Anti-G8 demonstrators say that they were forced to leave the scene of yesterday's 2002 MuchMusic Video Awards after security guards threatened to drag them away for displaying protest signs on the sidewalk outside the building.
One protester, known only as Dubya, was holding a sign reading, "Youth against the G8," while the station was broadcasting live its red-carpet arrivals. His sign was visible in the background, apparently causing the confrontation with security.
The broadcast and street party shut down Queen Street from University Avenue to Spadina Avenue.
"Even in public spaces our anti-G8 message is contentious and deliberately censored by the mainstream media," one activist said. Another noted that the group was shunted aside even as it tried to publicize its concerns within the shadow of Speaker's Corner, "the place where freedom of expression is supposedly celebrated by MuchMusic."
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.