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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

1/2 Getting a post in under the wire. It is the Day Against Police Brutality, and yup, we've got some to discuss. This year we're instituting a hall of shame for bad behaviour at protests. Special shout out to those in charge setting the bad behaviour standard for cops at the protest. ➡️

International Day Against Police Brutality, March 15th

It's that time again. Police brutality and malfeasance at protest continued unabated, and with zero accountability.

In fact, they're not even filing the few reports they are supposed to be. So let's try something different:

Let's shine a spotlight on some of the most egregious incidents.

Constable Leonard Lindo hitting a protester with a skateboard.

Inspector Israel Bernardo setting the tone for other cops by shoving protesters. Bonus points for driving into the crowd on October 8th, 2025.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Yesterday (Thurs, Feb 12, 2026), The Crown's Office chose to withdraw ALL charges from our Legal Observer who was arrested at a protest at Toronto Metropolitan University Sept 24th, 2025, rather than have the body cam footage entered into the record. Those charges should never have been filed.

Zero for Two
Crown withdraws charges against second Legal Observer

In 2025, TPS arrested two Legal Observers
ESCALATING TACTICS
Police apparently intensified their efforts to crush movements, particularly Palestinian solidarity, by expanding the list of targets for spurious arrests to include Legal Observers.

Strategic incapacitation is a protest policing
model that utilizes preemptive surveillance,
intelligence gathering, and spatial constraints to control and disrupt social movements before they fully materialize.

Failing that, it uses selective preemptive arrests, the use of less-lethal weapons, and control over information and media access to prevent demonstrations from growing, disrupting, or achieving their political goals.

THE ARRESTS

September 24, 2025
at a protest at Toronto
Metropolitan University, a legal observer was arrested for requesting an officer's identification, as required under the Code of Conduct for Police Officers and charged with obstructing a peace officer and criminal harassment (a charge that usually arises in cases of stalking and gender-based violence).

TWO WEEKS LATER
On October 8, a second legal observer was violently thrown to the ground and punched by officers for attempting to obtain an arrestee's name for legal support, then charged with obstruction
All charges from that day — including those against the eight others arrested at that event — AND the charges against the first LO have been withdrawn.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

1/🧵 In 2025, Orange Hats—legal observers supporting liberatory movements in #Toronto —documented a significant escalation in Toronto Police Service (TPS) interference during protests, particularly those in solidarity with Palestine. Read our report at: orangehats.noblogs.org/general/oran...

2025 Year-in-review
TPS Conduct at Protests

Police inflicted over 100 injuries on Toronto protesters in 2025, most serious.

orangehats.noblogs.org
Orange Hats

In 2025 TPS officers
doled out 58 concussions at protests... that we know about.

They also were responsible for:

3 sprained shoulders
3 teeth knocked out
2 bruised orbital bones
2 bruised ribs
1 cracked collarbone
1 dislocated shoulder
1 bruised tailbone
1 torn rotator cuff
1 torn ACL

TPS officers also caused over 80 soft tissue injuries, mostly to wrists, arms, and legs, from overtight handcuffs, punches, and kicks.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

We've been quiet, but we've been busy. We've reworked some of our sessions to more accurately reflect the world in which we live. ========================= First up: Know Your Rights. ========================= (For the fuller preamble, see:) kolektiva.social/@OrangeHats/... #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe

Changes to our Know Your Rights (KYR) workshops.
From Orange Hats.

You wouldn't need to know your rights if police didn't violate them.

Our KYR workshops used to end with a section on "The Limitations of Knowing Your Rights" analyzing the Neptune Four story.
Our new workshops are now based on the understanding that "rights are for the court" and cops have no qualms about ignoring them.

The primary reason to know your rights is so that you can recognize when they are being violated.

Our KYR workshops centre the experiences of participants so we can build a mutual understanding of the ways in which police have traditionally violated their rights and will likely continue to violate rights of people in the community.

What to do when you know your rights are being violated

Once you are aware that your rights are being violated by the police, you need options for what to do and how to document the malfeasance.
This is what the last part of our training consists of: giving you the knowledge and tools to make that violation COUNT.

