Tory Is Begging Toronto To Keep It Peaceful Ahead Of Rumoured Riots This Weekend
John Tory has a message for people planning more protests in Toronto -- keep it peaceful. Thousands participated in a peaceful demonstration for Regis Korchinski-Paquet last weekend. Now, police say they are aware of social media posts about a possible riot in the city on Saturday, June 6.
After last Saturday's event in honour of Korchinski-Paquet and Black Lives Matter, it sounds like other plans may be in the works for this coming weekend.
A Toronto Police spokesperson told Narcity by email, "We are aware of various social media posts regarding protest activity in the city."
"We will continue to monitor and respond, if necessary, to ensure the safety of everyone involved."
Tory shared his thoughts on the matter during a virtual City Hall meeting on Tuesday.
"I reject the fact that there's any reasonable critical mass of people that are interested in any way shape or form in having any kind of a disturbance on June 6 or any other date," stated Tory.
"I think the real message, in this case, is to say to people, 'If you are one of these sorry trouble-causers that I think by and large spend a lot of your time in your basement typing out these messages about this kind of activity, forget it,'" he continued.
"This is not the Toronto way."
Tory also commented on the police's response, who will be "vigilant as they are every day" to keep the city safe.
"We can go about having whatever kind of protest or commemorations may be necessary to move these conversations forward," he continued.
According to the Toronto Star, some storefronts in downtown Toronto began to board up their windows on Monday.
The Star reports that among those stores is the Hudson's Bay at Yonge Street and Queen Street and the Best Buy on Bay Street and Dundas Street.
"I think the vast majority of those who share these concerns, which are all the people of Toronto, frankly, would have no interest whatsoever in seeing the kind of activity we've seen elsewhere going on in our city whether it's the looting, other damage to property, or other misbehaviour," said Tory.
"So while the police will monitor this, I'm very confident the people of Toronto will not engage in that kind of conduct," he added.
Also on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford insisted to reporters that people in Ontario "just wouldn't tolerate" the kind of rioting seen in the U.S.
The country has already seen demonstrations in solidarity with Black Lives Matter in Montreal in recent days, during which a handful of protestors were arrested.