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August 21, 2007

SPP Protest: Union Leader diffuses suspected provocateur

Posted by Ariel Troster at 10:04 AM ET

Some of you might have heard that yesterday in Montebello, the president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union helped diffuse a situation where a rock-throwing protester attempted to breech the "green zone," by pushing through a line of riot cops.

Dave Coles from CEP did in fact break-up a potential incident, but we're pretty convinced that the "protestor" was actually a cop ... Although we can't confirm this for sure, we happened to have Paul Manly (a filmmaker) with us ... he caught the whole thing and put it up on YouTube this morning. You'll notice at the end of the scuffle that the cops just let him through, and the arrest appears to be staged ... the other black-clad protesters in the crowd were convinced he was a cop. We suspect that he was a provocateur working for one of the security forces who was instructed to shake things up to justify the police response.

Dave Coles and Joel Harden from the CLC were AMAZING in diffusing the situation, saving families and grannies from getting tear-gassed:

More entries on: Activism

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Reader comments:

Is that "diffuses" as in, spreads finely (or in the French sense, broadcasts), or "defuses," as in, removes the potential for harm? And "Union Leader" as in the New Hampshire newspaper, or "a union leader?" This headline is confusing to say the least.

But good on the people involved - the use of agent provocateurs is a threat to democracy and free speech. We (allegedly) don't live in a police state, after all...

Posted by: aj at August 21, 2007 05:59 PM

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Isn't there a way to find out of what has been claimed (that these people are cops/RCMP) is actually true?

I'm wondering if there are any files kept at the RCMP on who has been arrested. Does anyone know the procedures how to go about this? How about a FOI request? Would that help at all?

Posted by: SaxBoy at August 22, 2007 12:35 AM

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I didn't see any arrestable offences in this video. Some guys wearing masks holding rocks. Is that somehow illegal?

If anything, the police let them escape from the wrath of the crowd which had been whipped into a frenzy by the union leader with his accusations about provocateurs. There is more to this than meets the eye.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2007 12:48 AM

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Ha Ha Steve im pretty sure that freaking huge 6'4 clean cut "anarchist" could have handled himself. It is clear anyone with half a brain that the RCMP just got caught with their pants down in this video.

Posted by: Mike at August 22, 2007 01:36 AM

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I see, Blogging Tory Steve, it's the "crowd which had been whipped into a frenzy by the union leader" that should have been arrested.

If you had actually olooked at the video without your conservative lens, then you would have noticed that the "cop-protestors" were actually crossing the line, clearly an offence.

Although the union leader was upset about these three under-cover "agents", nobody asked them to cross the line. At about 3:10 he actually asks them to leave, pointing to the right.

But they didn't want to go that way, oh no, their only way out was via their buddies, the cops.

At 2:45 they are clearly trying to break the line, again, clearly an offence. They were handcuffed, and taken away.

"Dave Coles and Joel Harden from the CLC were AMAZING in diffusing the situation, saving families and grannies from getting tear-gassed"

Posted by: SaxBoy at August 22, 2007 01:43 AM

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Although this is not beyond what the RCMP may have done in the past, so far it is only an allegation that is getting quickly diffused by the conspiratorial minded. I think it best to reserve judgment until there is better proof than this video. It all falls into place a little too nicely.

That said, it would be very disturbing if our police thought it necessary to employ such tactics to discredit the protest. Thus far, the anti-SPP crowd are doing a good job discrediting themselves. But if your arguments are weak, fabricating stuff like this might be your only hope to get people's attention. Still, it adds little to a rather important debate.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2007 07:50 AM

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This shouldn't be too hard to verify, since nobody gets handcuffed without paperwork. Someone -- any journalists out there -- needs to find out what unit the cops were with, and file a request for the arrest records of the day. Alternatively, the media who are on this story (incl. This Magazine, Torontoist, the Star) need to put out a general call, asking the alleged cop-provocateur to come forward and identify himself. This Mag should offer the dude a cover story. If he's a real protestor, he'll out himself pretty quickly.

Posted by: andrew potter at August 22, 2007 08:17 AM

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Andrew said:
"This shouldn't be too hard to verify, since nobody gets handcuffed without paperwork."

Thanks Andrew, that's what i thought. I hope thismagazine will get on it, since they brought it up.

Cheers!

Posted by: SaxBoy at August 22, 2007 11:33 AM

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Let's see if Cole can come up with more than this video to prove his case at his 1 o'clock news conference.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2007 12:24 PM

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there's more evidence: boots!

See the Galloping Beaver for the latest on the boots.

Posted by: SaxBoy at August 22, 2007 07:51 PM

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The link provided http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerkate/sets/72157601589225450/
shows the sequence of events that happened as captured on film, of this very same incident but from a couple different angles.
I've covered more than one protest, and have noticed in the past, that those that chose to cross the line usually aren't wearing the same style of shoes as the police officers.
Not to mention, the protesters are lead away without bring searched or having their possessions taken away first - among other things.

Kate

Posted by: Kate at August 22, 2007 10:59 PM

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Nice pictures Kate.

Reminds me of last summer in Paris after the French soccer team won the match to enter the finals. The French police were all decked out in riot gear with shields and truncheons blocking access to the Etoile Charles de Gaulle from the Champs Elysee. Very intimidating, but they did their job and kept the crowd under control. Same thing the cops did at Montebello.

Posted by: Steve at August 23, 2007 08:54 AM

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It's suddenly very quiet around here.

Posted by: andrew potter at August 24, 2007 10:51 AM

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Nothing to add, Steve? They've been outed ... what are we to make of that? And can you explain why one of them was carrying a rock?

Posted by: mason at August 24, 2007 05:21 PM

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By the way, Ariel -- thanks for posting this. Your entry was the first I'd heard of it, and now it's one of the most blogged-about topics worldwide. Hopefully there will be enough outcry for this to cost Stockwell Day his job.

Posted by: mason at August 24, 2007 10:26 PM

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