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Reposted by Orange Hats

Outlaw Podcast @outlawpod.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

“You know, it could be easy to say, oh, well, the law's not gonna save us. Yeah, no shit. We’re aware of the shortcomings of the law, but at the same time, you still gotta put up a fight. Like if you get snatched by the state you’re gonna wanna put up a fight. So…” 1/2

podcasts.apple.com

What's the Risk? Protesting as a Non-Citizen in 2025 with Nathan & Sophia

Podcast Episode · Outlaw · 06/25/2025 · 58m

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Get in front of potential issues with friends, roommates, and family saying or doing the wrong thing when it comes to dealing with the cops. Make time to have a few key conversations with key people. #Toronto #TorontoActions #TorontoActivists

It's not enough to know your rights as long as the people around you don't know theirs. Five conversations activists should have with friends, roommates, and family.

You need to make sure friends, roommates, and family understand a few key things:
1. "DO not talk to the Cops" means DO NOT TALK to the cops.
It does not mean, "make small talk." It does not mean, "chat about a completely unrelated topic."
No one is helping by "explaining" the situation. All they will do is confirm or give new information. Police are trained in Relational Conversation to make people feel like they are on your side and that you can confide in them. Don't even let them practice.
The best course of action is always to extricate yourself from any interaction with cops as soon as possible.

2. Cops CAN and WILL lie to you.
In many places around the world, the police cannot lie to the public.
Canada is not one of them.
YOU cannot lie to Cops. That is illegal.
Cops, on the other hand, are not only totally free to lie to you, they are rewarded for it.
Legally speaking, the only people cops are not supposed to lie to are judges. Ask Umar Zameer how that works out in reality.
Make sure that roommates, friends and family understand this clearly.

3. We don't talk to cops. but ESPECIALLY not about ME.
Relatives, and older relatives in particular, have likely been taught to defer to authority figures.
But grandma doesn't need to tell Officer SeemsNiceEnough your whole life story.
This conversation is best had long before any issues arise, when you can honestly say you're having this chat as part of best practices.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

1/5 Police brutality is designed to make people feel alone and afraid to show up to fight systems of oppression. We're especially seeking reports from the police violence that took place at Casa Loma on May 27, 2025. #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #Toronto #TorontoActions #TorontoActivists

HAVE YOU BEEN INJURED BY TPS AT A 2025 PROTEST?
We're tracking and reporting on the injuries cops cause protestors.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Orange Hats was the legal observer arm of the former Movement Defence Committee. First a little history: Did you know civilian legal observing/CopWatch started with the Black Panthers in the 1960s? Read on. #LegalObservers

Orange Hats Legal Observers:
Who we are, and how we got here.
Watching the cops.

Civilian Copwateh started in the 1960s with Black Panther Patrols
These were made up of individuals on foot or in vehicles, armed, with legal books, paper, and pens.
They followed police to stops in order to document their behaviour.
They assisted community members during police interactions, providing legal information about rights; and
Their presence helped minimize police overreach and brutality.

The Black Panther model was adopted by communities all around the world. Examples include:

Pig Patrol, Australia
The Polynesian Panthers
Central Citizens Defence Committee (CCDC), lreland.

In 1968, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) formalized the practice. and "copwatch" became "Legal Observers".

Legal Observers (LOs) were developed in response to Columbia University protests.
All green hat LOs in the US have taken the NLG training.
The NLG establishes Lawyers attorney-client privilege with the orgs they work with.
Maintains a policy of separation between observers and activists.
Yes, they have a registered trademark on the phrase in the US.

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Orange Hats @orangehats.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

What is Collective Defence and how can combining your legal strategies with other activists arrested during the same action help you get better outcomes from the legal system? Info from the Community Justice Collective. orangehats.noblogs.org/policing/wha... #LegalSupport #ActivistResouces

Slideshow title card for

Collective Defence:
You don't have to go It alone

If you are arrested at a protest where multiple arrests take place, consider Collective defence.

Collective Defence is a legal approach where multiple people face in charge of stemming from an event choose to create a defence strategy together.

The state criminalizes protesters to undermine movements and crush collective action.

It does this by reducing a unified group to individual protestors, who can be isolated, injured, and arrested, which instills fears in others.

Collective Defence rejects that isolation and fear.

Collective Defence is both a politic and a legal strategy. Key political principles include:

1. Non-cooperation with police and Crown;
2. Seeking global outcomes and sharing resources/information;
3. Understanding that defendants may have different goals and needs;
4. Collective decision making around legal process;
5. Remembering that the individuals involved are part of the broader political context.

Speak to a movement lawyer for more information.

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