#lolife — Public Fediverse posts

We're marching and somehow, I'm on flank.

I'm officially too old for flank.
I need to train some youth to do this.

#LOLife #LegalObservers #TorontoActions

Since we went off on our own, Orange Hats has expanded our legal support functions well beyond legal observing.

We are currently compiling a comprehensive list of what we do, both for the granting process and our site. Inl would say 75% of what we do is effectively invisible.

At Protests

• Quick KYR Training;
• Watch and document cops' behaviour;
• Arrange for legal support if there are arrests.

At Police Stations

• Arrest/Jail support (function as the point of contact between legal team and those awaiting for arrestees to be released);
• Accompany people when they need to get fingerprints and photos taken, or to do turn-ins.
• Accompany people when they have to file a report.

In Court

We attend court or just accompany people to the courthouse, typically during the self-rep stages, to help manage expectations and provide moral support, as well as to help navigate the system where appropriate.

Other

• Facilitate workshops around police and the broader carceral system, particularly with youth and marginalized communities;
• Provide one-on-one information about what to expect in various encounters with the carceral system;
• Connect people to supports;
• Track trends in police behaviour vis-à-vis activists and protests;
• Track police brutality and police-caused injuries.

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@Gigi/115935282682549053

#LegalObservers #LOLife

2/

If you are an activist in Toronto and you need help navigating the legal system (cops/court) that's what Orange Hats is for.

We're also actively seeking politically-aligned* people who are interested in helping others navigate the legal system so we can build more capacity.

It can be something as simple but meaningful as attending a police division with a marginalized person. You'd be surprised what a difference it makes.

Our presence at protests is way less than half of what we do.

Ping me and I'll give you the org Signal contact.

____

* we don't want to have to start from "police are NOT, in fact, your friends."

#TorontoActivists
#LOLife #LegalObservers #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

Today in #FuckThePolice
(Actually "Last week in #FTP" but I just found it)

This asshole is BUSTED.

One of the things we do at Orange Hats arrest support, including accompany people for turn-ins and fingerprinting (and honestly, we need more capacity, because I'd love us to have a team to help people with FOI requests and getting prints/photos expunged).

This asshole is Desk Sergeant McCormick.
https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/news-releases/65035/

We have literally taken up warning marginalized people not to go into 52 during his shifts, because he is such an abusive dick. I just did this again 3 days ago.

The worst incident involved him assaulting the person I had accompanied for prints because she knew her rights and refused to answer questions the cops are not even supposed to ask.

Dude was apoplectic.
His face was so red I thought he might actually die on the spot because a Black woman and a Palestinian woman were telling him "no."

That's when he decided to grab her arm and physically throw her from the building. He opted not to touch me.

🐖🐖🐖Dudes🐖🐖🐖
I AM LITERALLY THERE TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T VIOLATE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS, AND I HAVE MULTIPLE LAWYERS ON SPEED DIAL TO VERIFY WHAT I SAY AND IN CASE YOU MANAGE TO THROW ME A LOOP.

(BTW, there used to be cards in the prints room that specified what the cops will ask — name, dob, address — but those all vanished a little over a year ago when they decided that they were going to try to violate people's rights much more intensely and see what they could get away with.)

FROM THE TPS MEDIA RELEASE:

A Toronto Police officer has been arrested and charged by the Toronto Police Service.

It is alleged that:

• in multiple instances in October 2025, the accused took property that was delivered to 52 Division instead of logging it
• following an investigation, multiple items were recovered, including government-issued identification, bank cards, and passports; some of these items had previously been reported stolen to the Toronto Police Service.

Constable Derek McCormick, 56, has been arrested and charged with:

• four counts of Theft Under $5,000
• Breach of Trust
• Obstruct Justice

#LOLife #LegalObservers #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle #Abolish #FuckThePolice

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@Gigi/115889399002860156

#1. The SIU investigation they thought they were getting away without.

These motherfuckers are lucky they're not catching a total of 9 SIU investigations.

https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/crime-emergency-services/siu-investigating-after-protester-injured-interaction-with-officer-11741752

Let this be a reminder to these racist shitbags why you don't do this shit in front of me, and to stop listening to my racist shitbag stalker re: why I am on site.

