Machetes, bats and a handgun were among the weapons police seized during the G20 protests over the weekend.
The weapons were shown to the media at a news conference at police headquarters Tuesday, June 29, morning.
“The weaponry that you see displayed before you is just a small portion of the evidence that we gathered of what is most certainly a criminal conspiracy involving not dozens but several hundred people who came from across Canada to commit crimes in our city,” police chief Bill Blair said.
“There must be an accountability for that criminal conspiracy.”
Police also displayed photographs showing members of the Black Bloc participating in a Friday afternoon demonstration organized by the Toronto Community Mobilization Network.
“That group, the Black Bloc terrorists, was included within that crowd, clearly demonstrating the complicity of that organization (community mobilization network) and the people in that demonstration to facilitate the criminal behaviour of the people photographed before you,” alleged Blair, noting the group pelted his officers in front of police headquarters and tried to disrupt a repatriation ceremony for a fallen soldier behind police headquarters last Friday.
Police arrested more than 800 people on the weekend in connection with G20 protests.
“Some people came to Toronto not to protest around a specific issue or to advocate for any change. They came to attack our city, they came to attack the summit, they came to commit crimes,” said Blair.
“So let us not buy any of the non-sensical rhetoric that we have heard from these people as they have emerged from court where they suggest that their purpose was anything less than the criminal intent clearly evident before us.”
Blair said police received thousands of messages of support from across Canada.
“It was a difficult weekend,” the chief said. “We are all deeply disturbed by the crimes that were committed.”