London has made Gizmodo

[K85]

http://gizmodo.com/5843559/police-of...o-stop-a-fight


Police Officer Tases Teenager in the Face to Stop a Fight

This is outrageous. Officers in London, Ontario approached this fight this Thursday with the hope of stopping it. The response was to tase the youth in the face. In what world is that appropriate?

The London police are already conducting an investigation into the matter, but you can already hear the outrage on the part of the witnesses at the scene. I love that the "Don't Tase Me, Bro" lesson keeps needing to be taught. [Daily Mail]

[haljackey]

It's cool that London has made Gizmodo... To bad it wasn't in a positive way.

[manny_santos]

Londontario has made international headlines for all the wrong reasons twice within the last couple of days: the taser incident, and the banana throwing incident at the JLC. Both made the Daily Mail, and the banana throwing incident was broadcast all over North America. And of course there was the transgendered vendor at Trails End who was asked not to come back, which surprisingly hasn't garnered attention outside London.

I'll give Joe Fontana credit for lashing out in the media and on Facebook against the people who are giving London black eyes.

[Symz]

That's unfortunate. In Windsor we heard all about the banana incident

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by K85

[url]This is outrageous. The London police are already conducting an investigation into the matter, but you can already hear the outrage on the part of the witnesses at the scene. I love that the "Don't Tase Me, Bro" lesson keeps needing to be taught. [Daily Mail]

The punk got what he deserved. If you want to fight on the streets of London, be prepared to be taken down by all means possible. Watch the video and you will see this punk was the aggressive one. I also understand that this was the third fight this week that these guys were in. Watching a 50 second clip on youtube doesn't tell the whole story.

[MolsonExport]

I find the banana incident more shocking. Swastika gardens. Bananas. What kind of town is this place?

[Wharn]

I honestly don't see what the big deal about the banana is. It's just a fruit, someone was probably trying to be a funny guy by whipping it onto the ice. What's everyone so shocked and pissed off about?

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

The punk got what he deserved. If you want to fight on the streets of London, be prepared to be taken down by all means possible. Watch the video and you will see this punk was the aggressive one. I also understand that this was the third fight this week that these guys were in. Watching a 50 second clip on youtube doesn't tell the whole story.

I agree, although the cop should have probably issued some sort of verbal warning first (if he did it was not apparent in the video). Normally, I'd be pretty pissed about this, but in this case, I'm almost glad the guy got tased. His behaviour is exactly the sort of thing that wrecks the appeal of the downtown core and is exactly what everyone on SSP is constantly railing against. The cop may have been nothing more than a citizen frustrated with the declining downtown, and this incident may have been nothing more than the straw that broke the camel's back.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Wharn

I honestly don't see what the big deal about the banana is. It's just a fruit, someone was probably trying to be a funny guy by whipping it onto the ice. What's everyone so shocked and pissed off about?

It's interesting how different the reaction has been to this compared to when waffles were thrown onto the ice at a Leafs game last year. Many people thought the waffles were funny.

There is racist implication about bananas and black people because historically "monkey" was one of the words used to describe them. People used the word to imply they were "subhuman".

London isn't alone in racial problems though. I spent much of my summer in Simcoe, where there is a large number of migrant farm workers from countries such as Jamaica, many of whom are black. There is a house in Simcoe where there is a statue of a black boy holding a watermelon prominently displayed in front of the house. Watermelons, by the way, are associated with black slavery.


Own work

Disgusting.

[Blitz]

I have no issue with the taser incident - punks need to be shown whose boss. The banana thing just shows that you can find idiots everywhere...the incident happened in London but the person that threw it could be from anywhere, including Michigan. We just don't know.

[Simpseatles]

Well this is bad publicity for my school. Just a week before there was a fight in that same area involving Beal students, and we all got a talking to from our principal, and now this. There was a protest today with some students, but thankfully it didn't get out of control. Most of my friends agree that the police action was justified, and that there was probably much more to what happened than what made it on Youtube. There are some real dumbasses at my school, and I can't stand when they mess up what people think of the awesome school we have.

The Banana incident is embarrasing, but I agree that it could have happened anywhere. One disgusting racist shouldn't ruin the reputation of a wonderfully diverse city.

[MolsonExport]

Suspected banana tosser charged

LONDON, ONT. - He only wanted to prevent a shootout goal on his favourite NHL team, his lawyer says.

And he's "mortified" London, Ont., came under such a harsh international spotlight as a result.

The man accused of throwing a banana at black NHL player Wayne Simmonds during a pre-season game in London last week had no idea about the racial overtone of bananas thrown at black athletes, lawyer Faisal Joseph said Wednesday.

Christopher Moorhouse, 26, is charged with a provincial offence, engaging in a banned activity under the Trespass Act.

"He is extremely remorseful and he is very concerned about his own personal safety because this has been played over the last several days as a racial hate crime and nothing could be further from the truth," Joseph said.

"He never even thought of the connection between the banana and the player. [WHATEVER!!!] His only genuine desire when he threw it on to the ice was to distract the opposing team from scoring a goal."

[...]

read more here: http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/28...-banana-tosser

themorb; ctv

Commissioner Gary Bettman the incident did not reflect the attitudes of most NHL fans.

"The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario."
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=EdmontonHome

[go_leafs_go02]

I wonder how many people who were blasting him were even aware of the black people & banana connotation. I certainly had no clue about it...although I still would have a hard time giving him the benefit of a doubt.

[haljackey]

Saying he wasn't aware of the impact the banana had could be great thing to say in his defense, or it could be even be completely honest.

I had no idea of what impact it had prior to this incident. Most of us have moved past racial discrimination in this multicultural country, and many of us don't know what's discrimination because we've moved past it.

[north 42]

Whatever, he's an A-hole regardless.

[Wharn]

Whatever. I still think the media is whipping everyone up into a frenzy, as usual. When I first heard about this I thought the guy had just played too much Mario Kart. The whole "racist banana" element never occured to me. On that note, would it also be "racist" to whip tomatoes at an Italian, or to pelt a Portuguese person with fish and pastéis nata? Or would nobody care since they're both caucasian?

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Wharn

When I first heard about this I thought the guy had just played too much Mario Kart.

That was awesome. Let's put the story behind us and watch these:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MytfhzcSF-Y" target="_blank">Video Link

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT1pWo0WZJE" target="_blank">Video Link