to protect them from possible vandalism. Three large elephant statues were also removed from Commerce Court at King and Bay for the same reason.
Last week, young trees were removed from the area around the Rogers Centre to ensure they couldn’t be uprooted and used as weapons during summit demonstrations.
Authorities have cleared the security zone of trash cans, bike posts and street furniture for safety reasons.
And downtown eateries are keeping their patio furnishings locked up.
The G20 summit has been causing a lot of controversy over the last several months because it will be a huge inconvenience to the citizens of Toronto. Many store owners will loose a significant amount of business because some have been forced to close during the days of the summit. Store owners were also told to clear their patios of any furniture because protesters many use it as weapons. The summit is clearly out of hand because no matter what precautions have been made they still will have a huge battle to fight with protesters. Protesters have been planning what they will do the days of the summit because they have clearly hidden objects which they will use as weapons. The police may have found some hidden concrete, but just imagine what else protesters have also hidden as well, and time is running out because the summit is near and police will definitely not have time to find other hidden weapons. Police are planning on fighting off protesters with water cannons which are less harmful, but protesters aren't going to use water they are using heavier objects which do more harm than water. The police are up against a huge fight, them against thousands of angry protesters!
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