York students stand their ground in solidarity of #BLACKLIVESMATTERTO

Kanchi Uttamchandani, Staff Writer
?Featured image courtesy of Anna Russell

York Federation of Students executives are on the front lines of activism in Toronto, camping outside of police headquarters for a second week as part of Black Lives Matter Toronto in a bid to eradicate carding and excessive police force.
In an emotional interview with CP24, YFS VP-Campus Life, Alexandria Williams says the protest was peaceful and the protestors were not doing anything wrong.
“Police were actively pushing people. I myself got punched while I was trying to protect other community members from being in altercations,” said Williams.
Williams says altercations with police were traumatizing, in light of the “lateral violence” faced by the black community.
BLMTO’s demands include eliminating carding, condemning the alleged excessive use of force by Toronto police, and overhauling Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit. Another demand is for the names of the police officers who killed Andrew Loku and Alex Wettlaufer to be made public and charges to be pressed against the officers.
The ongoing resistance shares concerns about anti-black state violence, excessive use of police force, and erasure of black cultural spaces, among others, according to a solidarity statement released by BLMTO.
“The murder of Andrew Loku still haunts us, as the decision of the SIU not to indict his killer reinforces the fact that black lives are dispensable to the SIU and Toronto Police Service,” reads the statement.
“The City of Toronto’s decision to impose undue restrictions on Afrofest, including limiting the award-winning festival to one day is appalling. Destruction of black spaces is violence.”
Rodney Diverlus, one of the main organizers for BLMTO, describes the mobilization, saying that black Torontonians and allies are outside of Toronto police headquarters challenging anti-black racism.
“At the forefront of this movement are women, trans folks, and queer folks. This is a commitment we make to our community, to prioritize the voices of the most silenced,” says Diverlus.
Diverlus says the death of Loku is not an isolated incident, but an intersectional issue.
“Andrew Loku was not just a black man, he was a refugee and lived with mental health issues. These aspects are important to acknowledge for they all contributed to his experience, and ultimately his murder at the hands of the police,” says Diverlus.
Diverlus and other BLMTO activists claim their peaceful campaigning was met with unprovoked police action, alleging that Toronto police “circled and ambushed” peaceful protestors.
“Children, young women and men, trans people, disabled people, and their friends were shoved, punched, and pushed on to the ground,” says Diverlus. Accordingly, their materials were broken, tents and personal belongings taken, and fire intended to keep protesters warm was extinguished with unknown toxic waste.
“The unprovoked police action on peaceful protesters raising their concerns about anti-black violence is an affront to our civil liberties and freedoms,” adds Diverlus.
Mark Pugash, director of corporate communications for the Toronto Police Service, says protesters were given several hours of notice that the fire and tents were illegal.
“They had ample opportunity to remove them. They chose not to remove them. We were told by Toronto Fire Services that the wood used by protesters was treated with an accelerant,” says Pugash.
“Toronto Fire Services removed the fire safely and coated the remainder of the wood with a biodegradable fire retardant to prevent any further threat to public safety,” he adds.
In spite of great provocation from protesters, police officers repeatedly explained what they were there to do and hence, rightly used justifiable force, according to Pugash.
Despite conflicting claims of violence and racism, the week-long series of BLMTO protests and demonstrations has transformed itself into a supportive space, facilitated by art and is witness to massive outpourings of support from diverse groups of people.
“So many communities have come out with statements of solidarity and to join us in tent city. Everyone from the Tamil, Muslim, Sikh, Asian, queer, feminist, Indigenous communities, and so much more,” says Diverlus.
“No matter where you go globally, blackness is reviled, and as such it’s great to see so many communities first acknowledge anti-black racism in their communities but then reaffirm their stance as allies supporting the struggle.”
While the short-term goal is justice for individual victims of police violence, the long-term “utopia” is a world where the prison-industrial complex, police state, and exploitative economic system are dismantled, according to Diverlus.