Child pulled from mother's arms at Toronto protest!!!!
venalanatomica. this is what you were talking about. This is a cut and paste of an IM convo with a VERY reputable source who was at the protest today. Everyone, please feel free to pass this around or link to here.
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[00:52] Me: tell me about your day!
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: there was an ocap protest
[00:52] Me: oooh!
[00:52] Me: I heard a rumour
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: and you know **FRIEND**
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: what did you hear?
[00:52] Me: that a small child was pulled from a parent's arms
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: YUP
[00:52] Me: OMG
[00:52] Me: People on my lj were asking about it
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM**, who was my roommate and best friend for years
[00:52] Me: you tell me about **FRIEND/MOM**
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: well, you can tell them what I heard
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: rather - saw
[00:53] Me: I'll pass it on
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM** and I were marching together for awhile - her 3 year old, who I baby sit for and who's ADORABLE
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: was on her shoulders
[00:53] Me: she has a baby
[00:53] Me: ?
[00:54] BEST FRIEND: no, I guess I think of him as the baby
[00:54] Me: No no - I mean, I didn't know **FRIEND/MOM** had a kid
[00:54] BEST FRIEND: yeah. His name is **KIDLET**
[00:55] Me: was it her little one who was grabbed?
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: anyway, **KIDLET** was being a frog today - ribbiting
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: yup
[00:55] Me: !!!!!!!!
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: and he was having fun - it was a really peaceful march and
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: while there were way too many cops, it was pretty untense.
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM** had not really wanted to bring him, even though we all felt that it would be a pretty low key action
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: but she couldn't get childcare
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: and she's a big ocap person, so she couldn't not go
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: I even said to her that I wished I could have brought BEST FRIEND NIECE - that I didn't think it was going to be contentious
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: I figured the cops just wouldn't let us occupy the house, and that would be that
[00:57] Me: arg - this is just why you always warned me not to take my kids places, eh?
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: uh huh
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: it was pretty calm, and when we got to the squat, I was at another part of the building than they were.
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: outside - I mean
[00:58] Me: (I'm going to cut and paste this into my lj later - removing names first, k?)
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: And there were bike cops trying to block the entrances
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: yup
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: that'd be great
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: and they were surrounding the house, but people were right up close, yelling, but no violence or anything - and
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: the house had been opened and occupied the night before, so we already had people inside
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: all of a sudden, I hear people yelling, "They've got someone's kid!" "Give the kid back"
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: I went cold and ran around to the other side where I saw **KIDLET** being held by a cop
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: looking frightened
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: I couldn't see **FRIEND/MOM** and asked someone what happened
[01:00] Me: OMG!
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: she had been up close to the house, but no closer than anyone else
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: and apparently a cop just grabbed **KIDLET** off her shoulders and another dragged her in the other direction
[01:01] Me: fuckers
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: one woman was tug of warring trying not to let them get separated
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: so they whisked **FRIEND/MOM** off in a van
[01:01] Me: has she got him back?
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: I think - I didn't see
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: and **DAD**, his dad, was right there with the cops saying that's my kid - give me my kid!
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: and the cops were holding him off and not letting him get to **KIDLET**
[01:02] Me: How absolutely terrifying
[01:02] Me: for all of them
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: of course, everyone is screaming at this point - me too - it was the natural instinct
[01:02] Me: proves the system is rotten to the core
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: but of course that was even scarier for **KIDLET**
[01:02] Me: of course!
[01:02] Me: how will he recover!
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: so we tried to get people to stop screaming but
[01:03] Me: Police are supposed to be "good guys" to kids, yk? Now he's learned the truth so early and personally :(
[01:03] BEST FRIEND: (oh, earlier he was saying "this is fun!" and he was all excited about the cops' motorcycles)
[01:03] Me: Oh **FRIEND/MOM** must have been a mess!
[01:03] BEST FRIEND: anyway, the standoff was going on for quite a long time - most of us were separated from the house by a fence and couldn't get in - everyone was being held off
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: and they still wouldn't give him back to **DAD**.
