Police use tear gas, smoke bombs after Molotov cocktails reportedly tossed

By Monique Muise, The Gazette May 19, 2012

Tuition-hike protesters continue to march the streets of Montreal on Friday, May 18, 2012.
Photograph by: Tijana Martin , The Gazette

MONTREAL - Appeals for calm from various student associations and political leaders following the passage of a controversial new law in Quebec appeared to be largely heeded as several thousand people protested peacefully in Montreal from Friday night until 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

About two hours into the event, however, police reported a series of Molotov cocktails had been thrown at officers by a handful of protesters, prompting the riot squad to deploy smoke bombs, percussion bombs and CS gas against the entire crowd.

Until that point, Friday's demonstrators had followed a sequence of events that has become familiar to police, event organizers and the average Montrealer over the last three months; leaving Parc Émilie-Gamelin around 9 p.m. and winding their way slowly toward the downtown core. As usual, police followed closely and adjusted as the march changed course several times; at one point stopping in front of the Montreal courthouse and completely reversing direction.

Also as per usual, a small group of violent protesters attempted to cause mayhem, getting into scuffles with police shortly after the event began. But for the most part, all seemed to be unfolding peacefully.

The police response just before 10 p.m. came fast and furious, however, allegedly in response to attacks by a small group of violent demonstrators near the entrance to Montreal's Chinatown along René-Lévesque Blvd. The huge crowd immediately scattered in panic, then regrouped and kept marching peacefully en masse, chanting, "We stay together!"

While police declared the gathering illegal, they still had not intervened again as of midnight. The crowd continued to walk, splitting into smaller groups that eventaully met up again. There were scattered reports of broken windows and at least one altercation involving a bystander. Four arrests were made: two for armed aggression related to the Molotov cocktails, one for assault on an officer and one for being nude in public. Report reported that the window of a Bank of Montreal was broken and the building itself vandalized.

There was a palpable undercurrent of anger rippling through the crowd throughout the evening, likely stemming from the passage just hours before of new provincial legislation that will have a direct impact on public protests in Quebec.

The law, Bill 78, which passed in the National Assembly at 5:30 p.m. and came into effect hours later with the signature of the province’s Lieutenant Governor, stipulates that protest organizers must disclose the start time, end time and route of their planned demonstration to police eight hours before the event begins. Montreal police said they were provided with that information Friday night. Near midnight, however, the police tweeted, via @SPVM, that "Bill 78 can't be enforced this evening, because the #SPVM has to ensure the modalities of application before."

Many of those who came out for the event said they want to see the law scrapped entirely.

"I read the law, and it doesn't make sense," said high school student Laurence Simard, 16, before the march began. "The government is just closed off to the demands of students."

Her friend, Oliver Cohen, 15, said he wasn't too concerned about possible violence during the event, but added that "people are angry. And they have the right to be angry."

Friday night’s demonstration also came on the heels of the passage a controversial new municipal regulation. A bylaw adopted by Montreal city council early in the day made it illegal to wear a mask, scarf or hood during a public demonstration in the city without a valid excuse, or hold that demonstration without first providing police with a route.

Those rules are expected to come into force on Saturday morning.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Police+tear+smoke+bombs+after+Molotov+cocktails+reportedly+tossed/6647402/story.html#ixzz1vOlYIrJd

Multiple injuries,109 arrests at Victoriaville tuition riot

Sat May. 05 2012 ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — A protester is fighting for his life after suffering head
injuries, one of several injuries that occurred after events got out of
hand at a tuition protest in Victoriaville at around 6:45 p.m. Friday.

Demonstrators stormed past barriers, tossing rocks and other projectiles
while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, in a series of
skirmishes that ended with 109 arrests.

Three SQ police officers were hurt, two seriously, and six demonstrators
were also injured in the clashes.

Along with the protester clinging to life, another two suffered serious
injuries, one a man with an injury to the head and the other a woman
coping with a blow to the face.

At least two police vehicles were vandalized.

The protesters had been transported in about 30 buses to make their voices
heard at the Quebec Liberal Party annual convention, taking place this
weekend.

The demonstrators dismantled the barriers, which had been placed far from
the convention centre and advanced towards the hotel, tossing projectiles
in the form of billiard balls, chunks of cement and rocks.

