blake 3:17
8th June 2013, 03:41
This is kind of amazing. Two right of centre columnists covering the current slightly convoluted court proceedings of Adam Nobody (yeah that's his name and part of the reason he got beat up) have been entirely sympathetic to him and his case.
Adam Nobody witness calm, collected on stand at G20 officers assault trial
TORONTO John Bridge was a dream witness.
Smart, polite and despite dogged attempts to paint him to the contrary without an axe to grind, Bridge was one of the amateur videographers whose footage of the G20 protests in Toronto three years ago, which he posted on YouTube, brought him a measure of attention.
He was the first witness to testify Wednesday at the trial of Toronto Police Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, who is charged with assaulting Adam Nobody.
If Mr. Nobody became what one newspaper called at the time the battered face of the G20 protests, so Bridge may be the cheerful face of good citizenship, of all those who were swept up in that huge event and kept their wits about them.
...
The 39-year-old web designer, a native Newfoundlander, arrived at Queens Park that day around suppertime, his trusty Canon point-and-shoot in hand.
The police were forming a line on College Street as he got there.
At some point not much later, police on horses came up through the crowd in front of the legislature, two or three times, Bridge said. He said he saw a man run down by a horse, and on the line, officers began rapping their riot shields, and advancing.
People were getting scared, he told prosecutor Philip Perlmutter.
What prompted him to start the camera, Bridge said, was a woman in a wheelchair, being passed by the horses.
She was leaving the area, Bridge said, but was slower, not having the ability to get out of the way as quickly as everyone else it was disconcerting.
When he saw officers break from the line and start chasing a man, whom Bridge now knows was Mr. Nobody, he started filming.
I think he was just trying to get out of there, Bridge said. He did a double-time run to get out of the way.
He saw an officer bring him to the ground with a hand on Mr. Nobodys shoulder, he said, then Mr. Nobody was surrounded by officers. (There appear to have been five actively involved in the arrest.)
I didnt see any resistance, he said. I dont think he (Mr. Nobody) was a big enough guy to get them off him he wanted to. He was blocked, just covered in police officers.
Was he able to move? Perlmutter asked.
No sir, said Bridge.
He was later interviewed by the provinces Special Investigations Unit, which probes all incidents where citizens are killed or seriously hurt in confrontations with police, was contacted by Mr. Nobody, who until then was a stranger to him, and ultimately even met Mr. Nobodys lawyers, Julian Falconer and Sunil Mathai, who represent the 30-year-old stagehand in a civil suit against the police.
After a news conference at Falconers office, in fact, the four Messrs. Nobody, Falconer, Mathai and Bridge went to a Raptors game on Falconers dime.
And Bridge and Mr. Nobody have since formed an amiable if casual relationship; they run into one another at concerts, where Mr. Nobody works setting up the stage, and are Facebook friends. The two were also featured in a French documentary about the SIU, and exchanged a hug on camera.
...
While it is surely unusual that an alleged victim and a witness should become friendly, and while Blacks questions were utterly legitimate, Bridges steadfast character defeated the thrust.
You have a social relationship, a friendly relationship (with Mr. Nobody), Black said at one point. Do you think youre completely neutral?
I wouldnt say anybody could be completely neutral about any subject, Bridge replied in his even way.
At the press conference, Black snorted, you seemed part of the litigation team.
Bridge replied that Mr. Nobody was grateful and had thanked him.
He seemed to think he would have been in prison had it not been for his video, Bridge said. I didnt see anything that would have warranted him being in prison.
Black could neither rile nor rattle Bridge. Only once did he get the least bit cheeky, this when Black, trying to ascertain what time Bridge had arrived at Queens Park, barked, What do you mean by suppertime?
http://o.canada.com/2013/06/05/adam-nobody-witness-calm-collected-on-stand-at-g20-officers-assault-trial/
Adam Nobody witness calm, collected on stand at G20 officers assault trial
TORONTO John Bridge was a dream witness.
Smart, polite and despite dogged attempts to paint him to the contrary without an axe to grind, Bridge was one of the amateur videographers whose footage of the G20 protests in Toronto three years ago, which he posted on YouTube, brought him a measure of attention.
He was the first witness to testify Wednesday at the trial of Toronto Police Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, who is charged with assaulting Adam Nobody.
If Mr. Nobody became what one newspaper called at the time the battered face of the G20 protests, so Bridge may be the cheerful face of good citizenship, of all those who were swept up in that huge event and kept their wits about them.
...
The 39-year-old web designer, a native Newfoundlander, arrived at Queens Park that day around suppertime, his trusty Canon point-and-shoot in hand.
The police were forming a line on College Street as he got there.
At some point not much later, police on horses came up through the crowd in front of the legislature, two or three times, Bridge said. He said he saw a man run down by a horse, and on the line, officers began rapping their riot shields, and advancing.
People were getting scared, he told prosecutor Philip Perlmutter.
What prompted him to start the camera, Bridge said, was a woman in a wheelchair, being passed by the horses.
She was leaving the area, Bridge said, but was slower, not having the ability to get out of the way as quickly as everyone else it was disconcerting.
When he saw officers break from the line and start chasing a man, whom Bridge now knows was Mr. Nobody, he started filming.
I think he was just trying to get out of there, Bridge said. He did a double-time run to get out of the way.
He saw an officer bring him to the ground with a hand on Mr. Nobodys shoulder, he said, then Mr. Nobody was surrounded by officers. (There appear to have been five actively involved in the arrest.)
I didnt see any resistance, he said. I dont think he (Mr. Nobody) was a big enough guy to get them off him he wanted to. He was blocked, just covered in police officers.
Was he able to move? Perlmutter asked.
No sir, said Bridge.
He was later interviewed by the provinces Special Investigations Unit, which probes all incidents where citizens are killed or seriously hurt in confrontations with police, was contacted by Mr. Nobody, who until then was a stranger to him, and ultimately even met Mr. Nobodys lawyers, Julian Falconer and Sunil Mathai, who represent the 30-year-old stagehand in a civil suit against the police.
After a news conference at Falconers office, in fact, the four Messrs. Nobody, Falconer, Mathai and Bridge went to a Raptors game on Falconers dime.
And Bridge and Mr. Nobody have since formed an amiable if casual relationship; they run into one another at concerts, where Mr. Nobody works setting up the stage, and are Facebook friends. The two were also featured in a French documentary about the SIU, and exchanged a hug on camera.
...
While it is surely unusual that an alleged victim and a witness should become friendly, and while Blacks questions were utterly legitimate, Bridges steadfast character defeated the thrust.
You have a social relationship, a friendly relationship (with Mr. Nobody), Black said at one point. Do you think youre completely neutral?
I wouldnt say anybody could be completely neutral about any subject, Bridge replied in his even way.
At the press conference, Black snorted, you seemed part of the litigation team.
Bridge replied that Mr. Nobody was grateful and had thanked him.
He seemed to think he would have been in prison had it not been for his video, Bridge said. I didnt see anything that would have warranted him being in prison.
Black could neither rile nor rattle Bridge. Only once did he get the least bit cheeky, this when Black, trying to ascertain what time Bridge had arrived at Queens Park, barked, What do you mean by suppertime?
http://o.canada.com/2013/06/05/adam-nobody-witness-calm-collected-on-stand-at-g20-officers-assault-trial/