TORONTO – Thirteen mourners are in hospital after police mistook the procession for a local doctor’s funeral for a demonstration.
“Our job is to protect the city from violence and destruction,” said police chief Bill Blair, in a speech commending the professionalism of his officers. “And if that means breaking some heads and throwing some crying widows through a plate glass window, then so be it.”
Witnesses of the procession stood behind the Toronto Police Service, saying that the mourners should not have resorted to ‘Black Bloc tactics.’
“I can understand why the police acted the way they did,” said funeral-goer Wenda Glickman, ears still bleeding from the sound cannon. “Many of the women were wearing mourning veils; we could have been muslims, for all the police knew.”
Taking steps to avoid future misunderstandings, the Toronto Police Services have set up a ‘designated mourning area’ in the arcade of a Chuck E. Cheese’s in Woodbridge.
“We want people to be able to exercise their democratic right to mourn the death of their loved ones in a safe and responsible way,” said Blair. “And if that means breaking some heads and throwing some crying widows through a plate glass window, then so be it.”
This is not the first time the Toronto Police Services have made a similar mistake. Just last spring, police officers accidentally foiled a rape, after thinking that the victim was screaming something about social justice.