Police helicopters hovered low atop a cloud of tear gas, as visibility was
diminished. Many on the ground, including CTV Montreal reporter Laura
Casella were caught in the crossfire and choked by the gaseous fumes (see
video at right).

Police representative Jean Finet later confirmed that rubber bullets and
other impact weapons had been employed in an effort to push the more
aggressive demonstrators back.

The scuffles lasted about two hours and included an exchange in which a
police officer was attacked and beaten by some of the estimated 2,500
demonstrators after a police car advanced towards the crowd, presumably to
help the other officer. A police official later reported that the officer
did not suffer serious injuries.

Protesters were eventually forced to withdraw but tensions remained high
after the initial skirmish

Some demonstrators who had hoped to protest peacefully reportedly fought
with other of their more aggressive brethren over the direction that the
protest had taken.

The situation eventually calmed down after rain started falling and many
of the aggressive troublemakers were rounded up.

Eventually people were allowed in and out of the hotel after several hours
of all doors being locked.

Provincial police were not immediately able to supply details concerning
arrests but busloads of rounded-up demonstrators were apparently being
brought for police processing late Friday.

According to several text entries on Twitter, some buses transporting
protesters out of Victoriaville after the protests Friday were stopped by
police attempting to round up more suspects.

During the riots several student leaders attending a meeting with
government officials in Quebec City came out to talk to media and
denounced the violence in Victoriaville and urged cooler heads to prevail.

Earlier Friday afternoon, Premier Jean Charest appeared relaxed and
reassured at the kickoff of the Quebec Liberal Party annual meeting in
Victoriaville, in spite of the specter of massive student protests.

The party's annual general meeting is being held at a convention centre
adjoining the Hotel Le Victorin.

Prior to the meeting, the convention centre was surrounded by fences and
police officers, in an effort to avoid possible disruption by protesters.

Charest was scheduled to speak at 7:20 p.m. to about 500 party members on
a topic entitled, "Together for a Greater Quebec."

Charest, in his speech, said that the tuition hikes are just and
equitable. "It's high time the student boycotters return to class," he
said.

He also spoke harshly about PQ leader Pauline Marois, who he argued does
not possess leadership qualities.

Marois, in turn, denounced what she describe as Charest's "authoritarian"
approach to the tuition dispute at the PQ annual general meeting in Quebec
City Saturday morning, a meeting attended by about 400 party delegates.

Prior to the clashes, Victoriaville demonstrators appeared pleased by news
that student leaders were convening in Quebec City with government
officials.

"We are really happy because it's a good moment to talk and find a
solution to this crisis but we never know how it's going to end," she
said.

Another young woman who had come with her mother sought to demonstrate
that many of the protesters were everyday people.

"There's a lot of protesters who look perfectly normal like me and my my
mom but there's a lot of police but for nothing," she said.

A luncheon meeting was scheduled for Saturday and to be presided over by
Education Minister Line Beauchamp and Finance Minister Raymond Bachand,
who were to address the tuition issue. Beauchamp later backed out of that
meeting, citing the ongoing discussions in Quebec City.

Victoriaville had been on a war footing for several days and Mayor Alain
Rayes outlined the preventative measures the city would be taking, for
example, a car dealership near the hotel had removed the vehicles from its
lot to prevent damage.

And the CEGEP de Victoriaville, which declined to take part in the school
boycott, closed its doors for two days to prevent possible damage.

On the upside, every hotel room in the city was booked for the weekend
with the influx of visitors.

With a file from The Canadian Press

Anger, tears at Montreal anti-police brutality march

Police report more than 150 arrests

March 16, 2012 By Sue Montgomery, MONTREAL GAZETTE

MONTREAL - Mia Laberge and Naomie Décarie could hardly withhold their angry tears after Montreal police charged toward demonstrators Thursday and, seemingly unprovoked, fired tear gas into the crowd.

“They are operating on a strategy of fear,” said Laberge, a law student at the Université du Québec a Montréal. “We have the right to demonstrate, but as a woman, I felt threatened by them.

“These are the people who are supposed to protect us, but we’re not safe at all.”

Read live updates from our reporters as the demonstration unfolded

A joint demonstration by students protesting rising tuition fees and people against police brutality began at about rush hour at Berri and Ste Catherine Sts. About 2,000 protesters headed north, then west along Sherbrooke St., but no police were visible along the route, although they were positioned on adjacent streets and in the métro.