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: I was shaking so much, my gut felt...god, I’ve never had such a visceral response in my life
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: I almost threw myself over the fence I was so upset
[01:04] Me: I'm almost in tears HEARING about it
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I was trying to yell to **KIDLET** that he'd be okay and that we wouldn't let anything happen to him
[01:05] Me: I can't even stand the thought OF imagining it
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and he was crying
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I was crying by that point because I felt so fucking helpless
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I couldn't protect him.
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I'm not his mom or dad! Can you imagine how they must have felt?
[01:06] Me: no
[01:06] Me: I can't let myself
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and this cop walks by me smirking and I yelled that kid is terrified - you're terrifying him! What the hell are you doing?
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and he gave me this disgusting little sneery smile
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and I fucking lunged at him.
[01:07] BEST FRIEND: luckily there was someone between us and I managed to stop myself or that would have been
[01:07] BEST FRIEND: bad news for me.
[01:07] Me: I'm glad someone was there so you had time to stop yourself
[01:07] Me: but the fucker deserved whatever you were going to do to him
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: eventually they announce that they're going to escort **DAD** and **KIDLET** out of there to reunite them - which we weren't sure whether that was true or not - we cleared a bit of a path so that they wouldn't have to drag **KIDLET** through a screaming crowd
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: and they put **KIDLET** in the back of a cop car and told **DAD** to get in
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: which he resisted - I mean, he wasn't under arrest for anything
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: and he didn't want to be taken away from the crowd because then who knows what they'd do?
[01:09] Me: very true
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: I mean, they could drive to the station and separate them there
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: where no one was there to see or do anything
[01:09] Me: what a tough moment for him - he must have been terrified that they could just drive away with his son!
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: eventually he got in the car because that was the only way he could stay with **KIDLET**
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: he was trying to get them to just give **KIDLET** to him but they refused
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: under what grounds, I have no idea
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: again, **DAD** was NOT under arrest for anything
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: when the cruiser drove away, things got crazy - everyone was crazy upset by what had happened and screaming
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and I really thought things were going to get out of control
[01:11] Me: Have you heard an update on **FRIEND/MOM** and **KIDLET** and **DAD**?
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and then I saw all the cops talking on the radio and they did a really smart thing - they withdrew from the house
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and let us occupy
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: so everyone's like ...uh...oh. um...yay?
[01:11] Me: I guess after torturing a child, they'd had enough fun
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: I really think it was that they realized they almost had a riot on their hands, and that it would be in the press that
[01:12] Me: there's NOTHING on the CBC website
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: it started because the police abducted a child
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: it was apparently on global news, but I missed it
[01:13] BEST FRIEND: I couldn't see anything on any "legit" websites
[01:13] BEST FRIEND: anyway, there's been this case going on for three years about the so called riot three years ago and how the cops TOTALLY
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: started it, but they've painted it as ocap rioting. John Clarke just had his case stayed and they're considering what to do...
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: but if the news is all over about how the police started a riot because they stole someone's baby - kind of gives credence to the case, yk?
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: anyway, about an hour later someone got word that **DAD** and **KIDLET** were back together and okay
[01:15] Me: sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't lend credence
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: but no details - and I think **FRIEND/MOM** was still in jail, but I don't know
[01:15] Me: so the kid was grabbed by some big guy with a gun
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: and kept, screaming and crying, from his parents
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: while all kinds of people tried to get them back together
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: and he gets to go to bed tonight without his mom
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: probably
[01:16] Me: after watching her get dragged off by more big guys with guns
[01:16] BEST FRIEND: I don't know what's happened to **FRIEND/MOM** at this point - I don't want to disturb them by calling
[01:16] Me: way to encourage children to see the system as standing up for them
[01:16] BEST FRIEND: yeah. And all this for who knows why?
[01:16] Me: to scare protesters?
