That is how it’s done.
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A week after getting a lot of criticism for how they handled protests at the corner of Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave., Toronto Police rebounded with a solid effort.
“I want to thank Staff-Sgt. Roger Forde for doing a very good job at Bathurst and Sheppard today,” Meir Weinstein posted to X from his Israel Now account.
That’s high praise, considering a week ago, there was outrage following the arrest of Rebel News founder Ezra Levant at this corner. Police took him away after he tried to take footage of a chair on display at a protest that was supposed to simulate the blood-soaked furniture that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was in when an Israeli missile killed him.
Concerned he was arrested for being Jewish, Levant called for people to join him at the same corner on Sunday, where he fully expected to be arrested again. Toronto Police put out their own notice saying they’ll arrest anyone they deem to be a safety risk or who’s involved in a hate crime.
As the dust was settling, it appears they made no arrests, no one was hurt and everybody got to do what they came there for.
“I am considering this a victory,” said Levant. “A 90% victory.”
While he still “has some concerns” about some of the antisemitic signage showed by some pro-Hamas supporters — and there were some “minor assaults when the police were not looking” — for the most part, he shared Weinstein’s assessment that this was handled well.
There was a shift in approach this time. There was good-humoured banter between the police and pro-Hamas demonstrators coming into a Jewish part of town, and no quotable lines like “I am the law.”
“The temperature was brought down,” said Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell.
Forde and his team of officers did a masterful job in keeping the two sides separated on the same sidewalk.
Rather than keeping them on separate sides of the street, they brought barriers and formed a police wall. Officers kept Pro-Palestinian supporters on one side and the pro-Israel supporters on the other.
Forde had a big challenge there, but was able to communicate well with protest leaders, including Levant.
While pro-Hamas protesters did bring back the contentious Sinwar chair, there was not the same cosplay as the week before and there was not the same protection of it. Anybody could take a picture of what was going on.
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While they still had some pretty salty signs, including mocking Levant, the Pro-Palestine participants showed less vitriol (there was still some) and did not appear to want things to escalate. Levant and Weinstein’s supporters, drinking coffee and eating donuts on what was a frigid day, were also gracious and making their point, but not in an overly aggressive way.
Given the potential for the protest to go out of control, this was a success. This was text book by police, who still reserve the right to follow up with charges should video evidence emerge.
“Police took a more proactive approach to deescalating potential conflicts without unduly compromising anyone’s civil liberties,” said lawyer and journalist Caryma Sa’d, who has attended most of the weekend protests at this corner. “Demonstrators themselves on all sides of this seemed to have adjusted their approach in light of the changing circumstances. Even though emotions at times ran high, and there is still work to do, each side took a relatively level-headed approach to interacting with each other.”
A lot of credit for that happening is going to Forde, who comes from a family of cops. He and his brother, Ryan, followed their father Keith’s footsteps, pursuing careers with the Toronto Police. Keith Forde was Toronto’s first black deputy police chief and, like his sons, was always good at defusing tense situations.
This was one of those times in which his son, Roger, was put to the test.
In addition to getting pats on the back from all sides, he also was given compliments by Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell, who was monitoring the situation out of concern for his officers.
“Roger is a very calm person, and he knows tensions are very high so he just brought everybody down calmed things down and let everyone protest,” he said. “These are volatile situations and there is a lot of tension and frustration on all sides, and he was able to have it go smoothly without any incidents.”
It doesn’t happen often, but in this case, everybody won.