Beaten G20 protester wants answers

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Beaten G20 protester wants answers

Bethany Horne's picture
Reported by Bethany Horne
Reported on Friday, July 30, 2010
Updated on Saturday, September 11, 2010
Did you see what happened to Kevin Donaghy at Queen and John on Saturday, June 26? Please add your comments below.

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kevegan d

Hi,
my name is Kevin Donaghy. I was a part of the Put People First March that left Queen's Park at approximately 1:45 - 2 pm on Saturday, June 26th during the G20 protests.

I was one of the injuries that followed the first instance of police violence as the No One is Illegal group broke off from the march and began to head down John St. towards the fence. As the march diverted from Queen St. and headed left on John a line of riot police formed in front of us. Within seconds they began swinging their batons at us. I was hit repeatedly in the arms and shoulders and after about 6 strikes to my arms the police officer whose shield I was being pushed up against then cracked me over the head with his night stick and I was instantly knocked unconscious.

I was probably the most serious of the head wound injuries that occurred at that time as I remember there being 2 others in the enclave at the front entrance of a Starbucks that were being tended to by medics as well. As I read reports online I am drawing the conclusion that I was the man who was bleeding profusely, was in shock and required immediate medical attention.

I am having alot of trouble getting hard copy footage either video or photos from the mainstream media. I know they have it because the whole situation occurred right in front of Much Music, the Chum City building and the headquarters for CP24 ...

I was wondering if I could get your assistance in compiling any evidence for my case as I read on your website that " the G20 Toronto Summit is over but questions remain as the city struggles with the aftermath of a weekend that saw hundreds of people detained by police. Tell us your questions and we'll assign a reporter to try to find the answers".

The most important question I guess would be "Can you help me find any footage (video/picture) of me at John & Queen St. prior to, during or after being struck by riot police?"

-Also if you could help me by putting me in contact with people (primarily any of the volunteer medics who assisted people after that first altercation with police at Queen and John St. who may have a way of providing witness statements/testimony that would be greatly appreciated too!!!

I have included a picture of me that I have found from that day (after being hit obviously) plus a link to a CBC news video that played on June 26th on repeat all day long and had brief footage of me bleeding. (http://www.watchmojo.com/tv/Grab/CBC/4225823/)

On that day I was wearing a black garbage bag over a yellow tshirt (see picture of me leading the student march that met with the rally at Queens Park prior to the Put People First March) navy blue shorts, a grey hat, goggles and a red and white kuffiya (Palestinian solidarity scarf). I also have fruits and vegetables tattooed on my left arm so that may help in identifying any pictures from independent sources that you might be able to help me find.

If you fast forward to about 2 minutes and 44 seconds into the news clip you can see footage of me after being brutally beaten over the head by riot police with a police baton.

I subsequently was rushed to hospital... though being delayed by the police for over an hour... and received 4 x rays and 11 staples to put my head back together again.

I realize that this may be a bit of a bigger research undertaking then you anticipate people to be asking for assistance with but any help I can get in compiling evidence for my case is greatly appreciated

He blacks out. He wakes up. He touches his head and is surprised to feel it is soaking wet. He can’t see clearly because he isn’t wearing his glasses. The swim goggles he has on instead are filling up with the liquid dripping down his head. It’s not water. He realizes it is his own blood.

Kevin Donaghy came to Toronto from Ottawa with five friends. On Saturday, June 26, they joined the People First march to protest the G20 summit. The large banner they held read: “Dear Capitalist: Hands Off the Planet.”

Donaghy, 23, and his friends were not dressed in black. Police had confiscated their poles earlier in the day, and so they carried their banner, made of an old sheet, by its top corners. They joined the thousands of people who started streaming out of Queen’s Park in the pouring rain at 1:30 p.m.

The march crawled south on University Ave., then west on Queen St. A whisper started spreading through Donaghy’s section of the crowd. The words going from mouth to ear all the way down the line were “John St., south on John St.”

Led by some members of the activist group No One Is Illegal, people were planning to break from the main march to try to reach the highly reinforced security fence that encircled the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where the G20 summit was based.

Donaghy says that in discussions before travelling to Toronto, he and his friends had decided that reaching the fence to protest would be an important symbolic step to take, so they prepared to follow the group that would lead the breakaway.

It was almost 2:30 p.m., according to a Toronto Sun timeline, by the time Donaghy’s section of the march reached the intersection of Queen and John, where police were blocking the road south to the fence. The crowd had succeeded in moving a few metres down John St., but the line of police quickly strengthened itself and the protesters ended up facing off with a line of tightly linked riot shields.

It was at this point that police hit him six times in the arms and shoulders, Donaghy says. “As I turned to check on my friends, that’s when I blacked out.”

He had received the head injury that would send him in and out of consciousness for the next hour, sitting on the side of the street as his vital signs weakened.

Until this point, the protest had been peaceful and there had been no violent confrontations. It wasn’t until about 3:30 p.m., an hour later, that vandals using black bloc tactics started smashing storefronts on Queen St. W.

Donaghy eventually was taken to hospital in a fruit and vegetable delivery van. The injury cost him his job when he got back to Ottawa.

He is still trying to understand what happened and has asked OpenFile for help. We are continuing to investigate.

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