[01:17] Me: Let me cut and paste this into Word and I'll edit all the names out there
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: from everything I've heard, **FRIEND/MOM** was no closer to the building than anyone else - an EMPTY building, owned by the province and sitting unused for YEARS - where 2 homeless men have died in the cold within 2 blocks
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: and the police were protecting it from saving people from freezing to death.
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: and which they eventually decide to let people into and withdraw anyway
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: there's another weird twist
[01:18] Me: k?
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: I left at that point because I was so upset
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: and I wanted to go see my nieces
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: but I've been getting updates from indymedia
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: okay, so here's the weird twist.
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: Dennis Mills, who is the liberal mpp for the riding apparently just HAPPENED to be in the neighbourhood
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: and met with the protesters and cops
[01:20] Me: lalalalala walking by?
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: and - this is all unconfirmed rumour
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: from indymedia - I have no idea if it's true, but it was from a couple sources
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: but you'll see why I don't believe it
[01:21] Me: k
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: (oh, I think he's an MP, not mpp)
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: not my riding so I’m not sure
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: anyway, according to the posts, he said he would RESIGN HIS JOB if that building wasn't made habitable in 30 days.
[01:22] Me: WOW
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: for some kind of low-income housing or something
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: now - I have NO idea whether that's true
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: it sounds SO unlikely
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: but that's what they're saying
[01:23] Me: it does sound a tad unlikely, eh?
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: very
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: i mean, what politician outright promises anything??
[01:23] Me: (Link: http://www.dennismills.com/) http://www.dennismills.com/
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: and how does he know whether the building is legally owned or what??
[01:24] Me: and it's not during an election campaign
[01:24] Me: Ok - we ready for me to cut and paste?
[01:24] BEST FRIEND: yeah...someone said that maybe he plans to resign before martin comes in
[01:24] BEST FRIEND: yeah.
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[00:52] Me: tell me about your day!
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: there was an ocap protest
[00:52] Me: oooh!
[00:52] Me: I heard a rumour
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: and you know **FRIEND**
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: what did you hear?
[00:52] Me: that a small child was pulled from a parent's arms
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: YUP
[00:52] Me: OMG
[00:52] Me: People on my lj were asking about it
[00:52] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM**, who was my roommate and best friend for years
[00:52] Me: you tell me about **FRIEND/MOM**
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: well, you can tell them what I heard
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: rather - saw
[00:53] Me: I'll pass it on
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM** and I were marching together for awhile - her 3 year old, who I baby sit for and who's ADORABLE
[00:53] BEST FRIEND: was on her shoulders
[00:53] Me: she has a baby
[00:53] Me: ?
[00:54] BEST FRIEND: no, I guess I think of him as the baby
[00:54] Me: No no - I mean, I didn't know **FRIEND/MOM** had a kid
[00:54] BEST FRIEND: yeah. His name is **KIDLET**
[00:55] Me: was it her little one who was grabbed?
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: anyway, **KIDLET** was being a frog today - ribbiting
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: yup
[00:55] Me: !!!!!!!!
[00:55] BEST FRIEND: and he was having fun - it was a really peaceful march and
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: while there were way too many cops, it was pretty untense.
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: **FRIEND/MOM** had not really wanted to bring him, even though we all felt that it would be a pretty low key action
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: but she couldn't get childcare
[00:56] BEST FRIEND: and she's a big ocap person, so she couldn't not go
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: I even said to her that I wished I could have brought BEST FRIEND NIECE - that I didn't think it was going to be contentious
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: I figured the cops just wouldn't let us occupy the house, and that would be that
[00:57] Me: arg - this is just why you always warned me not to take my kids places, eh?
[00:57] BEST FRIEND: uh huh
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: it was pretty calm, and when we got to the squat, I was at another part of the building than they were.
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: outside - I mean
[00:58] Me: (I'm going to cut and paste this into my lj later - removing names first, k?)
