As thugs trash Toronto unimpeded, police chief Blair congratulates himself on not being diverted from the real job at hand:

After a day that left downtown Toronto looking like a combat zone, the city is bracing for more disruptions Sunday.

The demonstrators who broke off from a noisy but peaceful march against the G20 on Saturday and provoked hours of confrontations with police will be back, Toronto’s top police officer says.

“There will be more violence Sunday because they have not achieved their objectives yet,” police Chief Bill Blair told CBC News Saturday.

The demonstration Saturday split into two parts, as protesters from a variety of causes marched while so-called Black Bloc anarchists — who promote violent confrontation with the authorities — tried repeatedly to break into the secure zone where leaders of the G20 are meeting.

Police successfully moved to block the militants, who then smashed windows and spray-painted walls. Four police cars were set alight, more than 300 people were arrested, and hospitals and the Eaton Centre shopping mall were locked down.

Parts of the city’s subway and streetcar routes and commuter trains were closed down.

Confrontations continued into the early hours of Sunday.

“The tactic of criminal destruction of property was intended quite clearly to draw police resources away from that [G20] perimeter,” Blair said, but it did not work.

I only hope that once the G20 is over, this breakthrough crime fighting technique will also encourage police to ignore speeders and illegal parking in Toronto – on the grounds that the offenders are only trying to distract the police from catching bank robbers and murderers. One can dream.