When about six officers did appear, a few protesters started throwing rocks at them. At Aylmer and Sherbrooke Sts., police fired off two loud sound grenades, sending a panic through the crowd. Protesters ran in all directions, but riot police formed a line, and banging on their shields with their batons, marched forward, shoving demonstrators north.

Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafrenière said police had to stop the march for the safety of motorists on Sherbrooke.

“(Demonstrators) have rights but so do others,” he said, adding that police hadn’t been informed of the march’s route.

One man, trying to stop some young men from throwing rocks, was hit in the forehead with a tear-gas canister and it exploded.

Scott Weinstein, a nurse in the crowd who was providing first aid when needed, poured water over the man’s eyes, as the man screamed in anger.

“If he hadn’t been wearing ski goggles, he could have been blinded,” Weinstein said. “His hair was singed and his goggles covered in chemicals.

“I’ve never been in a demonstration ever where police threw explosives into the crowd,” said Weinstein, who says he’s been in dozens of demos. “It’s a terrible path to take because these people will lose their eyes.”

The man, who said he had a 20-month-old child, sat on the steps of an apartment building and tried to comprehend what had just happened.

“I was being peaceful and this is what they do to me?” he yelled.

The crowd then broke up into different groups, with some demonstrators, like Décarie and Laberge, deciding to leave the march.

“I feel totally traumatized by this,” Décarie said. “They’re treating us like terrorists and no one is even armed.”

Police reported more than 150 arrests, two injured police officers and a few vandalized store fronts. One police car was flipped over and smashed. Police said a second one was damaged as well.

They also reported looting at Future Shop.

On Ste. Catherine St., Tina Tsimiklis, in town from Halifax for her children’s March break, was taking photos of her sons in front of a smashed store window.

“This is pretty fricking awesome,” said 16-year-old Dimitri Tsimiklis. “Nothing ever happens like this in Halifax.”

Tina Tsimiklis said they saw protesters and police in riot gear coming along the street and, not knowing what was going on, they convinced a reluctant security guard at the Eaton’s Centre to let them in.

A young woman, who didn’t want to give her name, held a bag of ice to her right eye after a police officer whacked her with his baton.

“(Riot police) were coming towards us and my friend dropped his cellphone so I bent down to pick it up with my arms raised in the air, so one hit me in the face and my back,” she said.

Lafrenière defended the police force’s tactics, saying they had warned people ahead of time that pepper spray and tear gas would be used if necessary.

Police made the majority of the evening’s arrests in front of the Bibliothèque Nationale, on Berri St.

Weinstein said those arrested were just standing still, arms locked, in front of the library chanting.

“They were the least provocative of the whole march,” he said. “They were catchable.”

Lafrenière claimed the demonstrators “wanted to put on a show.”

“They were chasing us all night long because they wanted to get arrested,” he said.

37 arrested, CEGEP du Vieux Montréal in city’s downtown core shut

Feb. 18, 2012 Anarchist News

MONTREAL – Quebec student unrest over planned tuition hikes at the
university level has escalated.

A total of 37 protesters were being kept under police lock and key Friday,
arrested in the wake of a violent overnight clash when Montreal officers
were called in to break up an occupation of a downtown college building.

Those protesters are expected to face a range of charges that include
conspiracy, assault by trespasser, assault with a weapon on police
officers and mischief, Constable Anie Lemieux of Montreal police said.

“We don’t know” if all those behind bars are students enrolled at the
CEGEP du Vieux Montréal, where the disturbance and subsequent eviction
conducted by police took place, she added.

Meanwhile, students protesting a Quebec government program to escalate
university tuitions planned a 1 p.m. demonstation outside a downtown
Montreal hotel.

Said Lemieux as the cops were starting to deal with the criminal-court
fallout from the early-morning events:

“Thirty-seven arrests. That’s a lot of people to check in. … It’s a busy
day for police officers and investigators.”

Some of the protesters evicted overnight “were apparently using fire
extinguishers and other projectiles like bottles” during their early
morning confrontation with the forces of order, she said.

Eight among those detained are minors.

On-site damage included broken windows and graffiti.