I loathe being on TV, almost as much as I loathe cops, but I can get used to it if need be. I don't even think the Self-Investigation Unit serves a purpose other than mild inconvenience and embarrassment, but it's the tool I've got, so watch me use it. 🖕🏾🖕🏾🖕🏾

#FuckThePolice #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #LOLife #LegalObservers

Another pre-sunrise trip.
Another blurry sky photo from a moving vehicle.

Another adventure in people's rights.

#LOLife #LegalSupport

Not me leaving from a training to go to a cop shop to find out whether the cops are violating the rights of a minor.

Long day.
Bad cops.
No donuts.
With bonus stalkers.

#LOLife #LegalObservers

Had a lovely evening chilling with friends and colleagues. Good people, good food, good music.

We need to do that far more often, just hanging out while nothing is exploding around us.

The one thing we could ALL agree on was:
We are glad af not to have been LOing at this shitshow:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/9/uk-police-arrest-at-least-200-in-palestine-action-protest-in-london

I guess we should ramp up the training even more than we are, just in case.

#Toronto #TorontoActivists #LOLife #LegalObservers

The action wrapped when they gave a 10 minute warning.

We have too many fucking cops in this City.
Did we need 22 cops to spend 2 hours sitting/standing around watching people mourn? Absofuckinglutely not.

MacDouche and co should fuck ALL THE WAY off and stop wasting money.

#FuckThePolice #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle
#TorontoActions #LOLife #LegalObservers

So @OrangeHats is why I have been so scarce lately. At least about 75% of it.

And it's paying off.
We just won a substantial grant (that hasn't been officially announced yet, so holding off on the name) to further our efforts to educate and back up community.

This really helps as we've been doing this shit out-of-pocket for YEARS. Even just defraying travel and printing costs would be a big help, but we got enough to cover hosting space and honoraria as well.

Moving forward.
We're already fairly racially diverse, but I want to actively increase the numbers of the Pack of Blacks in Orange Hats, as well as having the numbers to do equivalent teams for Global South and East Asian peeps.

Why would I want ✌🏾"segregated"✌🏾 teams?
Look at the body language as Forde explains why he HAD to do the police brutality we witnessed. Disapproval from your own hits differently.

(That footage is coming, by the way.)

Also, the roots of legal observing are actually in the Panther Patrols, not the NLG formalized/professionalized versions (more at the link).
https://kolektiva.social/@OrangeHats/114543446196532037

Every community targeted by cops needs a pig patrol.

With the new protest bubble bullshit, and with multiple levels of government actively attempting to criminalize poverty and houselessness, this is going to be a fucking summer of shit.

But #Toronto we are going to be right there with you. Get trained up.

We're literally doing trainings weekly and we're expanding the topics.
There was a weekend workshop on encampment defence 2 weeks ago, but we're working on a modular basis.

Watch our website and our socials for deets.

And if you think having a wack stalker team of fascist bootlickers literally lurking in the bushes outside is going to stop me, well, how's that been working out for them?

(And frankly, you'd think they have more to do given how prolific their former Basement Nazi is at disseminating the Inside Story. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Somebody sent me an I-don't-know-how-many page PDF yesterday that I just can't see myself opening, to be honest. Sorry. But other people are eating it up. I'm just a little busy for YA writing, and frankly, she needs to make it more of a guilty pleasure than a slog.)

See you in the streets.

#LegalObservers #LOLife #TorontoActivists

The fact they're doing this METRES AWAY FROM THE LITERAL HOMELESS MEMORIAL is disgusting as shit.

In about 15 mins I have to dip briefly for a protest (there are 2 other LOs here rn), but the residents have approved the callout for more bodies on the ground for the pending clearing that the motherfuckers absolutely confirmed is happening.

Unfriendly reminder that at St Stephen's, the motherfuckers waited us out and didn't do THAT clearing until night.

Apparently, the City needs the park empty to "repair the grass and fix the paving stones".

Fuck everything.

#HousingIsAHumanRight #HousingForAll #HousingNow #CommunityDefence #TorontoActions #LOLife

As expected, every fash media asshole in this city is here, because they're disappointed that they missed last year's shit show.

Also, cops out the wazoo.

#LandDay #Toronto #TorontoActions #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #EndTheSiege #GenocideIsNotDefence #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle #FuckThePolice #LOLife #LegalObservers

And you can watch today's #Indigo11 press conference here:

https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJOlXazrkxR

#IndigoKillsKids #TorontoActivists #Toronto #FreePalestine

_____

(Yes, that's me in the Orange Hat holding a sign for less than 2 minutes, before the dickhead cops rolled up and made me go watch them while they pointlessly guarded the courthouse EXIT. A weird attempt to intimidate people, I guess.)

