G8/G20 Security Highlights, 19 Jun 10

Suspects arrested, charged with RBC bank machine firebombing last month – this, from the Ottawa Police Service:

…. three men have been charged as follows:

Roger Clement 58 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson – 18^th of May 2010
Arson Causing Damage
Possession of incendiary material
Use explosives with intent to cause property damage
Mischief

(….)

Matthew Morgan – Brown 32 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson – 18^th of May 2010
Arson Causing Damage
Possession of incendiary material
Use explosives with intent to cause property damage
Mischief

Claude Haridge, 50 years old, of Ottawa
RBC Arson – 18^th of May 2010
Careless storage / handling of ammunition
Fail to comply with undertaking ….

They’re all back in court later this month – more from the Canadian Press and here at the National Post.

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It’s “Protest School” in Toronto – this from CTV.ca, emphasis mine:

A counter-summit in Toronto meant to challenge the G8 and G20 was dubbed “protest school” by organizers on Friday, as they shied away from denouncing violent action by demonstrators …. “People protest in various ways. Again, we’re simply organizing a conference,” said Dylan Penner, a committee member at the summit and media officer for the Council of Canadians …. While classes such as “direct action training” and “digitally mediated surveillance: rights and resistance” are on the agenda, the committee said the event is meant to be a peaceful weekend of learning …. (Marya Folinsbee, the co-ordinator of the People’s Summit) was a…. quick to point out that many of the workshops encouraged peaceful protest, such as “communication skills for activists,” which teaches protesters “how to de-escalate an angry movement.” But there are also workshops planned for debating and discussing a “diversity of tactics” during the G20 and G8 summits …. “It is really cloudy, and it is really complicated to work in solidarity with each other when these issues are still on the table,” she added ….

So, condemning violence and vandalism is “cloudy” is it?  Interestingly, the organizers of the protests have gone as far as developing a policy for dealing with those who want to fight the man, but may have been accused or convicted of sexual assault – one line stands out for me:

Perpetrators of Sexual Assault, Abuse and Harassment are not welcome in G8 & G20 Resistance Spaces!!!

I’d be happy to hear from anyone who can explain why such people “are not welcome” in the crowd, but those who would commit violence and/or vandalism are.  Simple question.

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Part of the CTV.ca article above mentions one of the message tracks being transmitted by protest organizers:

(Marya Folinsbee, the co-ordinator of the People’s Summit) accused “the state” of being the real perpetrator of violence, as she deflected questions about whether or not organizers of the counter-summit would hold protesters accountable during the G20 …. Penner said protesters have been demonized, and fear-mongering has made the public nervous about violence during the G8 and G20.  The committee for the People’s Summit also suggested violence in past summits has not come from protesters, but from agent provocateurs.  “The state is, in fact, doing criminal activity if they don’t rule out agents provocateurs,” said Christine Jones, co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance as she spoke at the news conference Friday ….

This is a message stream making its way out in a variety of ways recently – even picked up from the same news conference and shared by CBC.ca (note the same “money clip” from Christine Jones)

Activists and labour organizations are calling for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to rule out the use of agents provocateurs during the G8 and G20 summits.  Pointing to the 2007 Montebello summit of North American leaders, where Quebec police admitted that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during protests, the People’s Summit urged officials to prohibit any attempt to incite violence to justify what they dubbed a “billion-dollar boondoggle.”  Quebec police denied allegations they used the officers to instigate violence at Montebello.  “The state is, in fact, doing criminal activity if they don’t rule out agents provocateurs,” Christine Jones, co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance, said at the launch of the People’s Summit on Friday morning ….

The message gained a bit of traction this week when Syd Ryan, representing the Ontario Federation of Labour, said the same thing..

Are they planting seeds out there so that if/when violence occurs, it’ll already be embedded in people’s minds that it must be the cops’ fault?

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QMI/Sun Media has this quick guide to the protest groups and what they seek.

A new spot to check out what other-than-mainstream “media” are sharing about the Summit protests, here at 2010.mediacoop.ca.  Apparently, any Flickr photo or Twitter post tagged with #g20report will automatically end up posted there.  I’ve added it to my list o’ “news of all kinds” links here.

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