Furniture had been piled up, clearly used as barricades.

It all started about 8 p.m. Thursday, Lemieux said, “with people inside.”

“I couldn’t say that they necessarily broke in,” she said.

“They were invited to leave” by the CEGEP administration, she said.

When they didn’t, officers moved in, starting about 2 a.m.



Protesting students join locked-out Rio Tinto workers in demonstration

THE GAZETTE February 17, 2012

Students from University of Montreal join members of the metal workers
union, of Alma Quebec, in a noisy demonstration Friday in front of the
Sheraton centre hotel in downtown Montreal.

Students from University of Montreal join members of the metal workers
union, of Alma Quebec, in a noisy demonstration Friday in front of the
Sheraton centre hotel in downtown Montreal.
Photograph by: Peter McCabe , The Gazette

MONTREAL - A protest over tuition fee hikes by about 100 Université de
Montréal students received an unexpected boost on Friday afternoon from
the presence of 400 locked-out Rio Tinto employees as both groups staged
simultaneous demonstrations outside the Sheraton Hotel on René Lévesque
Blvd.

The workers, locked out since January, targeted the Sheraton because Rio
Tinto executives were attending a Montreal Board of Trade luncheon at the
hotel.

The students chanted against fee hikes at the same venue because Education
Minister Line Beauchamps was the featured speaker at the luncheon.

Police presence at the site was heavy. The afternoon protests followed an
overnight clash between police and students at the CEGEP du Vieux Montréal
that saw 37 people arrested. All were freed Friday at 5 p.m.

Those protesters are expected to face a range of charges including
conspiracy, assault with a weapon on police officers, and mischief,
Constable Anie Lemieux of Montreal police said.

A court date of March 29 has been scheduled. All those who were arrested
have been ordered to stay at least 300 metres away from the CEGEP until
their day in court.

It was unclear whether all those behind bars were students at CEGEP du
Vieux Montréal.

Eight among those detained are minors.

Some of the protesters evicted overnight “were apparently using fire
extinguishers and other projectiles like bottles” during their early
morning confrontation with police, Lemieux said.

On-site damage included broken windows and graffiti. Furniture had been
piled up and used as barricades.

The incident started about 8 p.m. Thursday “with people inside,” Lemieux
said, and “they were invited to leave” by the CEGEP administration.

When they didn’t, officers moved in, starting about 2 a.m.

Everything was over by about 6 a.m., Lemieux added.

The junior-college administration had earlier announced that “all
activities have been suspended” following a general-strike vote by
students, part of a wider protest against planned university tuition
increases.

Among the 4,944 students belonging to the Association générale étudiante
de CEGEP du Vieux Montréal who cast ballots, 58 per cent voted in favour
of a walkout.

No immediate monetary estimate of the damage was available.

Friday afternoon’s demonstrations, while noisy, ended peacefully after 90
minutes.

When they knock down your front door, how`re you gonna come?

August 29, 2011 Anarchist News



(French follows)



A few reflections on the GAMMA squad



Word on the street is, there’s a new police squad in Montreal called GAMMA

- short for “Guet des activités et des mouvements marginaux et

anarchistes” – whose goal is to investigate and repress anarchist and

marginal movements. The following is a series of reflections on this

development from a few anarchists. Needless to say, it’s not meant to be

representative, but is rather our own analysis of this situation, and can

hopefully stimulate some discussion amongst our various circles.



We understand the GAMMA squad to be a sign of the state adapting its

strategy not only to an increasing amount of attacks against it, but also

to a broader context of increasing austerity, and therefore of potential

rebellions to come. Its ultimate goal, of course, is the maintenance of

social control, necessary for the preservation of this system.



Why GAMMA?



The new squad is part of the “Specialized Investigations” division of the

SPVM, which is the umbrella group that has organized crime as one of its

focuses. Taking a cue from how the police investigate street gangs, mafia,

and the bikers, GAMMA has a mission to profile and accumulate information

on the actions, interests, and lifestyles of people considered anarchist

or marginal, and so specifically targets anyone who questions the dominant

social order.

