RCMP presence deemed questionable at Ryerson amid G20

On June 23, RCMP officer Leslie Tull was escorted off Ryerson University campus after she was found spying on peaceful G20 protesters and refused to leave when asked.


Around 4:30 p.m., Tull was discovered by staff of the Eyeopener, Ryerson’s student newspaper, when she walked into the students’ office, located in Ryerson’s student centre, and began asking where all the exits could be found in the building, according to Shannon Higgins, the editor-in-chief of the Eyeopener.


Dressed in plain clothing, Eyeopener staff members were unaware that Tull was an RCMP officer until Tull informed them she was undercover. Tull said that the office was a good spot to watch the G20 protesters, also located in the student centre at the time, and began asking Eyeopener staff if the protesters could be removed from the building, Higgins said.


“I asked her to leave our office so we could start working again and she declined,” Higgins said. “To be honest, I wasn’t convinced that she was actually an RCMP officer. It was pretty unprofessional the way she acted. She didn’t seem to realize that she had entered a student paper’s office.”


After confirming that Tull was indeed who she said she was, she was asked to leave a second time. When Tull refused to leave again, Higgins said she contacted campus security.


Ryerson security was unaware of any RCMP presence on campus as well as any issues with protesters, Higgins said. Toby Whitfield, president of Ryerson’s Student Union and a member of the board of directors who manage the Student Centre, said the building operates independently from the university, which is why security was unaware of any G20 protest gatherings.


“As you can imagine, being downtown we play host to a whole series of different G20-related organizing events,” Whitfield said.


Whitfield said those in the building were community members meeting peacefully to discuss issues revolving around the G20, rather than actual protesters.


Once security arrived on the scene, Tull was escorted off of university campus, according to Higgins. “It kind of opens up the question of how many undercover officers are hanging around Ryerson,” Higgins said. Ryerson security could not be reached for comment.