This last weekend the 'Three Amigos' summit took place in Montebello, Quebec with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

There were protesters at this summit, mostly due to the 3 amigos taking meetings with 30 business leaders from Wal-mart, lockheed martin and 8 other major companies and not a single meeting with economists, environmentalists, etc.

During the protests, an interesting thing happened:

A group of protesters, their faces covered, are called out by elderly activists as not only not belonging to their group, but are in fact being undercover cops attempting to start a riot.

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

Quote :

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

http://youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow

8/22/2007 3:36:58 PM

damn canadiens

[Edited on August 22, 2007 at 3:41 PM. Reason : cant even start a riot right]

8/22/2007 3:40:51 PM

Salisburyboy is bat-shit crazy. Yeah, I know, bold statement

But so is anyone who thinks things like this don't happen regularly.

8/22/2007 3:42:59 PM

You know the sad thing is that nine out of ten, if the protesters aren't trying to disrupt anything, you can just ignore them, and the press and the public will pay them little heed. Even President Bush's advisers agree with that one:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082101662.html

Quote :

"The manual adds in bold type: "Remember -- avoid physical contact with demonstrators! Most often, the demonstrators want a physical confrontation. Do not fall into their trap!" And it suggests that advance staff should "decide if the solution would cause more negative publicity than if the demonstrators were simply left alone.""

8/22/2007 4:22:11 PM

Quote :

"Police deny using 'provocateurs' at summit By JOAN BRYDEN OTTAWA (CP) - The Mounties and Quebec provincial police deny using agents provocateurs at this week's Montebello summit, despite incriminating video evidence that suggests undercover cops tried to incite violence. The denials Wednesday did nothing to quell mounting outrage over police tactics. Anti-globalization and union activists joined with opposition politicians to demand an independent investigation. They also questioned whether police were acting on orders from the Prime Minister's Office and called on both Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Jean Charest to denounce the use of agents provocateurs. "In a free and democratic society, people have the right to peacefully protest something they don't like," said union leader Dave Coles, who confronted the alleged undercover officers outside the summit site Monday. "Are Canadian citizens going to have to face these kinds of provocateurs just because Stephen Harper seems to think we're some sort of loony-left group? "Quite frankly, that's insulting and we don't accept it and we want answers from him." The three alleged provocateurs were caught on camera - with bandanas masking their faces and at least one carrying a rock in his hand - approaching a line of Surete du Quebec police in full riot garb. They refused to back away, despite the insistence of Coles and other protest organizers that they leave the area. As protesters surrounded the men and tried to snatch off their masks, one of the three spoke to an SQ officer. The trio got through the police line, were forced to the ground and handcuffed. Photos of the men lying on the ground show the three were wearing combat boots with identical markings to the ones worn by an SQ officer kneeling beside them. Video also shows the three eventually being led quietly away to police vans. By contrast, Coles said four legitimate protesters - whom police say were the only people arrested and charged at the summit - were "roughed up pretty good and dragged away." A spokesman for Harper denied any role by the prime minister in the fair, saying "the PMO is not involved in security for events." Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office referred all questions to the RCMP. The Mounties and the SQ, the two police forces involved in summit security, continued to refuse specific comment on three alleged undercover officers caught on camera in an apparent bid to incite a confrontation. But they denied using agents to provoke violence. "I confirm (to) you that there are no agents provocateurs in the Surete du Quebec. . . It doesn't exist in the Surete du Quebec," said Const. Melanie Larouche. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Luc Bessette said the Mounties do "not use tactics that would encourage confrontation or incite violence." Bessette said the RCMP cannot discuss details of security measures for major events such as the summit because "to do so could jeopardize the integrity of our operations for future events." Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings said the evidence is "quite incriminating" and called on the two police forces to "clear this up." She said it's one thing for officers to pose as protesters in a bid to keep an eye on potential trouble-makers, "but to be instigators is completely unacceptable." Jennings suggested protest organizers may want to file a complaint with the two forces. Coles said his union has not done so yet but is seeking legal advice. New Democrat MP Libby Davies, who participated in the summit demonstrations, said the video evidence raises "hugely serious questions" about the role of the police at contentious international meetings. "It seems like they create this environment, a show of force, that sets it up for a confrontation," she said. "I think we need to know who authorized this, how high up does this go?" Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, speculated on two possible motives for the police to try to incite a riot at the summit, where Harper, U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon were discussing the Security and Prosperity Partnership between their three countries. He said police may have wanted to justify the millions spent on security for the summit by creating an incident they could quell. But he said there may also have been a political motive to discredit the protesters as violent radicals, thereby deflecting attention from the substance of their opposition to the SPP. "This is the face of (the SPP), where people can't even ask a question without having to face these kinds of goons. It's time that all the secrecy and backroom deals end," said Coles. "The SPP is a fraud, just like those three so-called activists were.""

8/22/2007 8:54:23 PM

thats an awesome story

that labor union leader, Coles, hes a tough old fucker.

good for him.

8/23/2007 1:57:26 AM

The yellow stamp on the sole is not specific to a particular style or brand of boot. It is the logo for Vibram, a manufacturer of high quality rugged soles. These soles can be found on Wolverine, Cabela's, Red Wing, etc. and on styles of work, hunting, motorcycle, combat, and hiking boots (you can even find them on non-boots). It might very well be the most common boot sole out there.

8/23/2007 2:16:34 AM

^ Interesting. But, come on, that's stretching it when the the style of the boots are the same, the tread design on the shoes are exactly the same, with the same yellow stamp? To me, it's pretty obvious that it was a staged act.