Why, then, a specialized squad to target anarchists? There are several

reasons that we can think of. One the one hand, this is the state’s

attempt at shaping the discourse around anarchist ideas and actions. By

using the media to single out anarchists, the state tries to personify the

anarchist as a dangerous terrorist and asks the population to become

pre-emptive snitches in order to protect themselves from this supposed

menace. An example of this sort of discourse put into practice is the

citizen-snitches during and after the English riots this August,

organizing vigilante squads, taking cell-phone photos, and calling in

toll-free numbers to denounce the rioters. In casting the anarchist as

“the dangerous other”, the specter of GAMMA hopes to draw a clear dividing

line between those who are anarchists and will therefore be criminalized,

and everyone else (who presumably doesn’t want to be criminalized) – a

sort of classic divide and conquer, separate and box in. This is meant to

discourage everyone else from getting any ideas about rebelling

themselves, of identifying with the rebels, because they just may. Because

in reality this line is a blurry one, and the desire to fight this social

order is by no means unique to “the anarchists”, so in doing this the

state is attempting to paint a line over already stormy, ever-shifting

waters.



By creating a squad with this intention, the state is contributing to the

maintenance of social control that capitalist society needs in order to

function. In fact, it is physically impossible for the police to be

everywhere at once – they can’t be everywhere all the time. They can try

to get around this fact by installing all sorts of other technology of

control - surveillance cameras on every corner, wiretapping phones,

mapping out networks through facebook and twitter, store anti-theft

detectors, ID cards, biometrics, collecting people’s DNA, x-ray machines

at customs, flying drones over borders, the threat of prison – but the key

element of social control is our own internalization of it, ie. the cop

inside our head. It is the residue of the fear that they create. In the

end, police squads like GAMMA accomplish as much through the ghost of

their possible presence, as through their actual physical existence.



Of course, there is also a material logic to the creation of GAMMA. It

appears to be a bureaucratic re-organization of police forces in order to

more efficiently collect and process information about our struggles. They

are focusing on anarchists and consolidating their databases to try to

better understand patterns and draw links between distinct events.



Repression more broadly, and a rejection of the discourse of “rights”



GAMMA can only be understood by looking

at the role repression plays more broadly. Repression has always been an

integral part of the functioning of the state. Every state has at its

foundation the monopoly on organized violence which it expresses through

its laws, its police and its prisons. It therefore isn’t surprising to see

the police trying to repress a struggle that has as its honest intention

the total negation of the state.

Likewise, political profiling has always existed. Liberals like to boast

about how we have freedom of speech, and that other one – freedom of

thought. As long as ideas remain exclusively in the realm of just ideas,

we have these “freedoms”. As soon as people start to put their ideas into

practice, however, and when these challenge the dominant social order,

repression suddenly makes itself felt and these freedoms fade into a

quickly distant memory, echoed in the walls of the Toronto East detention

centre, in Pinochet’s torture chambers, in the ruins of Warsaw, and in the

sandy cemeteries of Afghanistan. The rights that constitute this

democratic state are compromises that are offered us in exchange for the

maintenance of social peace (ie the absence of rebellion) and our

obedience in the face of this system of misery. Within the discourse of

rights is implicit the need for the police, the laws and the state to

exist, to protect them. In reality, however, as soon as state power is

threatened, rights rapidly disappear. To quell the uprisings in England,

the government imposed a state of exception. Prime Minister Cameron

ordered the police to use all the tools at their disposal in order to

reestablish order – to do whatever it takes. The law was on their side. As

soon as order was transgressed, democracy turned tyrannical. It started to

look like scenes from a science fiction movie. The police symbolized the

limits of the possible. In our context, rights are often invoked in a

moral way, a mythology to which people can refer to, the glorious

constitution and such. We argue that rights are a concept that can, like

all language, change its meaning, application, and intentions, and can be

used or let go by the state depending on circumstances, as convenient. In

building a serious struggle against the state, then, banking solely on our

rights and throwing our lot in with that concept is a form of insanity. We

need something else.



Democracy and fascism are two sides of the same coin, and it flips based

on the social, political, geographic and economic context.



Repression in the austerity era



And the context is changing. We’re now full on in the era of austerity.

