Doug Kirkland On The Montebello Faux Protesters

Retired Ottawa police officer and security expert Doug Kirkland doesn't think the RCMP was involved with this "rogue" SQ action:

It would be unfair to suggest the RCMP had more of a role in this. Their responsibility was inside the wire and the rest was a joint operation. This looks almost like a bandit operation within the SQ's main plan. It just doesn't feel right that these guys would have been let loose to do what they did - at the very least put them in sneakers, and have them look as malnourished as the rest of the Black Bloc.

(Yeah, Doug, but what if Harper personally forced the RCMP to get involved? You've seen those pictures of him when his eyes start to glow red.)

Lots of interesting background here as to the time before the tape rolled. Doug thinks no inquiry will ever get off the ground because the SQ is still "pretty strong" in Quebec. He also thinks that, internally, "heads have already rolled" and the force may eventually go public with this news.

Undercover Cop Says Protesters Gave Him That Rock

A statement so ridiculous that it alone will allow this scandal to drag on for a few more days:

"One of the extremists gave the rock to one of our police officers and he had a choice to make," [Insp. Marcel] Savard said.

"He was asked by extremists to throw the rock at the police, but never had any intention of using it."

And as a partisan Liberal I can only praise Allah that Public Security Minister Stockwell Day was kind enough to repeat this nonsense, thus dragging that Federal Conservatives right into the heart of the cover-up:

"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," Day said.

Thank you, Stockwell, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. Because the youtube vid can be seen here and it is clear the three cops arrived with their rock.

And their booze too; no attempt by Stock to explain the open beer in the cop's back pocket either.

Saturday morning update: Oh I like this from The Gazette:

"When they were with the extremists, (the undercover officers) were given a rock and were formally asked to throw it," Savard said.

"I sir, formally ask you to throw this stone! Nay, sir, I DEMAND it!" Do protesters actually talk like that?

Quebec Provincial Police Prepare Another Story

From The Brockville Recorder Times:

MONTREAL (CP) - Quebec provincial police are holding a news conference later today to explain why three of its agents played the part of protesters at this week's North American Leaders' summit in Montebello, Que.

After originally denying it, the Quebec force has admitted the undercover officers were involved in the protest after a video clip of the trio showed up on the popular website, Youtube.com. But Quebec provincial police are denying they were attempting to provoke protesters into violence.

Rather, they say the three officers were planted in the crowd to locate any protesters who were not peacefully demonstrating.

The force will hold the news conference at 3:30 p.m. at its downtown Montreal headquarters.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has already rejected opposition calls for an inquiry.

Presumably, the cop with the rock was offering it to other protesters. If any of them had actually thrown it, he would have stepped in.

Tory Cop Scandal Blows Up Nice

As of 7:00 AM, 318 stories related to the three dodgy anarchists at Montebello. Were they police officers undercover? Contentwise, we are left in the somewhat unsatisfactory state wherein David Cole's presser seems to have rehashed what everyone already knew (Those crazy boots!). Bad-Press-For-The-Harper-Governmentwise, things are ticking along nicely.

Having now seen the video with sound working, I am sure these clowns were not of the crowd. It is only the pure "stupid" factor that makes me question whether or not they were police. As retired officer Doug Kirkland noted:

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.”

(OT, but,like, what are they feeding college kids these days? I have to say the protesters at Montebello were one of the most pathetic displays of young man-hood I've seen in a long time. And could the Youth Of Today lose those stupid beards? You look awful. Even if your momma won't say so, she thinks it)

The other point to note is that whoever gave these three faux protesters their boots also appears to have issued matching bandannas. Tour the dollar stores of Montebello with a few pictures and you can probably get a positive ID.

Yellow Triangles Prove Nothing

This marking on the boots of both riot police and faux protesters at the Montebello summit is the trademark of "Vibram", an Italian company that produces rubber outsoles for footwear. They appear on the Matterhorn assault boot pictured left as well on many other makes and models. So the "protesters" and police are not necessarily wearing the same boot.

Update: BeneD has found a few other possibilities for the boot-bottom logo. IMHO, though, the blow up (link from "this marking") shows something roundish, not triangular--more like the Vibram TM.

Update: Here's a shot that shows both cop and protester boots side-by-side. The only thing is, Vibram makes about dozens of different sole-types that then get slapped on different boots. For example, the one in the picture looks most like their 109 Logger or 134AR Technical Lug, which are both fire/police models. So, again, it could be a case of different boots but the same sole.