UPDATE: Montreal protest against police brutality - VIDEOS!!!

[creat3d]

Just got back from this year's edition of our annual protest against police brutality... sorry for the long post but I'm still in adrenaline mode.

I thought I'd use the subway to get there but apparently they had "technical difficulties" for over an hour on the line that reaches the meeting place (Mont-Royal station). The protest was scheduled to start at 2pm, the "technical difficulties" lasted from about 1:30 to well over 2:45... my first assumption was this was deliberate to keep as many people from going as possible, but I can be paranoid sometimes...

3 police officers were on the dock telling people to wait, there's never any police in the subways... they announced a few years ago that "over 200" cops would patrol the subways for security. Bullshit, you NEVER see a cop in any station... ever. But today was special I guess.

I asked an officer what was going on, he told me they had electrical problems. I followed with "I'm sure this has nothing to do with today's protest..." he answered "No this is definately not a strategy or something, they're having problems with the power". A 40-something woman standing next to me said "Yeah I was thinking the same thing, preventing people from reaching the protest". Not 2 minutes had passed that a second officer told me "Protestors have ripped the power cords over at the Mont-Royal station".

Ok. How the f**k could they reach the underground power stations where the public has no access whatsoever? And why would they prevent other protestors from reaching the protest?

Unless someone has video of "protestors ripping power cords to the subway line" I'll stick with my first assumption, but thanks anyway officer!

Finally got out of there and took a cab to reach the protest... arrived just in time to witness people yelling at a few riot-gear cops that had just beaten an old man in a wheelchair (this was confirmed to me by a dozen or so people that witnessed the altercation).

This was at a corner just before the Mont-Royal station. A few hundred, maybe a thousand people were gathered listening to a speech before the march would begin. The perimeter was already locked by about 50-60 cops in riot-gear, a dozen or so cops on horseback, and 3 surveillance helicopters hovering at low-altitude above us (as they did for the remainder of the day). There were also cops on balconies and roofs taking pictures of protesters. A cop on horseback saw I was filming and pointed towards me and did a gesture (oddly resembling a nazi salute) to another cop who then said something on his radio. I got out of there...

After the speech, a few troublemakers started launching fireworks at the chopper as well as the riot police.

I had promised myself and my girlfriend (especially as the camera's hers) that I would stay away from trouble, as I always do. I'm not gonna break some mom n' pop store's windows, the reason we're here is against police brutality. I'm not here to justify mass arrests. I was pleasantly surprised however how the crowd would respond when people did such stupid shit... whenever someone would break some house/store/church's windows they would be booed by a majority of us.

After the fireworks went off, we turned back and started marching. We stopped about 2 blocks away, facing a wall of riot cops. Someone set off a smoke bomb (that was loud as hell), rubber bullets were shot. We took another route and marched towards downtown...

We'd march a few blocks, get chased by riot cops, head another way... a couple of times. They had blocked a few intersections so basically we were going precisely where they wanted us... which at one point was a hill were they could take free aim at us with rubber bullets.

Eventually I got out of the main group and reached Place Des Arts, where a hundred or so people where standing, watching and filming what was going on. That's where I got a great angle of the main group arriving, setting up a barricade, climbing a construction site where they pulled off various construction materials with which to supply the barricade. Here's a very amateur drawing of the situation.

Eventually the cops charged, under a rain of bricks, steel pipes, rocks and various other debris. The people had started running but for some reason the cops still charged the barricade... they all fell on top of each other (cue a hundred people laughing at them from the balcony where I was). Then the horseback cavalry passed, but at this point we had to leave as part of the cops were charging the balcony.

I intended to leave as it's usually at this point that things get pretty bad for all involved. A few years ago, while I was nowhere near the main protest I still got slammed in the back of the head by a riot shield while seeing my girlfriend getting slammed into a car by 4 cops with full riot gear/shield/batons... believe it or not, we were not doing anything that warranted it. I guess it was easier to beat us onlookers as it was to charge the pissed off, stone-throwing people 4-5 blocks away.