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: And there were bike cops trying to block the entrances
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: yup
[00:58] BEST FRIEND: that'd be great
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: and they were surrounding the house, but people were right up close, yelling, but no violence or anything - and
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: the house had been opened and occupied the night before, so we already had people inside
[00:59] BEST FRIEND: all of a sudden, I hear people yelling, "They've got someone's kid!" "Give the kid back"
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: I went cold and ran around to the other side where I saw **KIDLET** being held by a cop
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: looking frightened
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: I couldn't see **FRIEND/MOM** and asked someone what happened
[01:00] Me: OMG!
[01:00] BEST FRIEND: she had been up close to the house, but no closer than anyone else
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: and apparently a cop just grabbed **KIDLET** off her shoulders and another dragged her in the other direction
[01:01] Me: fuckers
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: one woman was tug of warring trying not to let them get separated
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: so they whisked **FRIEND/MOM** off in a van
[01:01] Me: has she got him back?
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: I think - I didn't see
[01:01] BEST FRIEND: and **DAD**, his dad, was right there with the cops saying that's my kid - give me my kid!
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: and the cops were holding him off and not letting him get to **KIDLET**
[01:02] Me: How absolutely terrifying
[01:02] Me: for all of them
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: of course, everyone is screaming at this point - me too - it was the natural instinct
[01:02] Me: proves the system is rotten to the core
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: but of course that was even scarier for **KIDLET**
[01:02] Me: of course!
[01:02] Me: how will he recover!
[01:02] BEST FRIEND: so we tried to get people to stop screaming but
[01:03] Me: Police are supposed to be "good guys" to kids, yk? Now he's learned the truth so early and personally :(
[01:03] BEST FRIEND: (oh, earlier he was saying "this is fun!" and he was all excited about the cops' motorcycles)
[01:03] Me: Oh **FRIEND/MOM** must have been a mess!
[01:03] BEST FRIEND: anyway, the standoff was going on for quite a long time - most of us were separated from the house by a fence and couldn't get in - everyone was being held off
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: and they still wouldn't give him back to **DAD**.
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: I was shaking so much, my gut felt...god, I’ve never had such a visceral response in my life
[01:04] BEST FRIEND: I almost threw myself over the fence I was so upset
[01:04] Me: I'm almost in tears HEARING about it
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I was trying to yell to **KIDLET** that he'd be okay and that we wouldn't let anything happen to him
[01:05] Me: I can't even stand the thought OF imagining it
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and he was crying
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I was crying by that point because I felt so fucking helpless
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I couldn't protect him.
[01:05] BEST FRIEND: and I'm not his mom or dad! Can you imagine how they must have felt?
[01:06] Me: no
[01:06] Me: I can't let myself
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and this cop walks by me smirking and I yelled that kid is terrified - you're terrifying him! What the hell are you doing?
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and he gave me this disgusting little sneery smile
[01:06] BEST FRIEND: and I fucking lunged at him.
[01:07] BEST FRIEND: luckily there was someone between us and I managed to stop myself or that would have been
[01:07] BEST FRIEND: bad news for me.
[01:07] Me: I'm glad someone was there so you had time to stop yourself
[01:07] Me: but the fucker deserved whatever you were going to do to him
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: eventually they announce that they're going to escort **DAD** and **KIDLET** out of there to reunite them - which we weren't sure whether that was true or not - we cleared a bit of a path so that they wouldn't have to drag **KIDLET** through a screaming crowd
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: and they put **KIDLET** in the back of a cop car and told **DAD** to get in
[01:08] BEST FRIEND: which he resisted - I mean, he wasn't under arrest for anything
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: and he didn't want to be taken away from the crowd because then who knows what they'd do?
[01:09] Me: very true
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: I mean, they could drive to the station and separate them there
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: where no one was there to see or do anything
[01:09] Me: what a tough moment for him - he must have been terrified that they could just drive away with his son!
[01:09] BEST FRIEND: eventually he got in the car because that was the only way he could stay with **KIDLET**
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: he was trying to get them to just give **KIDLET** to him but they refused
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: under what grounds, I have no idea
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: again, **DAD** was NOT under arrest for anything
[01:10] BEST FRIEND: when the cruiser drove away, things got crazy - everyone was crazy upset by what had happened and screaming
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and I really thought things were going to get out of control
[01:11] Me: Have you heard an update on **FRIEND/MOM** and **KIDLET** and **DAD**?
