Canadian demonstration attracts provocateurs

Post by **faceless** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:52 pm

luke · Post by **luke** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:07 pm

i just watched this myself

it is shocking, but not really surprising - fair play to that guy for stepping in. the police did this at the world trade talks in '99 and kicked off loads of trouble

it must be getting harder for the police to do this kinda thing though with so many people having mobiles/cameras to record stuff now

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:14 pm

yep... and fits in so well with the Pilger film .. though surprised to see this in Canada -- if those troops were dressed in white, they could have been Imperial Storm Troopers.

Post by **faceless** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:03 am

I think the real police there acted in the right way, even considering their threatening appearance. As soon as they got the problem away from the situation there wasn't an issue to them and everyone relaxed, including those cops left at 'the line'.

luke · Post by **luke** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:49 am

i was thinking the same thing mandy, even the police here, they look like something out of some science fiction movie

Police accused of using provocateurs at summit

OTTAWA – Protesters are accusing police of using undercover agents to provoke violent confrontations at the North American leaders' summit in Montebello, Que.

Such accusations have been made before after similar demonstrations but this time the alleged "agents provocateurs" have been caught on camera.

A video, posted on YouTube, shows three young men, their faces masked by bandannas, mingling Monday with protesters in front of a line of police in riot gear. At least one of the masked men is holding a rock in his hand.

The three are confronted by protest organizer Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. Coles makes it clear the masked men are not welcome among his group of protesters, whom he describes as mainly grandparents. He urges them to leave and find their own protest location.

Coles also demands that they put down their rocks. Other protesters begin to chime in that the three are really police agents. Several try to snatch the bandanas from their faces.

Rather than leave, the three actually start edging closer to the police line, where they appear to engage in discussions. They eventually push their way past an officer, whereupon other police shove them to the ground and handcuff them.

Late Tuesday, photographs taken by another protester surfaced, showing the trio lying prone on the ground. The photos show the soles of their boots adorned by yellow triangles. A police officer kneeling beside the men has an identical yellow triangle on the sole of his boot.

Kevin Skerrett, a protester with the group Nowar-Paix, said the photos and video together present powerful evidence that the men were actually undercover police officers.

"I think the circumstantial evidence is very powerful," he said.

The three do not appear to have been arrested or charged with any offence.

Police confirm that only four protesters were arrested during the summit – two men and two women. All have been charged with obstruction and resisting arrest.

Veteran protester Jaggi Singh, who is helping to circulate the video as widely as possible, said all four of those arrested are known to organizers and are genuine protesters.

"But we see very clearly in that video three (other) men being arrested . . . How do (police) account for these three people being taken in, being arrested? Where did they go?" Singh said.

"I have no hesitation in saying they were police agents . . . and they were caught red-handed."

Singh, a member of the Montreal-based No One is Illegal, believes the agents were meant to provoke a confrontation and give the police an excuse to use some of their "toys," such as tear gas and rubber bullets.

"To a certain extent it's self-fulfilling logic. You provide police with this kind of equipment and they end up using it and one way to justify it is to plant some people that toss a rock or two."

Neither the RCMP nor the Surete du Quebec would comment on the video or even discuss generally whether they ever use the tactic of employing agents provocateurs.

"I cannot answer your question because I don't have the information," said Const. Kane Kramer, a spokesman for the RCMP at the summit.

the plot thickens ...

notice the police and the protester are wearing the same type of boots ...

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:25 am

WELL SPOTTED

Post by **faceless** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:28 pm

Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest
Thursday, August 23, 2007 | 6:18 PM ET
CBC News

Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protests at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que. The police came under fire Wednesday when protesters accused the force of planting undercover officers in the demonstration to provoke violence. A video surfaced on YouTube that appeared to depict disguised police in the crowd.

The provincial police, in a news release, said its officers went undercover to identify and stop non-peaceful protesters. "In no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts," the news release states in French.

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luke · Post by **luke** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:58 am

faceless wrote:The provincial police, in a news release, said its officers went undercover to identify and stop non-peaceful protesters. "In no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts," the news release states in French.

why did they have to be tooled up with rocks then?! they got busted - they'd still be denying it if the evidence wasn't so overwhelming

the internet 1, the state 0

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:21 am

Yep... the rocks were a give-away

Post by **faceless** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 12:04 am