Anyway, I digress... I thought I'd leave but reached an intersection where about a hundred or so protestors were in front of yet another wall of riot cops. Nothing was going there, it seemed as both sides were wondering what to do. Behind the protestors, however, was a line of about a dozen police vans/minibusses they'd use to ship in the cops. All of them were abandoned. Bad idea!

I got there quick enough to witness and film the aftermath of a police van being broken into. People were throwing various objects at it and eventually someone got a police equipment bag out of it. Not much besides boots, gloves and other stuff... The van was in pretty bad shape.

We marched on but by then the protest was scattered all over the place in smaller groups. The group I was with were pretty f**king retarded and eventually sat down in the middle of an intersection to block traffic (Yeah, that'll show those cops! uh what?). After some various traffic blocking shenanigans, a few windows were broken again (as throughout the day) in some random pizzeria... yeah that'll show those cops! f**king idiots.

We were charged once more by riot cops and then I got the hell outta there and probably missed a few people getting beaten and arrested.

I filmed over an hour of footage, starting on the subway dock (I don't have video of that cop telling me about protestors breaking the power lines unfortunately) all the way up to the moment I took the subway. Got a nice shot of "INFOWARS.COM" someone had drawn on a subway poster (if he/she is reading this, right on!). All I'm waiting for is that goddamned USB cable (it's at a friend's house right now) after which I'll edit my video together and put it on my YouTube channel (link in my signature). Should be up by tomorrow night at the latest.



ALL MONTREAL LURKERS/POSTERS: There's a HUGE protest against capitalism/imperialism scheduled on May 1st, International Workers Day. Meeting at 5:30pm at Square Cabot (corner of Atwater and Ste-Catherine / Atwater subway station) march starts at 6:30.

[creat3d]

News footage, click on videos 1 through 4.

ZOMG THEY THREW BRICKS!

Every year is the same, short news report about people breaking stuff and police saving the day. They never show people getting beaten though...

UPDATE: According to several news reports, the subway outage was due to a protestor activating the emergency break on a train... resulting in an hour-long outage?? f**k you.

Around 30 arrests have been made so far (the protest will last on through the evening).

Police report the protest started about 400-people strong... I can tell you that's absolute bullshit. Real number is about twice as big.



NOTE FOR ANY POLICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT READING THIS: I do not have footage that could identify any "troublemakers", so don't bother. You should already have plenty enough from your own men on the ground though, either identified or undercover!

[Dig]

News footage, click on videos 1 through 4.

ZOMG THEY THREW BRICKS!

Every year is the same, short news report about people breaking stuff and police saving the day. They never show people getting beaten though...

UPDATE: According to several news reports, the subway outage was due to a protestor activating the emergency break on a train... resulting in an hour-long outage?? f**k you.

Around 30 arrests have been made so far (the protest will last on through the evening).



NOTE FOR ANY POLICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT READING THIS: I do not have footage that could identify any "troublemakers", so don't bother. You should already have plenty enough from your own men on the ground though, either identified or undercover!

were there the obvious provacateurs again?

[creat3d]

were there the obvious provacateurs again?

It's hard to say. The crowd was made up of various groups... young and old, all walks of life. A few organised groups like the communist party, skinheads, anarchists, etc that are there every year.

There was of course the inevitable "black block" people, intent on violence, shouting that we should all meet up at "X" station and, quote, "attack"... hard to say whether they were just angsty teens wanting to break shit or actual provocateurs.

The mob mentality was quite evident in its absolute thoughtlessness (is that a word?). All it took was a handful of people (sometimes one) shouting that we should go in X direction and the rest would follow. At the point where we were walking upward the hill and the cops were shooting rubber balls at us, a big part of the group went one way to walk down the hill and go somewhere else. Some people at the front kept going forward, up the f**king hill, and all it took was a few screams of "no let's keep going!" to keep everyone going the same way... into a trap. The riot cops were already at the top of the hill (going up the Mont Royal mountain) waiting for us.