Everywhere in the world, states are cutting their social and public sector

policies, as well as their spending on public health, education, and

social welfare. In order to deal with the current global financial crisis,

the welfare state, established after the Second World War, is now being

drawn back, with increasing privatization of whatever remains. By cutting

social measures the State is also preparing to face the revolts of an

increasing number of those exploited or excluded completely from the

system, many of whose labor power has become redundant and who teeter

around the service economy, trying to ink out a living. Austerity is the

engine that is influencing the changing face and form that repression

takes. Meanwhile, a real rage is simmering under this surface, and there

are always those who chose to fight for freedom and for the destruction of

this prison world that envelops us.



As anarchists, not only are we not surprised by these developments, but we

refuse to hide behind the veil of justice to claim our innocence. What

role does innocence play in a struggle anyway? For us, the courts are not

the terrain of struggle on which we can win this war, even though we may

have victories here and there. We refuse to use the discourse of the

courts. In a world based on exploitation and misery, our desires for total

freedom will always be criminal. The law’s main function is the

maintenance of this system. Our struggle is against capital and the state

in its entirety, and against all manifestations of this in our daily life,

against the police and other forms and institutions that serve and

reinforce the state's power and control. As our struggles grow, develop,

and intensify, it is not surprising that they will try to respond with

greater repression.



How can we respond?



The question is, then, how do we respond? How many people hate this

system? How many hide their rage, feeling isolated and alone? A world that

needs prisons isn’t ours. Each pig is a symbol of rational domination over

the body. Because we imagine a million other possible ways to live, and we

have dreams, we refuse to bow our heads in front of the social order and

its laws. Our power lies in the fact that we are not the only ones who are

suffocating in this and who choose to fight it. The state's control over

our lives grows proportionally to the increase in people’s general sense

of alienation. In the city, urban planning leads to a mapping of every

inch of space, where there are less and less places to hide. Capital wages

war on us by appropriating every centimeter of our space, every muscle of

our bodies and the ideas in our heads. If we refuse to be colonized by

this, we must find ways to fight it. We’ve made the choice to be in active

conflict, together, in the face of this system rather than waiting in

front of the television hoping that this system will collapse on its own.

If the rioters of London, or those of the ghettos of Paris, or Egypt, or

Greece, chose to take their lives into their own hands, we are surely

capable of doing the same.



Now is the time to find each other as comrades in struggle, to

self-organize. We need to create the things we want to see ourselves,

because nobody will do it for us. We need to develop our practices in

terms of communication, creativity, and conflictuality. The gap between

ideas and action is really not that wide at all.



Now is also a time to work out our differences, and build a critical

solidarity with each other, not letting the state tear us apart over petty

conflicts. This doesn't mean that we should erase our differences, or that

we all have to work together, but we can still support each other.



Finally, we should be careful not to get cornered, or to get stuck in a

war of attrition against the police. If we remain few, we will eventually

lose. The repressive strategy of the Canadian state, similar to France,

US, England and other dominant countries, is based on the theory of

permanent counterinsurgency. This means that they must try to repress each

social struggle in its infancy, before it has had a chance to grow or

reach a certain critical mass.



Our greatest strength, then, is not our passion, nor our rage, nor even

the sharpness of our revenge, but rather the possibility that our ideas

and practices will spread to the powder keg that is this fragmented

society.



Quand ils défoncent ta porte, tu répond comment ?



Quelques réflexions sur l'escouade GAMMA



Nous avons eu la puce à l'oreille récemment qu'au sein du Service de

Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), il s'est constitué une nouvelle

unité : l'escouade GAMMA (le Guet des activités et des mouvements

marginaux et anarchistes).



Il nous a semblé important de diffuser publiquement nos réflexions et de

faire une critique en partant de notre position, soit en tant

qu'anarchistes. Nous ne voulons pas nous faire porte-parole DES

anarchistes, nous nous exprimons en tant qu'individus. Nous espérons

stimuler des discussions à ce sujet.



Selon nous, l'escouade GAMMA doit être comprise telle une autre adaptation

de l'État dans un contexte d’austérité qui s'accentue. Son mandat est

certainement de faire en sorte que l'État maintienne son pouvoir de

contrôle social en réprimant la révolte.



Pourquoi GAMMA ?



