Filed under: News and politics
Given that I’m a citizen in what is still a free and open democracy (I hope), it’s my obligation to do my part to increase the spread of the following news:
Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that 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 undercover officers were only at the protest to locate and identify non-peaceful protesters in order to prevent any incidents.
Police came under fire Tuesday, when a video surfaced on YouTube that appeared to show three plain-clothed police officers at the protest with bandanas and masks across their faces. One of the men was carrying a rock.
In the video, protest organizers in suits order the men to put the rock down, call them police instigators and try unsuccessfully to unmask them.
Okay so that’s all fine and dandy – I actually have no problem with the police planting undercover officers in a protest to watch for violent behaviour in the name of protecting people and their property. But that explanation leaves a lot be desired in this case. Why did the union leaders feel motivated to confront the undercover cops and urge them to refrain from violence? And more importantly, why the hell were they carrying ROCKS?!
Now that the Quebec police have admitted that these “protesters” were plants, hopefully the public and the media don’t let up asking questions like these, and hopefully we get the answers that we deserve.
In case you haven’t seen the video yourself, it’s well worth checking out. The behaviour of the three men in question is so fundamentally off that it leaves little doubt to their disguise. Are these seriously the best undercover cops the Quebec Provincial Police can find these days?
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
