Toronto police chief apologizes after video of cops carrying coffee at protest sparks outrage
Toronto’s police chief is apologizing after officers were filmed bringing coffee and donuts to protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration over the weekend.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have been demonstrating at the Avenue Road overpass over Highway 401 for several weeks, sometimes clashing with pro-Israel counter-demonstrators.
Video shared with CP24 by a lawyer who was at the protest on Jan. 6 shows officers bringing Tim Hortons coffee and donuts to protesters on the bridge.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
In the video, the protester who is handed the coffee says that police were preventing more protesters from joining the demonstration on the overpass, but agreed to carry over the refreshments which had been bought for them.
"The coffee was bought for us, but police won't let them in. So the police are now becoming our little messengers between us," he said.
Police are seen handing over coffee from protesters who were blocked from joining a demonstration on the Avenue Road overpass of Highway 401 Jan. 6. (Courtesy Caryma Sa’d)
Images of the officers handing the protesters coffee sparked outrage online.
"Here's an idea. How about not delivering coffee to protesters who are disrupting traffic and blocking a bridge?," one person said on X.
The overpass is located in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, and area residents have said they feel the protests are aimed, in part, at intimidating them.
In a statement issued later, Chief Myron Demkiw didn't specifically reference the coffee, but said "questions have been raised" about one particular interaction between officers and a protester on the bridge.
"Whatever the intent, the impact has been to cause concern and confusion, and for that, I am sorry," the chief said. "I immediately convened Command meetings and ordered a thorough review of the day's events and to ensure that the most effective operational planning and responses are in place."
The chief added: "Let me be clear and unequivocal: our commitment to keeping our city's Jewish community safe is unwavering. We are doing everything we can in the locations that have been targeted for demonstration to uphold and enforce the law."
Toronto Police have said in the past that while they will protect the right of people to demonstrate in public, they will not allow protests around critical infrastructure such as highways. It’s not entirely clear why the overpass protests have been allowed to continue.
In a separate incident Sunday, Mayor Olivia Chow's New Year's Levee skate party at Nathan Phillips Square was crashed by another group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who went onto the ice and shouted her down as she was making her comments.
She responded to some of the protesters calling for a ceasefire, referring them to a statement she made back in November, which called for "the immediate and unconditional return of all hostages and a ceasefire."
In that same statement she said she was hearing daily reports about people feeling fearful and targeted amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas war and she called on Torontonians "to be the best of themselves."
But she struggled to speak over continued chanting Sunday as she recalled how Nathan Phillips Square was one of the first places she felt she belonged as a young immigrant from Hong Kong.
The skate party featured free hot chocolate and cookies, indigenous sports, and an opportunity to skate with the players from Toronto’s new Professional Women’s Hockey League team.
Chow later tweeted about the skate party, but did not mention the protesters.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.