The Yonge Street riot was a
civil disturbance
Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty ...
that occurred in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario, Canada, on the night of May 4, 1992.
Events
Originally, the protest had been focused on
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...
, as the officers that beat King had recently been acquitted.
However, a young Black man named Raymond Lawrence was killed in Toronto on May 2 by two officers of the
Peel Regional Police
The Peel Regional Police (PRP) provide policing services for Peel Region (excluding Caledon) in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in Ontario after the Toronto Police Service and third largest municipal force in C ...
.
Accordingly, the protest grew to encompass Lawrence's killing as well.
The protest began at the United States consulate on
University Avenue
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, and then moved to the intersection of
Yonge and
Bloor Streets.
It was led by the
Black Action Defence Committee. Witnesses noted that many engaged in looting and violence were white
skinheads
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
.
Aftermath
Following the disturbance, according to a contemporaneous report in the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', Ontario premier
Bob Rae called for "reforms" in the "education and justice systems". Rae tasked
Stephen Lewis with drafting a report to analyze the causes of the disturbance. Alexander and Glaze summarize Lewis's conclusions as follows: "
ile the LAPD trial verdict, and the May 2 Toronto police shooting death … acted as catalysts, the root causes of black unrest were simmering frustration over police mistreatment, discrimination in employment and housing, and a school system dominated by Eurocentric curricula."
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
External links
* {{Vimeo, 429356039, It Takes a Riot: Race, Rebellion, Reform
1992 in Ontario
1990s in Toronto
Protests in Canada