Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 13, 2018
Organized mob used G20 tactics in Locke Street attack
An organized masked mob that wreaked havoc on the Kirkendall North neighbourhood over the weekend strategies similar to those used during the 2010 G20 riots in Toronto.
The group of 30 people, brandishing a banner that read ‘We Are The Ungovernable,’ donned black clothing and face coverings to conceal their identities — a tactic called “black bloc,” said Insp. Paul Hamilton on Monday.
After smashing a handful of storefront windows with rocks, lighting fireworks and setting off smoke bombs, they fled — some on foot and others by vehicle — from Locke Street South Saturday night, ditching their clothing after the unprecedented attack.
“They’ll strip off their black clothing and now they’re wearing something orange, and then they go down another street and they strip that clothing off, and it becomes very difficult,” he said. “Our immediate concern was for the public safety.”
Police believe they have recovered pieces of clothing, including some tucked at the top of neighbourhood driveways, as well as information about some of the getaway cars used, but no arrests have been made.
Who is responsible for the attack and what their motives are is not clear, but police have said they are investigating a possible link to the anarchist book fair that took place in the city over the weekend.
Later Monday, a sheet of plywood boarded up the window of The Tower, the meeting place of Hamilton anarchists on Cannon Street East at Victoria Avenue. A message was written across it in black letters: “We are not the least afraid of RUINS for we carry a new world here in our hearts” followed by the letter A in a circle, the anarchist symbol.
An anonymous poster on the website Anarchistnews.org claims to have taken part in the rampage, saying ” all my worst bosses have been small business owners — the problem isn’t the size of the business, it’s that the relationship is exploitative.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)