This is a brief update to dada’s diary last week on the SPP: The SPP…ever heard of it?
During the protest at Montebello, three masked men carrying rocks attempted to disrupt the peaceful line of protest to instigate a confrontation w/ the riot police.
The peaceful and legitimate protesters told these men to move away from their line — they weren’t interested in any violence. The masked men looked very out of place, wouldn’t state who they were, refused to take off their masks when asked, pushed one of the peaceful protesters, and eventually forced their way through the line where they were handcuffed by the riot police.
Here’s the YouTube video, showing the confrontation:
After the incident was broadcast via YouTube, it was picked up by the media.
I listened to a report on CBC Radio on the drive home tonight, by Nick Gamache. He stated:
- The RCMP said the three men are not RCMP officers, however the Sûreté du Québec (spokeswoman’s name was Melanie — ) would not go so far as to say the three men weren’t police officers when asked directly. The Sûreté du Québec said they know who the men are, but refused to reveal their names to the media.
- Gamache then said he investigated the claim made in the YouTube video and news articles about the similarity between the boots of the three men with those of the police, and confirmed that the boots are in fact the same – Vibrant, 134AR model – which is a common boot used by police and firefighters.
- Gamache contacted retired police officers (names mentioned, but I wasn’t able to remember them) for their opinion on the three men, and all concluded that they did not act like normal protesters.
- NDP members Peter Julian and Libby Davies are calling for a public inquiry – they want confirmation and explanation of the use of agent provocateurs.
Initally, the Sûreté du Québec denied the use of agent provocateurs, but as more questions were raised and more people demanded answers, they have now revealed that these three were police officers.
From the CBC.ca, Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest:
Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que.
However, the police force denied allegations its undercover officers were there on Monday to provoke the crowd and instigate violence.
“At no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts,” the police force said in French in a news release. “It is not in the police force’s policies, nor in its strategies, to act in that manner.
“At all times, they responded within their mandate to keep order and security.”
Police said the three undercover officers were only at the protest to locate and identify non-peaceful protesters in order to prevent any incidents.
If you watch the video, it does NOT appear that they were attempting to maintain order and security.
I hope there will be more on who was involved in setting this up.
Update [2007-8-24 8:10:46 by olivia]: Here is the brief press release: La Sûreté du Québec précise certains faits concernant le Sommet de Montebello
Update [2007-8-25 1:16:55 by olivia]: Further outrage. A report from the CBC.ca posted Friday at 9:55 PM ET, Quebec police defend undercover officers, quotes Insp. Marcel Savard of the Quebec provincial police:
Savard acknowledged that one of the officers was given a rock by protesters but did not use it.
“One of the extremists gave the rock to one of our police officers and he had a choice to make,” Savard said. “He was asked by extremists to throw the rock at the police, but never had any intention of using it.” (emphasis mine)
Also quoted, is Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who states:
“The thing that was interesting in this particular incident, three people in question were spotted by protesters because were not engaging in violence,” Day said.
“They were being encouraged to throw rocks and they were not throwing rocks, it was the protesters who were throwing the rocks. That’s the irony of this.” (emphasis mine)
Yes, that’s right. They’re now claiming the protesters were throwing the rocks. This is not what is shown in the YouTube video, so if they have additional video evidence of this, they need to provide it. And Day is still refusing to call an inquiry.
[Note: Corrected the spelling of CBC reporter’s last name: Nick Gamache.]