Toronto: Anti-Trudeau, anti-racism demonstrators clash, four arrested
The protest was organised at Nathan Phillips Square.
The protest against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was organised on the issues of the Liberal government's tax policies and financial dealing with former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.
However, the protest was countered by some demonstrators who had accused the anti-Trudeau group of disguising the rally to support far right and racist views.
In the course of dual demonstration, one woman was injured while one officer was assaulted.
Ronny Cameron, who helped to organise the anti-Trudeau rally, was quoted by media as saying: "There’s many people, many Canadians that oppose Justin Trudeau and what he’s doing right now, and I wanted give people an opportunity to come together, voice their opinion, meet other like-minded Canadians.'
"And, unfortunately, Antifa shows up and tries to make it seem like we’re a bunch of racists -- and we’re obviously not,” he added.
US soldier Sgt.Christopher Speer was killed in a grenade thrown by Khadr fifteen years ago during a firefight between the U.S. soldiers and Taliban fighters.
After serving ten years of imprisonment, Khadr admitted his guilt and recanted in American custody of Guantanamo Bay. He was later allowed to go to Canada.
During the period of his imprisonment, Khadr filed a civil suit against the Canadian government for conspiring against him along with the US counterpart and for breaching his rights.
In 2017, the Canadian government paid a sum of C$10.5-million to Khadr as a compensation.
In July, a Toronto court has turned down a request from wife of a dead U.S. soldier, Tabitha Speer, to freeze Canadian citizen OmarKhadr's assets, terming it as "extraordinary".
(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)
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