'Occupy Toronto' has had violent moments: protester
	
CP24 @ 1 p.m. - Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011
Sat Nov. 05 2011 5:29:29 PM |Web staff, cp24.com 

As protesters with the Occupy Toronto movement spend their 21st day squatting in St. James Park new details are emerging about the seedy side of the indefinite protest.

On Saturday afternoon Alexander Braun, who is participating in the movement, told CP24 that several assaults have occurred in the park in recent days, resulting in the banishment of a number of individuals.

"There have been (assaults) and they have been dealt with promptly," he told CP24s Katie Simpson. "When people cross the line when it comes to peaceful cohabitating we ask them to leave and if they return to the park charges can be pressed. We can't have the movement become a victim of violence."

Braun said people have been banished from the park for everything from fighting to drug and alcohol use.

He cautioned that nobody has been seriously injured as a result and said police have played an integral role when it comes to dealing with troublemakers.

A Sgt. with 51 Division confirmed this much, telling CP24 that police have conducted investigations following several incidents in the park, but have not yet laid any charges.

"They are helping us deal with unstable individuals and if there is a criminal activity we have liaisons who can get them engaged in helping to remove unwanted individuals who are disturbing peace," Braun said.

The Occupy Toronto movement is part of a worldwide movement protesting the growing gap between the rich and the poor, among other issues.

The movement began three Saturday's ago when about 2,000 protesters marched to St. James Park from the city's financial district.

Since that day the numbers in the park have thinned, but a few hundred remain and have been participating in various marches and protests throughout the city.

On Saturday afternoon about 200 protesters marched from St. James Park to city hall, briefly tying up traffic on both King and Bay Street as a result. 

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