Police search the backpacks of pedestrians near Queen's Park Sunday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News

Twelve. That's the number of times Mike and James say they've been stopped by police in the streets of downtown Toronto today.

When I caught up with them, as a gaggle of police officers surrounded James north of the corner of Queen Street West and Soho, he was stuffing items back into his bag just as the latest round of cops asked to see his bag. "I just got searched!" he said.

Among the streets where they've been searched: University, King, Adelaide, Bay and Wellington. "Just every time we run into a group of officers," said James.

The police, they said, have told them why they are being searched: both of them are wearing black clothing, the uniform of choice for the Black Bloc.

"It's definitely no fun," said Mike, who didn't want to give his name. "I personally think it's an invasion of privacy."

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