I live in downtown Toronto and from my small balcony I have a clear view of Yonge St., the commercial artery that was turned into Protest Central during the G20 weekend.

From my building on Saturday I was able to witness the destruction that unfolded as an out-of-control mob started smashing the windows of the neighbourhood Starbucks and Tim Hortons as a protest against the G20 Summit in Toronto.

It was a scene I saw repeated as I was reporting from the streets of Toronto and monitoring what was happening on the news and on Twitter.

I watched in anger and horror as — I'm going to use the technical term now, so please forgive me — "dirtbags" smashed storefront and restaurant windows, put fear into the lives of the minimum wage-earning employees and beat up a private security guard as she screamed for help, before moving on to set police cruisers on fire in another part of town.

A man holds a sign in front of a burning police car during a protest against the G20 summit in downtown Toronto, June 26, 2010. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

One would imagine that the organizers of the peaceful demonstrations that were hijacked by these extremists, not to mention the general left-leaning, protest-supporting population in this country, would be outraged by the hooliganism.

But something very bizarre happened while the dust was settling. Many who witnessed what happened on the G20 weekend, whether on TV or in person, are not criticizing the extremists.

No, most are getting angry with the police for using what they see as excessive force on protestors, suggesting their freedoms and rights were being taken away.

Look elsewhere

Now, I'm not suggesting for a second that it is acceptable for a police officer to become violent when it isn't warranted, or to abuse the power he or she is given.

I also think that because police officers are public servants, they have an extra responsibility to the public and the rule of law.

But I have spent weeks now on a new show, Promised Land, interviewing and speaking with people who came to Canada, against tremendous odds, from places where they had been specifically targeted and abused by brutal regimes and their police arms.

And when I think what I have learned from these individuals, it puts a different perspective on what went on here in Toronto.

On the final, Sunday night of the G20 Summit, I saw a group of protestors that had been locked in by a wall of police officers.

Had their freedom to assemble been compromised? Well, maybe. But then some men in the group took off their shirts and began dancing and grinding themselves on the police officers.

One went as far as to grab one of the officer's crotch. A sexual assault and demeaning by any measure, but the officers kept their cool and ignored this ridiculous behaviour.

This is the brutal police state that Canadians claim took over Toronto? Please.

Protect the protestors

When I was growing up in Saudi Arabia, if you saw a police officer you'd make sure to move in the opposite direction.

At the drop of a hat, they could start questioning you, take away your I.D., your papers, beat you and you would have no recourse.

I will never forget a man I saw once in Jeddah in the middle of the street crying and begging for someone to help him because the police had taken away his passport and he didn't know what he was going to do.

Prior to the summit, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said that the officers were there to facilitate the peaceful protests that were bound to take place.

He even went so far as to say that it was the police responsibility in a democracy to protect the rights of (peaceful) protestors.

You know, there are places in the world you don't have the right to demonstrate, and here you have a police chief who is encouraging people to exercise their democratic freedom.

Real oppression

This week on Promised Land we speak with Shahram Tabe, a former political activist from Tehran who found refuge in Canada after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

During the course of our interview, he showed me two undercover magazines that had been published, which were filled with thousands of names of people, some of whom his friends, who had been executed by the government's police force for "demonstrating" against the state.

In recent days, I've heard much talk from fellow journalists in Toronto, about how their rights were being trampled on. Which makes me think about Aaron Berhane, a journalist from Eritrea who had to flee his country because he was writing articles that were critical of the government.

For me, what was significant in watching the G20 demonstrations was the conspicuous absence of the faces of those who had faced real oppression.

I looked hard but I could not spot an Ethiopian, Vietnamese or Sri Lankan demonstrator in the crowd. Perhaps that was because those who have experienced real oppression know make-believe when they see it.

The protestors taunting the police on G20 weekend were, by and large, white and middle class. In a few years they may even be the bosses at the same corporations they had come to trash.

I also watched the police that weekend as they were put to the test and I think they handled themselves, from what I could see, with dignity.

I'm not saying we don't have to be vigilant about our rights and freedoms, and the limits of police authority. But at the same time I think we have to keep things in perspective and be honest with ourselves.

After interviewing the people I have for Promised Land, I certainly have a better perspective about my freedoms in Canada.