Police admit agents posed as protesters; One carries large rock to protest.

[gatorboy]

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/249429

MONTREAL–With the proof caught on video, Quebec provincial police were forced to admit yesterday that three undercover agents were playing the part of protesters at this week's international summit in Montebello, Que.

But the Quebec police force denied they were attempting to provoke protesters into violence. Rather, they said the three were planted in the crowd to locate any protesters who were not peacefully demonstrating. Police said the trio's cover was blown when they refused to toss any objects.

"At no time did the Quebec provincial police officers act as agents provocateurs or commit criminal acts. Also, it is not part of the policy of the police force nor is it part of its strategy to act in this manner. At all times, the officers responded to their mandate to maintain law and order," the Sûreté du Québec said in a news release last night.

The police said after viewing a video clip from YouTube.com and video shot by police officers, they were able to confirm the three were Quebec provincial police officers.

<snip>

The three officers, sporting bandannas, showed up on the front lines of a protest at the summit. One carried a large rock.

[Kagemusha]

1. Why would anyone need a rock to play the part of protestors?

I don't understand that part.

[Az]

3. The idea they are trying to suggest

Is that they were trying to find violent protesters by planting people in the crowd that they would identify with and mingle with. Of course the difference between this and actually provoking violence is nearly nonexistent. They are just trying to cover their asses.

[Kagemusha]

6. So you mean entrapment rather than observation.

Because unless they're medically blind, they can watch violent protesters while undercover as uh, regular protesters.

What a stupid idea. And I wanna hear the other side too. From what I heard, protest leaders probably ordered them to DROP the rock rather than throw it.

[Ian_rd]

29. The article here makes it clear that the protest leader told them to get lost

Here:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/248608

Their claim that they were there to monitor the protest is total horse shit. They were BY FAR the most radical looking, even having a rock! I still don't understand why the cops would do this though, but it's clear that they did, and that this is not a unique occurrence.

[Wednesdays]

41. Don't understand why?

Look this up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur

[Ian_rd]

46. Fascinating article - thanks.

My main source of confusion is why the police would willingly provoke conditions that could not only endanger their own personnel, but also lead to vandalism and rioting - something that scares business and makes a police force look bad on television. But if a goal of theirs is to make arrests for which they normally wouldn't have cause, or to discourage future protests by increasing punishments for protestors, I can see why police might feel it is in their interest to incite violence.

[irislake]

74. The main reason is

to make the protesters look like a bunch of violent criminals and terrorists rather than public-minded sweet lil ole grannies and grandpaws, which is mainly what they were. Then fence sitters who haven't bothered to learn what they are protesting (like some of my red-neck neighbours) will think they are all "communists" and deviants.

I would have been there except I can't walk far. I belong to the Council of Canadians which is a powerful group with a lot of political clout.

[Ian_rd]

109. Well that's actually the kind of reasoning I don't buy

The cops becoming a part of some shady Big Brother conspiracy to marginalize dissent doesn't ring true for me. But on the other hand the act of making arrests, and therefore breaking up protests and discouraging future protests is a tangible "benefit" that I can see police departments wanting enough to conduct such false flag ops.

Your argument WOULD ring true for me however if it wasn't the cops involved in this, but rather the central government, like our very own American COINTELPRO which did (does?) exactly those kinds of things. Hell, there were even serious discussions by JFK's DoD to commit deadly acts of terrorism on our own citizens and blame Cuba in order to increase public support to remove Castro. (Operation Northwoods, etc.)

[kenfrequed]

110. Honestly though

The general that advocated Northwoods was asked to resign by Kennedy before that operation even became public.

As to the police motive?

The right people telling the police chief to move the protestors along would be adequate. I suppose in Canada there has to be a bit more of the illusion of jthe protests being 'bad.' In America we certainly have had protests with less provocation broken up violently.

When did this become the norm?

[Ian_rd]

120. My point about Northwoods was not to implicate Kennedy ...

... but I brought it up to illustrate that if people high in our Government (no, it wasn't just Lemnitzer - but several people from DoD and Joint Chiefs) are willing to kill us as a means to control public opinion, then planting fake protestors to incite violence is certainly within the realm of things they'd also consider appropriate.