#LOLife #LegalObservers
#FuckThePolice #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle

All righty!
Beginning of a very long week it is!

Last week, though, was all about the new CopWatch trainings.

I love teaching law students.
Even the obvious douchebags*.
_____

(*Not in last week's class since it was a special case. The upcoming ones are general student body ones, though.)

#LOLife #LegalObservers #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #PoliceDontPreventCrime #DefundDisarmDismantle #FuckThePolice

It's always entertaining to me to be spotted by the cops while going about my business. I just got spotted by a bike cop who nearly fell off his bike watching me instead of where he was going.

And just to make it clear, he uttered a little exclamation:
What the heck!

Well, sir, It could be that I just went and grabbed some dinner. It could also be that I'm on my way to a protest.

I guess you'll find out soon enough.

#Toronto #LOLife #LegalObservers

Very protesty day today.

US Consulate. Save our Sites. Bill Blair.

Looking forward to getting warm.

#LOLife #LegalObservers #TorontoActions #Toronto

This doesn't do justice to our ludicrous rear escort.

#TorontoActions #LOLife #LegalObservers #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

And this is why I didn't want to go back to the old ways.

I do not have to quietly observe this bullshit anymore.

#OrangeHats #LOLife #LegalObservers

And thus ends my last LO gig.
Good night and good luck.

See you in the streets.
✊🏾 🤎 😘

#LegalObservers #LOLife
#CommunityDefence #TorontoActions

We're down to one ranty auntie (is that Bahira?) and a walk-through by Al SatanIsYourDaddy (Banerjee's weird sidekick/hypeman).

The cops left en masse, so I think it's time to call it and see if the cops are harassing Indigenous folks at their action.

#TorontoActions #Toronto #FuckTransphobia #WhoKeepsUsSafe #CommunityDefence
#LOLife #LegalObservers

Smells kinda fascist out tonight.

JDL. Banerjee. 🤮

#FashWatchCanada #JDL
#FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #EndTheSiege
#LOLife

I feel like this song just needs to be played whenever pepper spraying happens.

#JailSupport #TorontoActions #LOLife #FuckThePolice #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #DefundDisarmDismantle

At the other end of the GTA, a banger example of why activists should take #LegalObservers training, even if they don't officially put it to use.

Knowing what to look for and how to document police is a useful set of skills.

I highly recommend taking it where you are if you see it offered.

#LOLife

Days like today make me glad I upgraded my umbrella hat.

#TorontoActions #LOLife #LegalObservers

Just trained new Legal Observers!

🥳 🥳 🥳

Always good to have more eyes on the cops.

#LOLife #LegalObservers #FuckThePolice

Cops will sometimes go to extreme lengths to avoid that accountability.

And no, that's not just an "elsewhere" problem.

#LOLife #LegalObservers #FuckThePolice #DefundDisarmDismantle #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

Day — I don't even know what day it is. 19? Seems about right. It's not important, really.

#UofT #SolidarityEncampment

Shitty white guy number 584,322 decided to come to the encampment to grace us with his wisdom, just as my LO shift was ending and I was on MY time.

I'm choosing not to post his photo, because, let's face it, he's fucking interchangeable with the 584,321 who've come before him. He just had the misfortune of getting my opinion of entitled douchebags who think that people are obligated to have THE SAME FUCKING CONVERSATION OVER AND OVER, with every random asshole who walks up.

Honestly, "what does this have to do with my race?" How about the fact that YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TOLD THAT YOU'RE FUCKING REDUNDANT (he has now). That and the fact that it's never even occurred to you that YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE some amazing, insightful tidbit that will set the world ablaze, is a testament to just how fucking coddled you have been.

If he was a FRACTION of the level of smart he thought he was, he would have run away while I was still grumbling quietly about "white entitlement" before it made it to the top of the hour and I was free to comment at full volume.

I need to sit at that gate more often when I am not obligated to grouse quietly at nonsense.

#WhiteEntitlement #LOLife

Day 11
#UofT #SolidarityEncampment

Angry entitled white dude arrived 3:30pm-ish and was super aggro about not being let in, despite having made a complete ass of himself the last time he was there AND let in.

Says he ✌🏾"just wants to open a dialogue"✌🏾 about what's happening in Gaza.