Once we noticed we all took off, ran down a side road on the hill and regrouped at the bottom back in the streets again. It was a close call and it seems, throughout the day, the same handfull of people were in charge of everyone else, deciding which way to go. They kept stopping everyone at random places which gave the cops just the right time to lock us in from nearby intersections... I have no idea who the f**k that handfull of people were. I'd sure like to know who put 'em in charge!

[Dig]

It's hard to say. The crowd was made up of various groups... young and old, all walks of life. A few organised groups like the communist party, skinheads, anarchists, etc that are there every year.

There was of course the inevitable "black block" people, intent on violence, shouting that we should all meet up at "X" station and, quote, "attack"... hard to say whether they were just angsty teens wanting to break shit or actual provocateurs.

The mob mentality was quite evident in its absolute thoughtlessness (is that a word?). All it took was a handful of people (sometimes one) shouting that we should go in X direction and the rest would follow. At the point where we were walking upward the hill and the cops were shooting rubber balls at us, a big part of the group went one way to walk down the hill and go somewhere else. Some people at the front kept going forward, up the f**king hill, and all it took was a few screams of "no let's keep going!" to keep everyone going the same way... into a trap. The riot cops were already at the top of the hill (going up the Mont Royal mountain) waiting for us.

Once we noticed we all took off, ran down a side road on the hill and regrouped at the bottom back in the streets again. It was a close call and it seems, throughout the day, the same handfull of people were in charge of everyone else, deciding which way to go. They kept stopping everyone at random places which gave the cops just the right time to lock us in from nearby intersections... I have no idea who the f**k that handfull of people were. I'd sure like to know who put 'em in charge!

damn, the video should be awesome.  I mean WTF? just climbing Mont Royal (I love that mountain BTW, awesome views) and you get to see a view of a bunch of riot gear cops?  Total fricking insanity. 

It is rather ironic that during a peaceful protest against police brutality, an old guy in a wheelchair gets beaten.

And I can vouch for the subways, never seen a cop there and never seen them not work, especially around Mont Royal.

Can't wait for the vids.

And that illustration is awesome!

"Shitload of protestors"

"Shitload of cops"

[creat3d]

The only place near a subway station I've seen cops is outside Berri station on the corner of Ste-Catherine and Berri... handing out tickets to homeless people begging for change.

I once asked one of these f**kers why he was doing this, if that's what he daydreamed of doing as a grownup when he was a kid. He gave me a stare that made me know it touched something deep... still gave the dude a ticket though.

The video's gonna be great, just need to get that cable... can't get it tonight but hopefully tomorrow evening at the latest it'll be up. Like I said, I have over an hour of footage including one guy ranting about several things including the handicapped getting beaten (he saw it).

Yes, every year the protest against police brutality ends in massive police brutality. Kinda sends the message home...

"You don't like it? Well here's some more!"

Thanks for the sticky!

[Freeski]

Thanks for the report, dude!

[creat3d]

It is rather ironic that during a peaceful protest against police brutality, an old guy in a wheelchair gets beaten.

To be fair the protest wasn't all peaceful... the guy in wheelchair got beaten way before the MARCH had even STARTED however.

Thanks for the report, dude!

My pleasure, expect the same on May 1st 

[Freeski]

To be fair the protest wasn't all peaceful... the guy in wheelchair got beaten way before the MARCH had even STARTED however.

My pleasure, expect the same on May 1st 

The SleazeBC reported at 4:00 today that they were expecting escalation. Fear, fear, fear. What a great protest!

[creat3d]

At 4pm?? Bullshit.
By then at least half of the people had left and the others were scattered in smaller groups all over the place, going their own way.

The group I was in decided to storm a police station. Don't know if they managed it as that's when I left but seriously... whatever was left of the separate groups would be reduced in half every time the cops would charge them.

Oh wait, nevermind... FEAR!!! SOME HOOLIGANS KNOCKED OVER A DUSTBIN ON BERRI! THE HOOLIGANS ARE LOOSE!
Thankfully the police restored order and all was well. Everyone lived happily ever after.

