You spoke too much, whenever you are accosted by the police, only these sentences should be spoken: I want my lawyer. I do not consent to any searches. And I am going to remain silent.

I got knocked down, on that fateful Sunday night, while walking home on Queen Street, just East of Spadina.

All of a sudden, without warning, the police started to charge towards the crowd in front of me. They turned to run, and I got knocked down, trampled, head smashed into sidewalk, and dislocated my shoulder.

The police only partially charged at that point (this was before the rain had come). I managed to get up, with one shoe on, and started limping down Queen, still trying to get home. I had blood coming from the side of my head, my legs were badly bleeding, I was crying out for help.

I was surrounded by police officers, and NO ONE DID ANYTHING.

After a couple of minutes of limping, I was barely able to walk, when I very nice EMS worker came over to me, asked me if I was okay, and offered to give me assistance.

He took me behind the barracade on Peter Street, just South of Queen, and helped to bandage me up. He wanted to take me to the hospital, because of my head injury, but I refused out of fear of the situation. Unfortunately, he told me that if I crossed the street, I would be arrested because they were arresting everyone in that area at the time.

I had a friend who lived nearby, and the EMS worker walked me to her house to make sure that I was okay. The police ignored me the whole time, even as I continued to cry, limping with one shoe on, a bandage around my head, and blood soaking through the bandage on my leg.

Following this, I had my right shoulder in a sling for 3 weeks, followed by physiotherapy and pain. It took over a month to heal the wounds on my legs.

I am embarrassed to be from Toronto, and Ontario, and those police officers enlisted with the job of protecting our safety. However, I do send out thanks to that one EMS worker who was there, in the line of duty, when needed.

Now, four months later, I still have scars on my legs from the fall. Fortunately, the ones on my head were in my hair, so they cannot be seen. I have a shoulder that has been repeatedly dislocated since the event, and will require surgical fixing in the future.

Thank you EMS, screw you OPP.

I’ll never trust the Toronto police after that weekend. They were out of control that whole day and failed to protect those who are most vulnerable.

This kind of treatment is not uncommon, the police all over this country have become a legalized gang. Even in the town of 7000, where I live, Hanover, Ont. Police there forced their way into our home, claiming that we had two or three hundred dollars worth of stolen property. Guns drawn, and pumped up like steroid junkies, you would have thought we were having our own G20 protest! And no, I don’t find any humor in the way people were treated, I’m simply trying to get the point across that, my wife and I were treaded with the same type of behaviour, 20 or more hours, in a cold, dirty, cell with no information. Meanwhile, they destroyed our apartment, and STOLE our belongings.