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and then I saw all the cops talking on the radio and they did a really smart thing - they withdrew from the house
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: and let us occupy
[01:11] BEST FRIEND: so everyone's like ...uh...oh. um...yay?
[01:11] Me: I guess after torturing a child, they'd had enough fun
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: I really think it was that they realized they almost had a riot on their hands, and that it would be in the press that
[01:12] Me: there's NOTHING on the CBC website
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: it started because the police abducted a child
[01:12] BEST FRIEND: it was apparently on global news, but I missed it
[01:13] BEST FRIEND: I couldn't see anything on any "legit" websites
[01:13] BEST FRIEND: anyway, there's been this case going on for three years about the so called riot three years ago and how the cops TOTALLY
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: started it, but they've painted it as ocap rioting. John Clarke just had his case stayed and they're considering what to do...
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: but if the news is all over about how the police started a riot because they stole someone's baby - kind of gives credence to the case, yk?
[01:14] BEST FRIEND: anyway, about an hour later someone got word that **DAD** and **KIDLET** were back together and okay
[01:15] Me: sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't lend credence
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: but no details - and I think **FRIEND/MOM** was still in jail, but I don't know
[01:15] Me: so the kid was grabbed by some big guy with a gun
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: and kept, screaming and crying, from his parents
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: while all kinds of people tried to get them back together
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: yup
[01:15] Me: and he gets to go to bed tonight without his mom
[01:15] BEST FRIEND: probably
[01:16] Me: after watching her get dragged off by more big guys with guns
[01:16] BEST FRIEND: I don't know what's happened to **FRIEND/MOM** at this point - I don't want to disturb them by calling
[01:16] Me: way to encourage children to see the system as standing up for them
[01:16] BEST FRIEND: yeah. And all this for who knows why?
[01:16] Me: to scare protesters?
[01:17] Me: Let me cut and paste this into Word and I'll edit all the names out there
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: from everything I've heard, **FRIEND/MOM** was no closer to the building than anyone else - an EMPTY building, owned by the province and sitting unused for YEARS - where 2 homeless men have died in the cold within 2 blocks
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: and the police were protecting it from saving people from freezing to death.
[01:17] BEST FRIEND: and which they eventually decide to let people into and withdraw anyway
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: there's another weird twist
[01:18] Me: k?
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: I left at that point because I was so upset
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: and I wanted to go see my nieces
[01:18] BEST FRIEND: but I've been getting updates from indymedia
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: okay, so here's the weird twist.
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: Dennis Mills, who is the liberal mpp for the riding apparently just HAPPENED to be in the neighbourhood
[01:20] BEST FRIEND: and met with the protesters and cops
[01:20] Me: lalalalala walking by?
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: and - this is all unconfirmed rumour
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: from indymedia - I have no idea if it's true, but it was from a couple sources
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: but you'll see why I don't believe it
[01:21] Me: k
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: (oh, I think he's an MP, not mpp)
[01:21] BEST FRIEND: not my riding so I’m not sure
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: anyway, according to the posts, he said he would RESIGN HIS JOB if that building wasn't made habitable in 30 days.
[01:22] Me: WOW
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: for some kind of low-income housing or something
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: now - I have NO idea whether that's true
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: it sounds SO unlikely
[01:22] BEST FRIEND: but that's what they're saying
[01:23] Me: it does sound a tad unlikely, eh?
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: very
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: i mean, what politician outright promises anything??
[01:23] Me: (Link: http://www.dennismills.com/) http://www.dennismills.com/
[01:23] BEST FRIEND: and how does he know whether the building is legally owned or what??
[01:24] Me: and it's not during an election campaign
[01:24] Me: Ok - we ready for me to cut and paste?
[01:24] BEST FRIEND: yeah...someone said that maybe he plans to resign before martin comes in
[01:24] BEST FRIEND: yeah.