Protest swiftly condemned by all levels of government; organizing group denies hospital targeted
Toronto police say they are increasing their presence along hospital row after a pro-Palestinian protest downtown on Monday night, including outside Mount Sinai Hospital.
Toronto Police Service spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told CBC News the increased police presence is to ensure that essential hospital services and emergency routes remain accessible.
“Interfering with the operations of a hospital is not acceptable,” Sayer wrote in an email.
Police have not said if the hospital’s operations were impacted by the protest. The hospital has not responded to CBC News’s request for comment.
“The Toronto Police Service is investigating several incidents that occurred in front of Mount Sinai Hospital and along the demonstration route. As we have said before, officers use their discretion during large crowd demonstrations and even if arrests are not deemed safe to make at the time, investigations will continue and charges can be laid at a later date,” Sayer said.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
"The Toronto Police Service is investigating several incidents that occurred in front of Mount Sinai Hospital and along the demonstration route.
As we have said before, officers use their discretion during large crowd demonstrations and even if arrests are not deemed safe to make at the time, investigations will continue and charges can be laid at a later date," Sayer said.
In videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, apparently from the time of the protest, a person can be seen climbing an awning that’s branded Mount Sinai Hospital while waving a Palestinian flag.
The protest action was denounced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
In 2021, the federal government introduced Bill C-3, making it an offence to intimidate or prevent patients from seeking care or to interfere with health professionals trying to deliver it, amid anti-vaccine protests during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is an infringement of our constitutional rights and clear efforts to distract from the war crimes being committed on the ground in Gaza, in these ongoing genocide that has taken the lives of over 30,000 innocent civilians, 70 per cent of whom are women and children,” the group said.
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