TORONTO — A man angrily staring directly at the camera, his face partially covered with a black bandana as he swings a bag of rocks high above his head, was one of the images Toronto police made public Wednesday as part of their G20 “most wanted” list.
Police are combing through thousands of images and videos they have received from the public and are sifting through a Black Bloc database from Montreal to root out those responsible for G20 violence and vandalism.
With the release Wednesday of their 10 “most wanted” list, police were aiming to build on their success from a similar release of photographs last week.
After the series of six images was released last week, three people were identified overnight and one is now in custody and facing charges, Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux said Wednesday.
Ashran Ravindhraj, 25, of Toronto, surrendered himself to 52 division with the assistance of his lawyer and is now facing charges of arson and two counts of mischief over $5,000. Police allege he smashed windows and burned a police car.
In releasing this round of the “most wanted” G20 suspects, police said they hope to continue the updates on a weekly basis and whittle down about 60 people still wanted for protest violence — with the public’s help.
Giroux urged the public to keep submitting photographs and video images of “criminal acts committed during the G20.” As of Wednesday, the G20 investigative team said they had received more than 14,000 still images and more than 500 videos.
Standing by poster boards displaying photographs of 10 people apparently in the midst of G20-related destruction and violence, Giroux said once those people are identified, police will try to find them, arrest them and charge them.
“Some may be identified, some already have been identified, some may never be identified,” he said.
“The only difficulty that the investigative team has is that, at this point, we don’t know who they are.”
One of the people whose image was released Wednesday was responsible for a “tremendous amount of damage” and an attack on a member of the media, Giroux said while pointing to the picture of the man with the bag of rocks.
Giroux said he will seek co-operation from other provinces or foreign countries if investigations find out that some of the suspects are from those places.
He also has access to a database from police in Montreal with people involved in Black Bloc activities.
So-called Black Bloc tactics were seen on the streets of Toronto on June 26, as roving militants emerged from the crowd to destroy symbols of capitalism, then melted back into the larger group and shed their disguises — black hooded sweatshirts, pants and masks.
In a statement late Wednesday, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network noting they are calling for images and videos showing alleged police brutality during riots.
“Violence and ’blunders’ by police officers in different parts of the city at different times was too well organized to be random, it has to have been ordered and co-ordinated by someone,” said Farrah Miranda of the network.
Giroux said there had been Internet chatter that one of the people in his 10 “most wanted” list was actually a police officer there to stir up trouble for legitimate protesters, but he firmly refuted that suggestion.
Asked to comment on accusations suggesting police ill-treated protesters and misused powers while dealing with the demonstrations, Giroux said his focus was very clear.
“It’s to find as many people as I can in relation to criminality that took place on Saturday June 26, and I don’t include myself in any of these other issues,” he said.
“I know I am not waging a battle for public support. Based on the reaction that I’ve had from the public, I have the public support, it’s overwhelming.”