La nouvelle escouade se situe sous la direction de la Section des Enquêtes

spécialisées, dont font partie, entre autres, la division du crime

organisé. Comme pour les gang de rues, la mafia ou les motards, GAMMA a

pour mission de profiler et d'accumuler des informations sur les actions,

les intérêts et les manières de vivre des personnes « marginales et

anarchistes », donc quiconque qui questionne l'ordre établi. En tentant

d'établir de nouveaux réseaux d’accointance, de liens, d'affinités entre

individus, l'État montre son intention d'aiguiser la répression, une

répression qui n'est évidemment pas nouvelle.



Plusieurs motifs justifient le fait que le SPVM doit aujourd'hui disposer

d'une escouade visible spécialisée en la matière. Pourquoi la police

doit-elle explicitement viser les anarchistes? En les pointant du doigt

avec l'aide des médias de masse, l'État personnifie l'anarchiste sous un

visage de dangereux terroriste et appelle la population à jouer les

délateurs afin de se protéger de sa soit-disant menace. Nous avons vu ces

citoyens-flics agir en Angleterre avant et après les émeutes, s'organiser

en milice d'autodéfense citoyenne et téléphoner au numéro sans-frais pour

dénoncer les émeutiers. Cela nous donne un exemple cauchemardesque de ce

futur possible. En projetant l'anarchiste comme ''Le dangereux'',

l'escouade GAMMA veut tracer une ligne claire entre les anarchistes

criminels et tout les autres (que l'on présume ne pas vouloir être

criminalisés)- un classique; diviser pour conquérir, metre les gens dans

des boîtes isoler les uns des autres. Ils croient pouvoir décourager toute

autre personne à utiliser ces moyens d'action quand leur viennent des

inspirations potentielles de révolte ou à s'identifier avec les rebelles.

En réalité, cette ligne n'est absolument pas clair et le désire de

combattre l'ordre social est loin d'être unique aux anarchistes.



Notre société, en fait, pour fonctionner, a besoin de dominer les

manifestations du vivant. Nous savons aussi qu'il est physiquement

impossible pour la police d'être présente à chaque centimètre de notre

environnement, partout et en même temps. Ils peuvent essayer de nous

contraindre à l'aide d'une multitude de dispositifs tels un nombre infini

de caméras de surveillance à tout les coins de rues, leur capacité de

mettre les téléphones cellulaires sous écoute et l'accès aux conversations

texto, en traçant nos réseaux avec facebook et twitter, les anti-vols aux

portes des magasins, les outils biométriques, les rayons-X aux douanes,

les détecteurs de chaleur bordant les chemins de fer aux frontières, la

collecte des ADNs, les drones survolant les forêts, les prisons où l'on

est menacé d'être enfermé si on ne respecte pas la loi ou la discipline

qu'on nous inculque dès la maternelle, mais l'élément clé du contrôle

social est notre propre introjection de celui-ci ; le flic dans ta tête.

C'est le résidu de la peur qu'ils créent. Au final, les flics doivent

aussi leur pouvoir de contrôle à leurs fantômes transcendants plutôt qu'à

leurs présences réelle.



Enfin, d'un point de vue matériel, GAMMA est probablement un réarrangement

organisationel et bureaucratique qui permettra aux policiers d'être plus

efficace dans leur cueuillette d'informations. Focussant sur les

anarchistes, ils consolident leur base de données pour mieux comprendre

les patterns et faire des liens entre des événements distincts.



Nous l'avons souligné plus tôt, la répression est partie intégrale du

fonctionnement de l'État; tout État dans son fondement détient le monopole

menaçant de la violence organisée avec ses lois, sa police et ses prisons.

Il n'est pas surprenant de voir les flics tenter de réprimer une lutte qui

a pour honnête intention la négation de l'État et de la domination

industrielle.