[creat3d]

News stations report that in total 200 arrests were made. So according to police's attendance figures half of the protestors were arrested! 

They did air a few videos of brutal arrests and some protestors speaking (gasp, eloquently!) against the police oppression.
The report started with "We have gotten used to these images of violence every year", no lady we're not used to it and we don't like it. I'm sure a lot of couch potatoes went "f**king protestors again" at the same time though.

On the plus side I got my cable and the videos transferred. Video will be up as soon as I'm done digging through the 120+ video files, organize them and make the final edit. Either tonight, or tomorrow afternoon at latest.

Every single video I took has a surveillance chopper hovering in the background.

[DAVIDE MTL]

thanks bro

[creat3d]

Here's the only picture I took (everything else is video):


It doesn't look like many people on that, but most people were behind me at this point.

For some reason I had "technical difficulties" and people's faces keep showing up blurred 

[Optimus]

Police-Brutality Protest in Montreal Turns Violent
http://topnews.us/content/24372-police-brutality-protest-montreal-turns-violent
Submitted by Medha Sood on Mon, 03/16/2009 - 09:59



Sunday saw approximately four hundred people participate in the 13th annual protest, organized by the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality.

The group affirmed that it was protesting against "racial and social profiling" by police and alleged the Montreal police of being routinely violent with street people, those with radical political views and visible minorities.

The event was kicked off at about 2p. m. when Commander Stéphane Bélanger of the Montreal Police sat in an armoured vehicle and declared, over a loudspeaker, to the crowd assembled outside a subway station that they could carry out their protest peacefully and "no offence will be tolerated."

However, the situation took an ugly turn when a small bunch of people, mostly young men with bandanas covering their faces, began hurling things at a line of riot police. Most of them threw vegetables but some were armed with fireworks and some people threw rocks at businesses, including hotels.

In reply, the police had to use tear gas. Two officers were injured in the scuffle. 48 protestors were arrested.

[Optimus]

Montreal brutality riot nets 221 arrests
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/16/Montreal_brutality_riot_nets_221_arrests/UPI-51411237215414/
Published: March 16, 2009 at 10:56 AM

MONTREAL, March 16 (UPI) -- The Canadian city of Montreal's 13th annual march against police brutality resulted in 221 arrests and 189 others being ticketed, police said Monday.

Initially, some 400 people gathered near a west-end subway station to start the march but officers quickly ruled it illegal as some of the protesters were carrying things that could be used as weapons, The Gazette newspaper said.

The situation deteriorated and running battles with riot police broke out. Tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were deployed as protesters smashed store windows and damaged police vehicles, the report said.

Monday morning, the force said at least $200,000 damage was done by the crowd.

Two officers also received minor injuries, Constable Laurent Gingras said.

Of those arrested, 32 of them were for criminal charges including assault, mischief, theft and possession of a weapon with dangerous intent.

Those who were charged with unlawful assembly will be mailed their $144 tickets, police said.

Calm was restored about 9 p.m., and four city buses and numerous police vans were used to take away those charged, the report said.

[GakunGak]

Similar scenario happened when Montenegro acknowledged Kosovo independence.  We were protesting and provocateurs started hurling things at the police. After we were dispersed by the police, all and any protests are banned since then...
It was revealed that these provocateurs were inmates that were given shorter serving time or released if they agreed to do that...

[creat3d]

(Cover says: "Bunch of thugs")

Journal De Montreal reports thousands attended:

Avec le soleil et la température clémente, l'événement est devenu un happening urbain auquel ont pris part des milliers de manifestants et de badauds.

Translates roughly to:
"With the nice weather and sun shining, the event became sort of a urban happening in which thousands took part.

Still working on the vid, it's gonna be longer than I expected (at least 2 parts) as I want to document the most of it, good and bad.

[spangler]

The national (english) media coverage in Canada was interesting.

The GlobeAndMail ran a dishonest headline on the protest framing it as "anti-police"
They've also closed comments.