I agree with you on your take on American protests being broken up though. I was in New York for the RNC convention in 2004. One day a few hundred of us were outside Fox being perfectly civil an non-obstructive. The cops started covering their badges with black tape (so you have no way of reporting their name or number if they, you know, accidentally beat the crap out of you), and then were herding people into "free speech zones." I took off immediately. Being "zoned" so I can practice my First Amendment isn't my style.

[robinlynne]

39. whihc they can't do if someone has a photo with that rock!

[gatorboy]

5. So they could play the part of a violent protestor perhaps?

[notadmblnd]

43. maybe to incite violence

so they can initiate their repressive policies against the people demonstrating?

[file83]

104. That's EXACTLY what they intended.

I admire that old man for calling those cops out and removing their masks! That I believe was the key to that YouTube video. You get one good shot of that cops face - the Police Department knew it was only a matter of time before his identity would have been revealed - so they decided to fess up.

This shit has been documented in the U.S. in the past several years - caught on tape that is - but our Police always end up covering it up and denying it.

[tsuki]

116. the past several decades--since the sixties. nt

[Sequoia]

70. Read too much Illiad

Those Greeks and Trojans were always hurling rocks at one another.

[BornagainDUer]

78. Maybe he thought it was a "rock" concert.

[debbierlus]

89. Grrrooooooooooooooooan!

:hide:

[BornagainDUer]

122. OK, but it was all I could think of.

:hi:

[EVDebs]

91. 'Agent Provacateur' ...also, anyone mention the UK/USA intelligence treaty ?

from Amazon.com

The Ties That Bind: UK/USA Intelligence and Security Network (Paperback)
by Jeffrey T. Richelson (Author), Desmond Ball (Author)

Synopsis: This work offers an account of a secret treaty entered upon by Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in 1947, and which concerned the creation of a global network of security and intelligence co-operation amongst the participants. The book examines each of the countries' intelligence communities and also traces the web of inter-relationships amongst the five countries over the 30 years of the existence of the treaty, assessing the costs and benefits of secretive co-operation. Also included is a chapter examining recent changes and new disclosures that have taken place in the last five years and the implications for the future. The authors jointly edited "Strategic Nuclear Targetting" and Desmond Ball is the author of "A Suitable Piece of Real Estate: American Institutions in Australia", "A Base for Debate" and "Pine Gap".

[formercia]

118. You can be sure the boys were there providing advice.

Telling the agent provocateurs to get as close to the protest leadership as possible so once the violence starts, the news camera crews can frame the leadership and the provocateurs in the same shot and let the public 'get the picture' with a few commentaries by the talking heads to fix the point.

[formercia]

119. You know what dey say in Quebec?

Some day you get 'da Bear, some day 'da Bear get you.

[liberalmike27]

114. I think

Isn't it more about putting these guys in the crowd to do violence, then crack the whole crowd's heads, and driving them away, accusing them all of violence, due to the agents that provoke the police?

[formercia]

115. It's called 'Bad Jacketing', a standard COINTELPRO technique.

Here's the way it works in prisons:

A new inmate who is nonviolent and not a gang member enters the general population. In order to survive, he has to associate with one group or another for protection. The prison authorities tell his new friends through the grapevine that he's a snitch. The prisoner now has no choice but to go to the guards for protection and becomes a snitch in fact.

In COINTELPRO, the agent provocater would write letters and start rumors with opposing factions within a group to discredit an individual who is targeted by the boys as a threat. The target, who might be someone with real leadership capability or skills the boys consider to be dangerous gets isolated, perhaps ostracized or even attacked for being a perceived threat to the group.

[HuffleClaw]

2. funny how the video shows the opposite of the police 'claims'

but its not like the SQ has a stellar record in any case.

[Subdivisions]

4. "...after viewing a video clip from YouTube.com

and video shot by police officers, they were able to confirm the three were Quebec provincial police officers, they were able to confirm the three were Quebec provincial police officers."...?

You mean they didn't know they had guys in there BEFORE they watched the video?

Yeah, RIGHT!

[nashville_brook]

16. this is why people want to "regulate" the 'net -- youtube gives power back to the people

of course they "knew" they had provocateurs in the crowd -- can't expect them to admit it without widely distributed evidence.