For the ultimate proof you'd have to get more details on the two demonstrators who were arrested. And if they wanted to prove that this wasn't a staged event then they should come out and reveal their identities and prove they weren't in on it with the police.

8/23/2007 9:50:59 AM

but the boot style isn't the same... look at the pictures... there's a lot of green on the boots of those being "arrested"... while the officers are just using basic combat black boots...

also, like he said, it's a common sole manufacturer, hell my girlfriend ID's the tyles of boot immediately, and pointed out two of them in her closet (goth-style boots, not combat style)...

i'm not saying it wasn't staged, but you should look at the behavior, not the boots... the boots aren't going to tell you a thing... red herring...

8/23/2007 10:00:45 AM

Quote :

"Interesting. But, come on, that's stretching it when the the style of the boots are the same, the tread design on the shoes are exactly the same, with the same yellow stamp? To me, it's pretty obvious that it was a staged act."

Did you not read anything I said? These soles are pretty much on every boot of any worth. Vibram's logo (the yellow stamp) is on hundreds of different boots. Boot s of different manufacturers and different styles/uses will have identical soles at times because they are using one of the Vibram sole. Hell, if you go to just Calbela's and search for Vibram in footwear you will get 240 different shoes with Vibram soles. They are the standard, regardless of shoemaker, for rugged soles on work, hunting, motorcycle, combat, and hiking boots. The guys arrested probably work construction, logging, or rigging in Canada and therefore probably wear rugged steel-toe work boots every day. THese boots are going to have the same soles as tactical combat boots even if the boots themselves are different manufacturers.

8/23/2007 10:36:56 AM

heck ive even seen those stupid female mallrat gothboots have the same exact soles

8/23/2007 10:39:19 AM

That is a good counter-argument given that if they were anarchists or other sorts of more violent protesters, I would almost expect them to be wearing a good rugged pair of boots. However, they still haven't addressed the issue that no arrests were reported for those three individuals.

8/23/2007 11:33:43 AM

Quote :

"However, they still haven't addressed the issue that no arrests were reported for those three individuals. "

I agree. The boot thing doesn't play as big of a roll, it's all subjective at this point. If those three guys were really not part of some plot, then they should have already come out and quelled this whole debate.

8/23/2007 11:45:26 AM

exactly... the boots are a red herring... something that can be easily shot down by anybody with half a brain... the lack of arrests, however, stands out pretty strongly...

8/23/2007 11:50:49 AM

(1) the guys do look like cops. physically. their muscular build, haircuts, military poise ... the way they carry themselves. they do NOT look like the typical ragtag faggy anarchists who they are trying to associate with.

(2) once the confrontation with the protest leaders heats up, and the protest leader start trying to pull their masks off, the three alleged cops go to the corner of the police line, talk to the police there, and then the three of them gently push their way into the police line.

(3) the police line opens up for them very easily, without any resistance, at which point the three men are laid down, handcuffed, then politely escorted away from the line back to the police vehicles.

(4) later police reports that a total of four (4) protesters are arrested, and those four are accounted for by the protest group stemming from an unrelated incident. The three accused provocateurs who pushed their way into the police line and handcuffed on video, are NOT reported as being arrested, in fact there is no report on who they were or what the outcome was, whatsoever.

....

that the alleged provocateurs' boot soles have the identical tread and marking as the cops' boots, is just icing on the cake.





[Edited on August 23, 2007 at 12:50 PM. Reason : ]

8/23/2007 12:49:13 PM

You're not really allowed to cover your face at a protest. Or, at least, it's an easy excuse for the cops to pick on you if you do. When I went to a protest down in Charlotte, I saw a guy hand and foot cuffed and literally chucked in the back of a police cruiser for refusing to uncover his face. My friend Dave, who's gone to more of these than me, has seen it happen, too. If these guys didn't get the same treatment, they were probably shills.

8/24/2007 4:25:21 AM

woah fuckin shit furikuchan haha

8/24/2007 7:20:42 AM

Quote :

"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. A YouTube video shows Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, ordering three masked men back from a line of riot police.A YouTube video shows Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, ordering three masked men back from a line of riot police. (CBC) 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. Police came under fire Tuesday, when a video surfaced on YouTube that appeared to show three plainclothes police officers at the protest with bandanas 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. Police-issued boots identified fake protesters Protest organizers on Wednesday played the video for the media at a news conference in Ottawa. One of the organizers, union leader Dave Coles, explained that one reason protesters knew the men's true identities was because they were wearing the same boots as other police officers. Coles said on Wednesday that the only thing he didn't know was whether the men were Quebec police, RCMP or hired security officers. "[Our union] believes that the security force at Montebello were ordered to infiltrate our peaceful assembly and provoke incidents," said Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. Police said the three were told to monitor protesters who were not peacefully demonstrating to prevent any violent incidents, but they were called out as undercover agents when they refused to throw objects. Concern Canada losing control of its energy The protest at Montebello occurred outside the Fairmont Le Château Montebello hotel, near Ottawa, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The summit about border security, free trade and other issues began Monday and finished Tuesday. Protesters said they gathered to voice their concern about Canada losing control of its energy and water resources and borders. Others decried what they called a high level of secrecy at the summit. The Quebec provincial police will not comment any further on the affair, a spokeswoman in Montreal said. Quebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis was made aware of the news, but a spokesman from his office said he will not comment on the matter either."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/23/police-montebello.html

8/24/2007 7:47:19 AM