The CBC was better. They honestly billed the protests as anti-police brutality

The National Post was dishonest by omission. They made no mention of the protests' message but just ran the headline Seventeen facing charges in Montreal protest .

The comments are interesting on the CBC and National Post.  The CBC has its share of what appear to be government shills, many I think are just misguided citizens calling for tougher police measures against the protesters. There a few people there though who are awake and posting good comments about freedom and police provocateurs.

There are only three comments on the National Post story but two of them are questioning whether the violent protesters were cops.

[Freeski]

The SleazeBC reported at 4:00 today that they were expecting escalation. Fear, fear, fear. What a great protest!

At 4pm?? Bullshit.
By then at least half of the people had left and the others were scattered in smaller groups all over the place, going their own way.

The group I was in decided to storm a police station. Don't know if they managed it as that's when I left but seriously... whatever was left of the separate groups would be reduced in half every time the cops would charge them.

Oh wait, nevermind... FEAR!!! SOME HOOLIGANS KNOCKED OVER A DUSTBIN ON BERRI! THE HOOLIGANS ARE LOOSE!
Thankfully the police restored order and all was well. Everyone lived happily ever after.

Actually, it was 5:00. So the CBC just rambles on with their little arrogant fantasy. Scum they are. And they get over a billion dollars a year to rape our minds!

[creat3d]

This year the CBC/SRC will get the most funds they ever had... spreading bullshit is expensive!

They did show video of and confirm that the police blocked access at the Mont-Royal station... oh if only I had filmed those cops telling me it was due to "electrical failure"!

[Freeski]

This year the CBC/SRC will get the most funds they ever had... spreading bullshit is expensive!

They did show video of and confirm that the police blocked access at the Mont-Royal station... oh if only I had filmed those cops telling me it was due to "electrical failure"!

I was with the leader of the Libertarian party at CBC HQ in Montreal, filming one of those "free" political messages, and I asked one of the producers what he thought of the Libertarian Party of Canada, and he says: "Well you're going to put me out of a job, right?"

All they care about is their cushy little scam jobs. Sick bastards.

[grapecrusher1]

thanx for the reporting.

[creat3d]

- VIDEO -

Finally edited an hour of footage into a coherent 25 minutes. Sorry if it's a biggie but that's the shortest I could make it
and tell the whole of my story.




PART 1


PART 2


PART 3





What I didn't film: fireworks going off into the line of riot cops standing around the park at the beginning (before we
had even started marching). Fireworks again later in the streets, going off in the air towards the police choppers above. I
would've LOVED to get those shots because they looked great (too bad for the cops though) but my camera was behaving on
me...*

Lots of windows getting broken, some idiots breaking into parked cars and throwing [no idea] inside, stuff getting thrown at
cops on various occasions...


*: I had to change my camera's batteries 3 times to get that hour of footage, so it's not because I didn't try. I had
to stop in a dollar store to get some and lost the main group. Walking on Ste-Catherine towards Place Des Arts, the broken
windows and stranded traffic cones showed I was on the right track. Then got up on the PDA balcony and filmed from there the
barricade and police charge.




Things got weird as soon as I arrived at Berri. There never is any police there, and there I see 3 officers holding people
away from most of the dock. Thing is, there's only cops on the side leading to the protest... as I step outside after a while,
there's police cars all around the station and STM employees directing people to the bus lines. No bus in sight. Hadn't been
for a while with no sign of any bus coming...

They really went all out this year!

[Dig]

Thanks for the updates!!!

[Freeski]

Perfect viewing material once the pizza is ready!

[creat3d]

Awesome, thanks for the title change!

Part 3 has yet to be processed but it should be done by the time you reach it...


There's a lot of other videos of the protest available so if you want to see the fireworks, here's one (about 15 seconds in):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxTTJmW7Apc&feature=related

Here's another news clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opvYAFt1EfA


Can't wait for next year! And May 1st 

[Freeski]

Thanks for the footage - part three was the best!