[KaptBunnyPants]

35. Exactly. Without the internet, no one would have ever seen this footage.

TV news has done a complete black out on this story. Even Olbermann has completely ignored it. If this had gone as planned, all we would have heard was "Police were forced to subdue an unruly crowd of protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets today after violence broke out at an anti-globalization rally". But when faced with iron-clad evidence that the police were trying to instigate a riot, our masters in the news room decided that we don't need to know.

[NorCalDem]

94. The same tactic was used in the '02 coup against Chavez

by his political opponents and more-likely than not, the CIA. The documentary "The revolution will not be televised" shows this tactic used to perfection.

Well said by the way

[KaptBunnyPants]

107. Thank you.

And "The revolution will not be televised" is modern classic, required watching for anyone interested in how right wing oligarchs attempt to thwart democracy.

[formercia]

117. Chavez's opposition are right-wing reactionaries

This type of activity is their standard act.


If you really investigate political violence, you will see their fingerprints on it the vast majority of the time.

[BornagainDUer]

79. Exactly.

[TechBear_Seattle]

7. Liars. Their cover was blown when others tried to stop THEM from throwing things

The evidence is pretty clear that these cops were agents provocateurs, not simply there to keep an eye on things. They were there solely for the purpose of giving the uniforms an excuse to arrest the bunch and clean up the streets.

[frylock]

8. a kick for the pollyannas who were calling out the "tinfoilers" last week..

feel free to post your apologies here, or start a new thread if you like.

[gatorboy]

12. I missed that thread.

You have a link by chance?

[nashville_brook]

14. don't have a link, but i read the thread

it was disheartening to say the least. cranky CT witch hunt from people who've never bothered to set foot in a protest.

[CGowen]

40. there is a thread in the 911 forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=170355&mesg_id=170355

[nashville_brook]

42. wow -- everyone should check that thread

[frylock]

51. it's nice to see that they're big enough to admit when they're wrong

:sarcasm:

[Jax]

71. One of the biggest whiners on that thread

who will never admit when they are wrong and it is proved to them was SO PRO INVADE IRAQ on these forums before the deserter invaded...cannot believe they are still here.

Well on second thought, yes I can.



Alyce

[otherlander]

59. WTF does that have to do with 9/11?

NOTHING! :banghead:

[CGowen]

60. I think it was posted there and it has not much to do with 911.....

and stop banging your head against the wall, you are getting red.

[otherlander]

63. Ok, it's just that I know that

if threads are considered to be "conspiracy theories", they sometimes get moved to the 9/11 forum even if they have nothing to do with 9/11.

[CGowen]

64. I know I post there frequently, UFO stuff sometimes ends up there

I thought you were thinking it has been moved there, but I'm pretty sure it was posted there

[mogster]

97. You're right

It was posted there not moved by the mods. Not directly related, maybe ;-)

[nashville_brook]

65. wondering if it was moved there

[otherlander]

75. I was wondering that too

Hence the headbang- Anything that can be called a conspiracy theory gets sent there even if it has nothing to do with 9/11. But maybe it was just posted there for some reason. :shrug:

[nashville_brook]

100. fyi -- pm'd the op

of that thread, and it was originally meant for the 9-11 forum.

[EVDebs]

92. UK/USA intelligence treaty and 'false flag' operations is the point....eom

[nashville_brook]

45. here's that LINK -->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2962268

[Ian_rd]

32. Be nice :)

I was on the side of the fence that believed they were provocateurs, but it was perfectly legitimate debate.

[JDPriestly]

9. I hope there is an investigation.

The argument that they were uncovered when they refused to throw the rocks they were brandishing can easily be disproved by determining whether others were holding rocks, whether others were throwing rocks. I believe we would have seen pictures and heard reports about rock throwing or rock holding by demonstrators who were not police. This lame excuse should be easy to debunk.

[immoderate]

19. Yeah! Did everyone else throw rocks? Except those three?

That's how we know the true protesters. That's a lot of rocks.

--IMM

[glitch]

30. They are digging the hole they are in deeper K & R nt

[tuvor]

37. The videographer said a thrown rock prompted him to start filming.

As reported on Victoria's A-Channel News last Friday evening.

He did not know who threw the rock, but was optimistic that the thrower had been caught on tape by others with cameras.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. And I thought that only in the US would the government plant people to make protestors look bad.

I especially wouldn't have thought of Canada dipping so low into the realm of Republican-style fascism and lie mongering.

