Sarah Boesveld
Toronto — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Jun. 21, 2010 4:09PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Jun. 21, 2010 11:27PM EDT
Police arrested one man at a G20 protest Monday, a move that sets the stage for the week ahead.
The Integrated Security Unit confirmed it arrested Mark Corbiere, an aboriginal-rights activist from the Kitchener-Waterloo area, and charged him with one count of marijuana possession.
Mr. Corbiere was initially pursued by police after allegations a man had broken into a facility at Allan Gardens, said Sergeant Nathalie Deschênes, a spokeswoman for the ISU.
The protest began at Allan Gardens at Jarvis and Gerrard Streets around 2 p.m. before moving toward Dundas Square. Police on the scene told his friends that Mr. Corbiere was arrested for past warrants, although Chris Barton argued that his friend didn’t have any.
The arrest happened around 5 p.m. after protest leaders left a short meeting with officials at the Children’s Aid Society on Isabella Street.
“Let’s disperse and go to the subway before police snatch one of us,” yelled one of the group leaders, Julian Ichim, after emerging from the building.
A moment later, the protester was grabbed by four police officers near the front of the building and surrounded by roughly 30 officers on bicycles. He was wrestled down into a bush, detained and shipped off in an unmarked black Chrysler minivan.
A Twitter account under the name Mark Corbiere released a tweet Monday afternoon saying: “Being detained on gerard/mutual about 7cops#g20.”
Police pulled him aside and took his protest flag earlier in the afternoon as he was approaching the protest at Allan Gardens.
Mr. Corbiere, quoted in news reports as being a representative from M’Chigeeng First Nation, is a member of a Facebook group called Olympic Resistance Network, and has been listed on websites as leader for the network’s Ontario chapter.
Mr. Corbiere is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing Tuesday at 10 a.m.