No self control

I went for a walk.
The plan was to hop on the streetcar and/or subway to get a drive by view of things that were happening and see if my brother's neighbourhood was still in tact (I'd read reports that it wasn't) then pick up some much needed fruit in Chinatown, but I didn't end up spending a dime.
When I left, I thought everything was over. I honestly wanted to just take in the aftermath.
I was wrong.
Up to this point, I had just seen police wearing their regular uniforms, holding their helmets and acting quite friendly to me. The street that I was planning on taking was blocked by a line of police with their bicycles. So had I not been diverted, I may have never run into this at Queen St. West and Spadina Ave.:
Cops in riot gear are SCARY. There were probably between 100-200 people in the crowd and at least half of them being people who, like me were trying to get somewhere but somewhat curious as to what was happening. I've never seen anything like it, and now that I've seen it, I don't need to see any more. When I arrived, the protesters were in the middle of the intersection (cars were a little stressed out by this - the megabus was full of passengers plastered to the window watching the action), and police had blocked off Queen St. West (going east). I should have taken a picture of the wall of them. It was terrifying. Protesters were getting a little rowdy, so the police moved forward and blocked off the intersection. The crowd didn't move much
because police seemed to be able to get the rowdy ones to stay out of the intersection. We all just stood at the edge of the intersection and watched (I think someone was taken down by a couple police at the opposite corner) and then the gentleman on the left of the guy with the massive gun came forward and told us (in a threatening, loud and assertive voice) if we didn't leave, we'd all get arrested. We innocent bystanders took the hint and left.
I had to go through some back alleys and side streets to get around Queen St. to continue my walk north on Spadina. Fruit kind of fell off my radar (although I did look and the selection looked pretty crappy, anyway). I went east on Dundas St. , knowing that College St. could be risky. I kept walking and passed through Chinatown which seemed completely out of the loop. It was so surreal that just a block away, something really bad could have happened.
Before I turned north onto University Ave., A convoy of police in vans and a big bus went by. They didn't have any marked vehicles with them, so it was interesting to see how they handled the unsuspecting traffic. It was kind of like a movie where a van stops randomly in the middle of an intersection, cuts off regular traffic, a taxi driver looks confused, a sliding door opens, and a couple massive (it was like he was wearing hockey gear) cops step out, hold their arms out to stop traffic, let the convoy go by, jump back into the van and speed away.
Nearing University and College, the intersection is blocked off. After detouring, I even tried to get to the are from the east side as well. No go. Police are still friendly when advising pedestrians to go somewhere else. "Sir, do you love your dog? Yes? Well, then you should probably walk
him the other way." Cyclists are turned away. It's a no vehicle zone. I look around and University Ave. south is closed off. It's filled with police vans and buses. Medical staff stand outside of their hospitals and watch. The hospitals are on lockdown. I walk past an emergency driveway and see that stations have been set out outdoors. I noticed a triage and decontamination zone. The hot dog vendor gets some business. I think it's interesting how the police make a barrier with their bikes. I see some protesters carrying
a colleague who has a bandana tied around his eyes. Pepper spray? They get help from the EMT. There's a media presence. No one even goes close to the cops. They yell at you to stay back. I see someone get arrested and put into a Court Services truck. I eavesdrop on a reporter asking a lady who saw police spray an older lady. Didn't see it. Can't comment on if her story is biased.
I walk east on College towards Yonge. I've already heard that protesters have come and gone from this area and I want to see the damage. I get very sad. Windows have been broken. Clean up crews are already
on the scene and shops and banks are boarded up. All the way down Yonge, I am appalled at the amount of damage that can been done. Slightly buoyed that not all stores have been targeted, by the time I get to Yonge and Dundas Square it seem like nothing's different. As I watch a street magician bent a metal fork with his mind, I see crews fixing up some damaged shop spaces in the background. I don't completely understand why they targeted some companies but not others.
Heading west on Queen St. West, I'm glad that the Toronto Jazz Festival events at Nathan Philips Square have not been disturbed. Andre Rieu's concert had been canceled.
My brother's building is still in tact, but as I continue westward, I see something in the distance. I guess it shows that I'll never be a protester, but the scene of police on horses (and the four legged creatures were wearing masks to protect their eyes) and riot police made me pause.
It seemed like a similar group of protesters in this intersection and although there were more civilians than police (at least in plain sight), it seemed like a futile mission for the protesters. More media presence, tons of cameras in all shapes and sizes. After a couple protesters sat in
front of the police, the wall of riot police chanted "Move! Move!" as they inched forward and banged their batons on their shields. Their voices reverberated from behind their helmets. Every time they did so, civilians started retreating. Running. After standing back and watching the wall of police change shifts, advance a couple more times, and listened to the protesters shouting and chanting, I was ready to go home.
I was done of the day, and as I said before, done with my curiosity. I snaked my way home, said good evening to some of the police closer to home (and less scarily dressed) and walked along side the security gates that the protesters I think had initially tried to get near. The zone was quiet and empty.
Perhaps they have good reasons to do what they do, but I'm not sure they're going about it in the right way, nor are they being effective in the process.
The rain starts to fall and I'm happy that I'm on my way home. I got some much needed exercise for the day. Almost a good 3 hours of fresh air.