[gratuitous]

11. Yep, classic COINTELPRO

You send some guy in to act the hothead, he throws a rock or a brick or a Molotov cocktail, which incites other dimwits into doing the same. The cops wade in with batons, tasers, truncheons and other weapons, and the guy who threw the first projectile somehow never quite makes it to the holding cell.

[nashville_brook]

18. COINTELPRO MISSION "increase factionalism, cause disruption and win defections"

[Wednesdays]

47. There need not be "other dimwits" doing the same

A single smoke bomb or Molotov cocktail thrown by an agent provocateur, and you have mass confusion everywhere. Cue the "good guys" (the riot police) to rush in and "restore order." :puke:

So you, as an average protester could just get overrun, get your head bashed in, and hauled off in handcuffs, just for going out and supporting a cause. Oh, and forget about getting medical insurance to pay for your injuries--in the policy it states they're exempt if your injuries were caused "during acts of rioting or civil disturbances." Plus, see if anyone will hire you with that kind of arrest on your record.

Quite a nice setup for the establishment, eh?

[raccoon]

112. Jeez louise...I didn't know that.

"forget about getting medical insurance to pay for your injuries--in the policy it states they're exempt if your injuries were caused "during acts of rioting or civil disturbances." "

(Not that my individual policy pays for much anyway.)

[natrat]

15. they have a conservative in power now so there ya go

[SidDithers]

31. Surete du Quebec is a provincial police force...

The conservatives in power are federal politicians. Federal police here are the RCMP.

Sid

[iverglas]

49. let me not to clear thinking admit impediment ;)

I'm as annoyed by uninformed statements about local politics as the next person ... but ...

There is a point that might be made that the agents provocateurs thing is a symptom of the problem with the whole security prosperity thing itself -- that it's merely a cover for US imperialism.

I've seen it pointed out that security for the get-together was likely micromanaged by US agencies. Perhaps not down to the use of the three bandana-ed morons in question, but maybe in terms of the nature of "security" arrangements being made in Canada in situations like this in general, the fact that we have a complicit federal government in place could be relevant.

Not that I don't consider Liberal governments to be equally complicit ...

[SidDithers]

68. You're completely correct, iverglas...

it's just hard for me to not correct an error about Canadian politics, when I see one.

Cheers.

Sid

[Amonester]

57. 'Liberal' Prime Minister of Quebec is an 'ex' federal cons' leader...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charest

We all know who his 'friends' R...

[iverglas]

58. I have the impression you live in Canada

so I would hope you don't actually get your information about Canadian history and politics from Wikipedia ...

He is a former leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party (1993 - 1998) ...

In the 1993 election, the PCs were swept from power. Only two of the party's 295 candidates were elected — Charest and Elsie Wayne. As the only surviving member of what would turn out to be the last PC Cabinet, Charest was appointed interim party leader and confirmed in the post in April 1995.

Charest was a prominent Progressive Conservative Party politician; true. He was party leader because he was one of only two party MPs in the house, and the other was a total loon.

In any event, anyone who thought there was no distinction between the Progressive Conservative Party that Charest belonged to and the Conservative Party that Harper and Day belong to would be rather uninformed; anyone who said there was no difference, knowing full well that the two parties have very little in common, in terms of either policies or membership, would be less than honest.

To which, of course, I add my usual caveat, that Liberals and any kind of Conservatives are much the same to me anyhow, while acknowledging that not all federal Liberals are/were the same and not all federal Progressive Conservatives were the same, this being less true of today's Conservatives.

The fact remains that Charest's ties to today's federal Conservative Party and government ... well, don't exist.

[EVDebs]

93. Here in the US, all local city police forces have intelligence liasons

The incident in Denver awhile back is a classic case. "Provincial" or not, the orders come from top down, not bottom up.

[John Q. Citizen]

26. Governments everywhere aren't to be trusted and need to be kept on a short leash.

Police agencies can be reletively better or worse, but they all need public scrutiny and over site or sooner or later they revert to their lowest common denominator.

[BornagainDUer]

84. Also Operation Chaos had the same MO.

Operation CHAOS was the code name for a domestic espionage project conducted by the CIA. A department within the CIA was established in 1967 on orders from President Lyndon Johnson. The department came to be known as the Domestic Operations Division (DOD). The division's main function was to manage the direction, support, and coordination of clandestine operations and activities within the United States.

