Warmington: There’s a double standard in policing protests.

Article content

Move beyond the Toronto Police Riot, Homicide and Traffic Squads and make room for the Coffee Squad.

Article content

These coffee cops are making headlines today.

Article content

Toronto police are known for sending riot police and riding horses to protests, but on Saturday they were delivering Tim Hortons coffee to the very people who sparked the demonstrations in the first place.

And donuts.

In 2021, anti-lockdown activist Adam Skelly was arrested and imprisoned for serving a mob and disobeying lockdown orders, while police were forced to attack pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protesters. Actually helped me enjoy a coffee break on Avenue Street. And the highway. 401 Bridge.

Article content

No wonder they can’t evict them. They are pouring sugar into this situation.

Let’s talk about double double standards.

“It’s ridiculous,” said one Jewish Torontonian.

All this came to light thanks to a video posted to X on Saturday by Toronto lawyer and independent journalist Karima Sadd.

Article content

Article content

She said it wasn’t at all what it seemed.

“The police didn’t buy the coffee,” she said, explaining that officers were delivering coffee to demonstrators on the bridge who were separated from other demonstrators when police closed it down.

Article content

But now that she and her brilliant videographer have spilled the beans on this diplomacy, one can’t help but stir the drink a little more and ask why.

“The bridge was closed at the time the demonstration began,” Toronto police said. Shannon Eames said. “Some people were already on the bridge.

“One of the protesters on the bridge bought coffee for a group of friends, but they dispersed,” she said, adding that police officers took coffee from demonstrators before taking up positions on the bridge. I explained to my friends who were stationed there why I had carried it. Closed.

As they have repeated since Christmas, police posted a message on the X around 1:15 p.m. saying they were closing the overpass “out of public safety concerns.”

Article content

Article content

Providing further explanation later in the day, Const. Rory McCann said officers were “managing a dynamic situation”.

“Their number one priority is to maintain order in the tense environment of the Avenue Road Bridge,” she said. “The officers’ motivation for their helpful conduct today was to keep tensions low and should not be construed as an indication of support for any cause or group.”

“Our law enforcement officers remain committed to quelling these demonstrations and maintaining calm and public safety,” McCann added.

Article content

You don’t need to be an expert to understand drip, drip, drip in this situation. Many may wonder why the police would leave pro-Palestinian protesters alone so much as they were destroying coffee shops and many other things. Since the barbaric acts inflicted on innocent Israelis by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.

Jewish Torontonian. He feels burnt.

“It’s absurd and comically naive,” said Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith. “Welcome to 2024. The City of Toronto’s latest political strategy appears to be one of encouraging further lawlessness, escalation and anti-Semitism, all with a friendly face.

“Are our brave police officers being encouraged by our political leaders to work as Uber Eats drivers?” he asked.

Article content

“This is unacceptable,” Mostyn said. “Antisemitism is not a punchline, but today it has been made into a punchline by strategists who clearly do not understand the damage they are doing to our country.”

Rather than act as baristas or attendants for the protesters, the police intimidate the area’s many Jewish residents, telling everyone to get off the bridge and eat their coffee and donuts elsewhere. should be instructed.

“This is a Jewish neighborhood that is being invaded by people who support the genocide of Jews by Hamas,” said Israel Now’s Meir Weinstein, adding that demonstrators continue to choke the area and threaten Jews. They are appealing to the police to allow them to scare people.

“It would be like the KKK protesting in a black neighborhood,” he says. “Black residents will not be happy.”

I’m sure they aren’t happy to see cops offering coffee to the KKK either.

jwarmington@postmedia.com

Article content