Ain't no one need hear your shitty rehashed talking points 🦭🦭🦭

Was still there when I left, 20 minutes ago.

He was briefly joined by a KKKonvoy Karen who kept trying to get everyone to remove their masks because ✌🏾"Covid is over and they don't work anyway"✌🏾. Also a whiny blonde woman with a purse that would feed a— how did you put it, @Cherrycola — family of five for a week? Anyhoo, she was mad at the whole world.

Not really sure why Israeli settler-colonialists feel the need to come be enraged by the thing they know will enrage them. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Also, all the n-bombs that have been dropped in my earshot since the encampment opened have come from — *dun dun dun* — the Israelis. i guess they want to make sure we know what they're saying, so not bothering with Yiddish. I mean, if the point is to disprove the "Israel is a racist state" chant, you're doing a really bad job.

On the plus side, we had a visit from Sophie the corgi.

#sealioning #WhiteEntitlement
#LOLife #ZionismIsWhiteSupremacy

Ahh memories.

I wandered over to see how many cops are still hiding behind Balzac's, and I passed this site.

"You're a legal observer, right? Can you stay while we get the truck?"

#215Children #RyersonNoMore #LOLife

5 hours after the blockade started, the train is finally going through.

#FuckThePolice #ArmsEmbargoNow
#FreePalestine #LOLife

#JailSupport tomorrow.

Poetry can be so powerful.
At the Read-In Against Indigo.

❝
It is said:
We have more dead than names to call them.
❞
— Shams

#Indigo11 #DropTheCharges #TorontoActions

#LOLife

#LOLife Friday report:

I'm tired and tired of these fucking fascists.

#FuckHomophobes #FuckHomophobia #FuckTransphobia
#WhoKeepsUsSafe #CommunityDefence #FashWatch #FashWatchCanada #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

Fucking fash.
Being shut down.

Should look familiar to some people.

#AlertaAlertaAntifascista #LOLife
#DragDefence #DragDefense #DragStoryTime #DragDefenders #FuckHomophobes #FuckHomophobia #FuckTransphobia
#WhoKeepsUsSafe #CommunityDefence #FashWatch #FashWatchCanada #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

Coordinating the Legal Observers for the U of T part of the RBC Off Campus Day of Action. There are also actions taking place at other universities, and we have an LO Team at the York action this afternoon.

🌿 • ☘️ • 🍃 • 🌿 • 🍀 • 🍃 • 🍁

RBC is the number one funder of fossil fuels in Canada and the fifth largest funder in the world, having LED 262 billion dollars Canadian to fossil fuel projects since 2016.

RBC is also the lead financier of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, which does not have the consent of the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs who are the rightful title holders of the land the pipeline will cross, and a lead funder of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which does not have consent from local First Nations including the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. By funding these projects, RBC is violating the principles of three, prior, and informed consent under United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and ignoring direct calls from the front lines to drop the project.

🌿 • ☘️ • 🍃 • 🌿 • 🍀 • 🍃 • 🍁

*snip*

🌿 • ☘️ • 🍃 • 🌿 • 🍀 • 🍃 • 🍁

DEMANDS:
Thus, we call on the UTSU to cut ties with RBC and develop a pathway to end on-campus relationship by taking the following actions:

1. Release a statement publicly, or sign on to a joint statement of student unions, condemning RBC's complacency in the climate crisis and ongoing involvement in projects that violate the rights and title of Indigenous people, like the CGL and TMX Pipelines.

2. Open a pilot account with Vancity or another credit union, and develop and release publicly a report investigating the process of a full transition away from banking with the RBC.

3. Develop a policy that prohibits banks' sponsorship of utsu events and activities, as well as booting in student union spaces (including club fairs, frosh week, and so on).

4. Disclose the details of the contract that the UTSU holds with the RBC On Campus branch.

🌿 • ☘️ • 🍃 • 🌿 • 🍀 • 🍃 • 🍁

More at the petition:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3jOvED8a1z3QFMo_dQK-bcFUoeAtcs34Awh5pLgnHdFEP7g/viewform?usp=sf_link

#Environment #TorontoActions #LOLife #RBCOffCampus #stopCGL #OffTheYintah

Man, I am not a morning person, so I'm trying to force myself to crash soonish.

Long day of Legal Observing tomorrow.

💤 🛌 💤

#SeeYouInTheStreets
#TorontoActions #LOLife