CIA director John McCone was assigned to the DOD in order to setup espionage operations on the uprising of college student protests against the U.S. government's Vietnam foreign policies. Two new units were set up to target anti-war protestors and organizations: Project RESISTANCE, which worked with college administrators, campus security and local police to identify anti-war activists and political dissidents; and Project MERRIMAC, which monitored any demonstrations being conducted in the Washington D.C. area. Local police departments also worked with the CIA by monitoring student activists and infiltrating anti-war organizations. Some of their assignments involved initiating staged burglaries, illegal entries (black bag jobs), interrogations and electronic surveillance.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_CHAOS

[raccoon]

111. Me too. I am shocked--shocked that this happened in Canada. nt

[nashville_brook]

13. can't believe i have the first REC on this -- people need to know that this happens

not just for the activist on the ground who are likely to get caught up in provoked melee, but for everyone else in the world who judges the merits of a political movement based on the ability of its leaders to "play by the rules."

think about it. agent provocateurs not only put activists in DANGER, they also disgrace/smear the organizations working to bring change.

it's disappointing that many keyboard activists are so unfamiliar with the history of RT activism, that they cry "CT" every time this happens. it's not exotic. it's not a wild-eyed eyed conspiracy theory -- there are people at every large demonstration who are there to short-circuit the message. it's a LOT easier to smear the message of a demonstration than to organize a demonstration and we OWE it to the people who work for change to *at least* be aware of the dirty tricks being used against them.

this needs to get the "greatest page" post haste.

[ieoeja]

56. We only cry CT because the theories are usually amazingly stupid.

This is a perfect example. In the attempt to ensure protestors do not riot, the police go undercover to incite the protestors to riot.

You've got to admit that would be incredibly stupid. Okay, fine, it really did happen. So instead of an amazingly stupid theory, it is now an amazingly stupid, but true, conspiracy. But still amazingly stupid.

I feel much like I did the first Wednesday in November 1980.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

61. The stated purpose of the agents was not the actual purpose..

If agents provocateurs were never an issue then there would be no term for them in the English language.

The conspiracy itself was not amazingly stupid, probably 90+% of the time such tactics work extremely well..

What _was_ amazingly stupid was the agents provocateurs wearing part of their police issue uniforms.

[nashville_brook]

67. often it seems the CT-seekers like their "smartness" more than the truth

[The Vinyl Ripper]

72. Conspiracy theories..

They tend to pop up when the official version of events just doesn't add up.

How many times in the past has it eventually been found that the government (any government) has been lying all along?

One very small example of things which "don't add up".

On 9/11/2001 bush was sitting in the school room in Florida, Andy Card came and whispered in his ear that America was under attack. The fact that bush continued to just sit there is not all that surprising, he's basically an idiot.

What is absolutely flabbergastingly surprising is that the Secret Service didn't immediately rush bush out of the school and off to some undisclosed location. The school was on the public itinerary and the SS should have had no way of knowing whether there was another plane on the way to crash into the school.

Obviously the Secret Service knew more than has been revealed about what was going on that morning, their lack of reaction makes that abundantly clear.

[nashville_brook]

85. i realize my post was ambiguous...

by "CT-seeker," i mean folks who derisively label critical thinking as "tin foilry." often, what they recoil from is all forms of brainstorming. they like to stand on the sidelines, point and laugh -- while patting themselves on the back for not being so silly as to speculate. at root, they can't stand being "wrong" -- as if that would make them appear to be "intellectually weak."

[EVDebs]

98. Er, look at the title of this thread. "Police admit..." It ain't no conspiracy theory no more

It's an official conspiracy now and it needs to be investigated, correct ?

[iverglas]

101. no ...

It's an official conspiracy now and it needs to be investigated, correct?

It's a public allegation of police misconduct, which needs to be investigated.

Not seeing any conspiracy, myself.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

105. So these guys decided

Each of them on their own with no input from anyone else to pose as protesters?

If not, then it is indeed a conspiracy.

[iverglas]

121. no ...

So these guys decided
Each of them on their own with no input from anyone else to pose as protesters?

No ... Did you truly imagine that this was what I said? Oh dear. I will have to be careful to write in non-complex sentences and words of no more than two syllables.

