Toronto Police Chief James Ramer briefed the public at a news conference Friday morning, warning of traffic jams and increased police presence in the city center over the weekend. “The public will notice an increased police presence in and around the protest areas and we will implement both sliding and static road closures with the aim of safely redirecting people and traffic,” Ramer said. “While encouraging you to do your business, we ask for your patience and we will work to safely manage large volumes of cars and people throughout the city.” But despite the fact that more than a dozen different demonstrations were scheduled for this weekend, Ramer devoted most of his press conference to discussing one specific event out of the many that will take place in the coming days. Among the demonstrations scheduled for this weekend, a demonstration for Al-Quds Day scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the center of the center has been the subject of concerns about anti-Semitism and hate speech, with anti-Semitism possibility of conflict, intense police presence expected. “While the Toronto Police Department will always support peaceful protest, I want to be very clear that we will not tolerate any intimidation, harassment or hate speech motivated by targeting specific communities,” Ramer said. Quds Day, an annual event in support of Palestine and opposition to Israel, has not been held in Toronto for the past two years due to the pandemic, but previous events have drawn criticism from politicians, including Ontario Prime Minister Doug. Ford, who requested the event will be banned in 2018. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. The event is considered by some in the Jewish community as a demonstration of anti-Semitism. “We have received many complaints that hate speech has been heard in recent events. I think we can all agree that there is no room for this. I want to reassure those who have these concerns that, like all demonstrations, the Toronto Police Department will be present. “and actively monitor these events,” Ramer said. Ramer states that “in addition to the visible presence of front-line officers, we will also have officers from the exclusive hate crime unit on the ground so that we can immediately gather evidence to investigate any suspected hate crimes or hate speech or signage, the service will integrate officers who speak different languages, so that they can record first hand what is said between the crowds and the speeches “. It’s a dangerously complex question that no one expects to find answers to in a short article on traffic from a local media outlet, but it does offer an idea of the kind of subtle political and ethnic tensions they will do to diffuse Toronto police. weekend.
