Police planted rock-toting 'agents' at protest

Andrew Thomson
CanWest News Service

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

OTTAWA - Protesters have accused police of planting agents outside the Chateau Montebello to instigate violence during Monday's demonstration against the North American Leaders' Summit.

A prominent labour official pointed Wednesday to video and photographs of three burly men, dressed as "Black Bloc" anarchists and armed with rocks, attempting to disrupt an otherwise peaceful sit-in adjacent to Surete du Quebec and RCMP riot squads.

"People have the right to peacefully protest something they don't like," said Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada, demanding answers from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Jean Charest.

"They think that they have the right to infiltrate us as they've done before. But to be packing large boulders, they were going to do something with those rocks and it wasn't peaceful."

A video posted to YouTube shows Coles angrily confronting the trio, demanding they put down the rocks, remove their bandannas, and identify themselves.

They refused and remained silent. One younger protester shouted that the men are police agents while they jostled with Coles and a CEP staff member. The trio inched toward the police line, and at least one appeared to speak with officers brandishing shields and batons.

They eventually made their way through and were whisked away in handcuffs, to the vocal derision of nearby demonstrators.

Coles also claimed the circular yellow marks found on the soles of the three men's boots match those of the Quebec officers, pointing to photos during a news conference.

Coles wants answers about the identities of the three men, their relationship with police, and how much input the Prime Minister's Office and Charest had on security measures outside the summit. He said he believed the Surete du Quebec were ordered to infiltrate the gathering of more than 1,000 people, most of whom were rallying against the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

No official complaint has yet been filed but the group will likely seek legal counsel, Coles added.

Police would not respond to the allegations or identify the trio Wednesday, only reaffirming that two men and two women were arrested during Monday's protest.

"We don't get into strategic details of what we do," said Const. Jayson Gauthier of the Surete du Quebec.

Council of Canadians chairwoman Maude Barlow said Coles' intervention against the three black-clad men prevented "bloodshed" in their protest area, which was designated for peaceful action.

More aggressive protesters closer to the hotel entrance were met with pepper spray, tear gas, and plastic bullets in the late afternoon. But a sanctioned operation wasn't obvious to Doug Kirkland, a retired Ottawa police officer who worked several protests and viewed the YouTube video.

The trio could have been "rogues" or private security personnel, he said. "Honestly, I can't imagine any police officer who's in command putting three more mismatched people into that situation,"

Kirkland said. "You don't take people who are well-fed, muscular, and that much older and think that they're going to blend in. It's stretching the bounds of credulity a bit."

Ottawa Citizen