If you and a coworker are instructed by your superior to do something, and you collaborate to carry out that directive, are the three of you conspiring? I wouldn't say so, myself.


If not, then it is indeed a conspiracy.

No ... It may well be an instance of a directive issued by an authority within a police service to some of the police service employees at the operational level to do something that is very arguably contrary to public policy and to the public interest. It seems to have been just that. The question is where the directive came from, and what policy it was in application of, and who was responsible for making the policy.

None of this makes any of it a conspiracy. I'm sorry, but that's just silly, and a real misapplication of the concept.

[EVDebs]

99. And why was NSA War Room's Capt. Deborah Loewer present ?

Does she always accompany the Prez while speaking at elementary schools ?

[raccoon]

113. That's what I keep thinking, so I'll just quote you:

"One very small example of things which "don't add up".

On 9/11/2001 bush was sitting in the school room in Florida, Andy Card came and whispered in his ear that America was under attack. The fact that bush continued to just sit there is not all that surprising, he's basically an idiot.

What is absolutely flabbergastingly surprising is that the Secret Service didn't immediately rush bush out of the school and off to some undisclosed location. The school was on the public itinerary and the SS should have had no way of knowing whether there was another plane on the way to crash into the school.

Obviously the Secret Service knew more than has been revealed about what was going on that morning, their lack of reaction makes that abundantly clear."

[fed-up]

17. kick and begging for more recs-nt

[Bonobo]

20. Kicked and Recced cause if Canada does it, we do it 1000 times more.

[lazyriver]

21. When I watched the video I distinctly saw

these police (or whatever they are) shoving the older gentleman in the suit and others who were trying to keep them away from his peaceful demonstration. Maybe the law is different in Canada, but here in the U.S. it is still called assault. Seems like "criminal acts" were committed to me.

[Kingshakabobo]

52. That's a VERY good point. n/t

[lazyriver]

54. If any protester, real protester, were to show up at an

event (any event, let alone one where the POTUS was in town) dressed like those guys, carrying a large rock, and then proceeded to shove people on the sidewalk directly in front of police, I suspect it would take all of ten seconds for that person to be beaten to the ground, pepper sprayed and probably tazered. However, since these were cops, nothing to see here...move along.

[cheddar99]

95. Absolutely it was assault but

the cops get away with murder where I live.

Maybe the law is different in Canada, but here in the U.S. it is still called assault.

Yes, they committed a crime shoving that old gentleman, but the worst thing was the way acting like a thug and a goon seems to come so naturally to the cops. The misfits, mental midgets, and psycho types gravitate toward police work. The public is their feeding ground, we are the enemy.

[awoke_in_2003]

108. Only one problem

anymore, if a policeman assaults you, it isn't an assault. And if it is, he gets a slap on the wrist.

[Ian_rd]

22. They were there to monitor in black bandanas and a rock? BULL FUCKING SHIT

They were by far the most extreme and radical looking of all the protestors, and they say they were there to keep an eye out for trouble? Give me a fucking break. Who is going to swallow such putrid shit?

[backscatter712]

23. I was shocked, but not surprised when I saw the Youtube video

and the photo showing the provocateurs wearing the same boots as the riot cops.

I'd heard stories from earlier protests, such as the Vietnam War protests that were targeted by COINTELPRO and the Seattle WTO protests.

But this was the first time I'd personally seen video that caught them in the act, dead to rights.

It's disgusting and utterly despicable, attempting to deliberately provoke violence, turning a non-violent act of protest into a violent riot, just so the cops can discredit them and crack some skulls. If those provocateurs had succeeded, people could have been killed.

[JohnyCanuck]

24. Go to this thread in political videos forum for some links

to YT videos of the Union organizer, David Coles, and Council of Canadians Chairperson, Maude Barlow, being interviewed on Canadian TV as to what they saw at the demonstration re. the undercover cops posing as anarchists:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x49350

For those who didn't get a chance to see it, this is the link to the original thread in the political videos forum on this incident posting the video of the undercover cops with the rocks being challenged by Coles to put the rocks down and then fleeing for the cop lines when they figured the jig was up:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=48559&mesg_id=48559

[Amonester]

34. near the beginning of the clip, we can here many young (true...)

protesters say "ALLEZ DANS VOTRE LIGNE" (translate: "GO INTO YOUR LINE") to these idiot mofos from the ("not first time" CRIMINAL) taxpayers-money squandering SQs.