Hopefully most of them are protesting for the right reasons (against tyranny) and not because it's fun, or because they want a bigger piece of the pie themselves. Still, the theme is right on.

[veil_Lifter]

Keep it up! Build community! Follow Greece!

[creat3d]

Found a video showing the other side of what is the first charge in my video, when we're all running...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-KhboVWuOc

They're waiting for us to arrive, then chase us away right where they want us.

[Freeski]

Found a video showing the other side of what is the first charge in my video, when we're all running...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-KhboVWuOc

They're waiting for us to arrive, then chase us away right where they want us.

They do love the adventure of it all, the adrenaline rush - when in fact they should feel sick to their stomachs about having to put on riot gear and kick civilian butt. I was at a G8 event a few years back and watched the cops taunt the protesters until they got their battle.

Serving the peace my ass. That has almost nothing to do with it. And especially with this Montreal event, considering the purpose of it.

[creat3d]

They do love the adventure of it all, the adrenaline rush - when in fact they should feel sick to their stomachs about having to put on riot gear and kick civilian butt. I was at a G8 event a few years back and watched the cops taunt the protesters until they got their battle.

Serving the peace my ass. That has almost nothing to do with it. And especially with this Montreal event, considering the purpose of it.

I found out a friend of mine was arrested and had his face scrapped on the asphalt by the cops (enough to cause massive bleeding).

Here's a comment that was left on my video:

StaticX66627 wrote:
I was there... got arrested along with my friend of mine at St-Catherine and Bleury street. I had to pay 144$ and she had to pay 118, but even before that, we were handcuffed, waiting for so many hours until they would actually do something while they left us in some damn garage and they were pretty much making fun people (we were freed at 10:45pm). Both of us were separated for the rest of the evening.

There were people that had no business in the protest and they still had to go through all of the hell we've been through. Why? Because they were caught in the fray when the cops surrounded us. One guy that I actually talked said that it was his b-day and it was pretty much ruined thanks to them. I am not complaining that we got caught, but it was a real drag when the innocent were pulled into all of the crap we had to go through.

They could obviously see it just by looking at their proper clothing and age. I mean seriously, there was a man around his 50s with us. Anyways, sorry for the 3 comments, but I have a lot to say about it and decided to share it with you people. Me and my friend loved the thrill of the protest and I personally would like to do it again next year (can't on the 1st of May).

What does that remind you of?




(RNC 2004)

[Freeski]

Sweep them all up. The whole lot of them. Isn't that what Cheney said after 9/11 in regards to the middle east?

[Dig]

Sweep them all up. The whole lot of them. Isn't that what Cheney said after 9/11 in regards to the middle east?

yeah and look how good that turned out.

[Dig]

anybody planning on marching in protest rallies, this is exactly what you need to watch and read.  take notes from creat3d concerning how they manipulate crowds, what to watch out for, etc.

remember that anything out of the ordinary is suspect.

try to get smaller groups to be less sheepish and not follow chaotic orders from unknowns.

just because 5 vocal and confident acting people say "let's go this way" does not mean that that is where people should go.

video tape the faces of the most provocaterish of the group and you will probably find that they are cops

look out for cop boots and for bandanas over faces (clear sign of CoIntelPro)

they always use the same techniques, so these videos can help save much discomfort and pain of those that the NWO wants to create into patsies.

[creat3d]

I would add:

- ALWAYS stay in groups, never venture out of the main group where it could be easier for the police to attack/arrest you

- When people become violent / excessively defying of the police, it's not a good idea to stay in front unless you'd like a rubber bullet / baton in the face

- If you bring a camera, keep it hidden until you reach the protest

- Don't be stupid.

All common sense really, but it's important to remain alert and careful as things can go wrong real fast.

Also, don't be afraid to tell people when they're being stupid and ruining things for everyone... if you're protesting against police brutality and someone next to you breaks a church's windows, ask 'em why the **** they're doing it and how that's protesting against police brutality. Most of the time they'll realise their stupidity, others will simply tell you to **** off.