"GO INTO YOUR LINE" (pointing where the rest of these pigs were!)

[iverglas]

25. news report with video at youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q69oW-28jc4

The tell was the police-issue boots they were wearing. Duh. They also planted themselves in the middle of the dignitary contingent of the protest -- senior trade union officials and the long-time head of the Council of Canadians, a former Liberal politician. Duh again.

Police conduct of this type in Canada generally tends to be this inept. "They burn barns, don't they?" is the memorialization of the RCMP decision back in the 60s to burn down a barn where they believed an FLQ cell was planning to hold a meeting.

It does have to be remembered, though, that Canada has experienced modern acts of political violence. The US has McVeigh, but years before that the FLQ did bomb, and kidnap, and kill. The Air India flight was blown up. Political violence, while rare and isolated, has occurred. And the violent anti-abortion loon from the US, James Kopp, shot a doctor here too.

I had fun with the RCMP one time. I was actually in charge of security for a major event/demonstration years ago; the age of innocence. During one of our pre-event meetings, at which we again stressed our desire to have no dealings with the local CPC/ML, which we suspected planned to attach itself to our march, for instance (they came equipped with implanted loudspeakers, I swear, and they could be very nasty), the sergeant we were meeting with leaned back in his chair, put his cowboy boots up on his desk, and said, "Who are those people, anyhow?" I couldn't resist. I put on my look of wide-eyed innocence, and said "But Larry, we always assumed they were you guys!" He looked so genuinely surprised that I think they probably really were just freelance nutters. ;)


It's at least gratifying to know from this recent incident that the forces of order here are still as inept as ever at this game.

But if anybody can parse Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day's remarks and come up with some actual meaning, I'm sure we'd all like to know.

[notadmblnd]

106. Looking at that news report at the beginning

where the talking head said there was stone throwing and rioting in another area and was showing footage of it, it looked to me like the same guys/police. Anyone else notice that?

[FraDon]

27. K+R . . . same ole' same 'ole

During 60s demonstrations, we used to do "spit-shine sandals" watch. Just look at these agents carefully; somebody dressed these guys. I'd love to know the quick, terrified conversation between the agent and the closest police officer. I will say, tho', the rock was a nice touch; made the whole costume work.

[Canuckistanian]

28. That's some "undercover" stategy there

I thought the whole purpose of undercover work was to blend in with the crowd and avoid attracting attention to yourself.

Posing as an violent anarchist with a rock in your hand GUARANTEES you'll get attention.

They just didn't get the "attention" they wanted.

[tuvor]

33. Link to new interview with the union leader who blew their cover...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=190x22128

[JohnyCanuck]

48. Thanks for that link

HI: What was it like on the ground in Montebello?

Dave Coles: There really was hardly any trouble in relative terms to many actions I've been around and seen in the past. This was a church picnic. They had to stir it up. If the real reason the Council of Canadians and we were there were understood, the public would be up in arms about the SPP. It's treated as trivial, they call us the left wing loons, they keep giving us the back of the hand, only this time they got caught.

HI: Who took the video and posted it?

Dave Coles: A young chap from Nanaimo hired by the Council of Canadians, as well as a bunch of citizens taking still photos. I knew in my heart, after I looked these guys in the eye and they shoved me around, that they were cops. I'm a union leader. I've been on picket lines all my life. These guys looked like, acted like and smelled liked cops.

I find it really insulting they say they were carrying rocks to blend in. This guy assaulted me, he shoved me, he fingered {gave the finger to) me. They were marching on a line that didn't have a mask. There's no mistake what they were doing or what we were doing.

HI: What are your next steps? Do you intend to press charges

Dave Coles: We have legal counsel working all weekend on this. We are going to file complaints, when it's to our advantage to expose this assault on democracy.

There are a number of issues that concern us. The reporting of the media and how they refuse to take our issues seriously. (emphasis added /jc) There's the issue of the infiltration by the police of a democratic process. There's entrapment, personal assault against me and my staff, the whole issue of political direction. Which politician made that determination they should infiltrate us?

http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=0083

Notice how the media whores know and understand what their role is in these types of events.

[formercia]

69. The role of the media lackeys

is to get footage of the Agent Provocateurs and report it on the news as them being 'The Protesters', thus painting all of the legitimate and peaceful protesters as being violent. It's all part of the police street theater.

[Ian_rd]

36. More recs! The only topic that should be higher than this is Gonzo! nt

[dailykoff]

38. Remember those Muslim "protests" we used to hear about?

Allegedly over cartoons and statements by the Pope? Well now we know who ginned them up.

[Beelzebud]

44. Just like the FBI funded "anarchists" at the Seattle WTO protests.

[BornagainDUer]

80. Got a link or other source for that? I'd reeeeaaly like to see it.

[Kolesar]

50. There likely was a "agent provocateur" in the burning of the ROTC building at Kent State ...

... leading to the massacre on May 4, 1970.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22agent+provocateur%22++%22may+4%22+kent

[Hekate]

53. You know it's happening here,too.We saw it in the 1960s.KNOW YOUR FRIENDS.

If you start with a group whose goal is non-violent civil disobedience be prepared to toss out anyone who starts preaching violence.

Hekate

[EFerrari]

55. You bet. In a heartbeat.

K&R

[BornagainDUer]

82. Part of Cointelpro?

[EVDebs]

96. Counter-Intelligence-Program. FBI's domestic spying program

"The founding document of COINTELPRO directed FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

not to be confused with the Army's domestic MIG's (Military Intelligence Groups) spying on Dr MLK for example.

"The testimony of writer Douglas Valentine filled in the background of the men Carthel Weeden had taken up to the roof of Fire Station 2. While Valentine was researching his book The Phoenix Program (1990), on the CIA's notorious counterintelligence program against Vietnamese villagers, he talked with veterans in military intelligence who had been re-deployed from the Vietnam War to the sixties antiwar movement. They told him that in 1968 the Army's 111th Military Intelligence Group kept Martin Luther King under 24-hour-a-day surveillance. Its agents were in Memphis April 4. As Valentine wrote in The Phoenix Program, they "reportedly watched and took photos while King's assassin moved into position, took aim, fired, and walked away."

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/MLKconExp.html

[Rex]

62. Lies

They were there to start a riot.

[Madspirit]

66. k&r

Even back in our protesting days of the 60s and 70s they've inserted PIGS into our protests, for various reasons. To spy, to incite....

Lee

[lovuian]

73. thats prove that the Police are in the crowds stirring them up

that You tube thread says it all

the police rustled them to the ground and arrested them in front of people
trying to scare them

[Swamp Rat]

76. That would never happen here!!!

[BornagainDUer]

81. Nice one SR. Keep up the good work.

:hi:

[mudesi]

77. Kick (nm)

[BornagainDUer]

83. Ex-CIA agent John Stockwell talked of agent provocateurs used in the 80's

to disrupt and monitor CISPES (Citizens in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) and other activist groups. It's in his tell all book "The Praetorian Guard". His other book: "In Search of Enemies" is a good one to.

This kind of shit pisses off more than most other issues. It is so absolutely Orwellian in its contempt for democracy. :mad:

[nashville_brook]

86. "contempt for democracy" -- you said it!

it's infuriating.

[Castleman]

87. When you talk about destruction..don't you know that you can count me OUT?

EOM

[file83]

103. Amen.

Too bad the police want so much destruction.

[onehandle]

88. How is this a surprise?

This is Canadian news. We already know it happens here.

The things that DUers vote up.

[Aptastik]

90. This reminds me of the RNC protests in 2004

There were undercovers all over the place who were so obviously cops, it was kinda hilarious.

I remember there was like a 300 pound biker-looking dude with a black bandana and a shirt that said "vegan" on it. HAHAHA

They were all wearing color-coded bracelets too, making it even easier to spot them.

I ended up talking to the huge cop in a vegan shirt and asked him if he knew what a vegan was. He did. He told me he "just started"....yeah...ok dude....

[Cobalt-60]

102. It was a pet rock.

You know they're like baby gators, cute as a reptilian button until they get 10 feet long.
He just didn't have the heart to return it to the wild.
Seriously, I think this shows the need to assign Peace Enforcers at all large demonstrations.
Anyone looking like trouble provides fingerprints and presents photo ID or gets frog marched immediately out of the area.