Quant au profilage politique, il a lui aussi toujours été. Le libéralisme

ne cesse de vouloir nous convaincre d'à quel point nous avons la liberté

de penser et d'exprimer nos idées. Aussi longtemps que ces idées restent

des idées, nous avons ces ''libertés''. À partir du moment où les gens

commencent à mettre leurs idées en pratique et que celles-ci ne

correspondent pas à l'ordre sécuritaire du statu-quo, la répression se

fait ressentir et ces libertés s'estompe en une courte mémoire. Cela fait

écho aux murs du centre de détention dans l'est de Toronto (G-20), aux

chambres de torture de Pinochet, aux ruines de Varsovie et aux cimetières

sablonneux d'Afghanistan. Les droits composants notre État démocratique

sont des compromis qui nous sont offerts en échange de la paix sociale

(l’absence de rébellion) et de notre obéissance face à ce système de

misère. On veut à tout prix nous faire comprendre que c'est la police, les

lois et l'État qui protègent nos droits. Pas de chance ; dès le moment où

le pouvoir d'État est menacé, les droits sont rapidement supprimés. Pour

calmer les émeutes britanniques, le gouvernement imposa des mesures

d’exceptions. Le premier ministre Cameron ordonna aux policiers d'utiliser

tout les moyens à leurs dispositions pour rétablir l'ordre. La loi était

de leur coté. Lorsque l'ordre est transgressée, la démocratie devient

tyrannique. On se croirait dans un film de science-fiction. Les flics

symbolisent les limites du possible. Ils encadrent l'existant. Le droit

joue un rôle moral, une mythologie de vérités auxquelles tous se réfèrent.

Nous venons de démontrer que le droit est un concept qui peut, comme

toutes formes de langage, changer de signification, d'application, de

mandat, d'intérêt, de fin ou de justification selon les circonstances.

Puisque nous voulons construire une lutte sérieuse contre l'État, la

dépendance du droit devient une folie. Nous avons besoin d'autre chose.



La démocratie et le fascisme sont les deux cotés d'une même médaille, et

celle-ci tourne selon le contexte social, politique, géographique et

économique.



La répression dans l'ère des mesures d'austérité



Désormais, ce contexte change. Nous sommes dans l’ère des politiques

d'austérité. Partout dans le monde, les gouvernements coupent dans les

budgets alloués aux mesures sociales, aux emplois du secteur publique, à

l'éducation et à la santé. Afin de gérer la crise financière globale,

l'État-Providence, établit suite à la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, se

rétracte progressivement pour laisser place à une gestion du privé. On

fait primer l'intérêt économique avant tout, même dans des domaines qui

jusqu'à présent, concernait les affaires publiques. En coupant dans les

mesures sociales, l'État s'attend à devoir faire face à la révolte de

toujours plus d'exclus et planifie ainsi son appareil répressif.

L'austérité est un moteur qui influence les changements quant à la forme

que prendra la répression. Une rage bien réelle se mijote chez un nombre

croissant de personnes exploitées et de parias; chez ceux qui ont choisi

de se battre pour la liberté et pour la destruction de se système-prison

qui nous engloutit.



En tant qu'anarchistes, non seulement nous ne sommes pas surpris de ces

développements, mais nous refusons de nous cacher derrière le voile de la

justice pour clamer notre innocence. Quel rôle a l'innocence dans la

guerre contre le capital de toute façon? Pour nous, la cours n'est pas un

terrain de lutte où il est possible de gagner cette guerre. Si, parfois,

quelques défenses ont du succès ici et là, nous refusons d'utiliser le

discours de la loi. Dans un monde basé sur l'exploitation et la misère,

nos désirs pour une libération totale seront toujours criminalisés. La loi

a avant tout pour fonction le maintien de ce système. Notre lutte se pose

contre le capital et contre l'État dans son entièreté, contre toutes ses

manifestations dans nos quotidiens ; contre les flics et toutes autres

formes sociales leur servant à maintenir leur pouvoir et contrôle. Alors

que notre lutte prend forme et s'intensifie, cela ne fait que trop de sens

de voir la police répondre de la sorte.



Comment peut-on répondre?



La question pour nous est de réfléchir à comment répondre à cette répression.

Combien de gens détestent ce monde

quadrillé? Combien de gens refoulent cette rage, croyant être seuls et

impuissants? Un monde qui a besoin de prisons n'est pas le nôtre. Chaque

flic symbolise la domination rationnelle des corps. Parce que nous

imaginons mille autres choses et que nous avons des rêves, nous refusons

de baisser la tête devant l'ordre et la loi. Notre puissance se trouve

dans le fait que nous ne sommes pas seuls à étouffer et à vouloir

combattre la source de cet étouffement. Le contrôle de nos vies augmente

avec l'expansion de l'aliénation; des plans d'urbanisme lissés en bloc et

où les recoins et les cachettes n'existent pas, nous sont imposés. Le

capital nous fait la guerre pour s'approprier chaque centimètre de nos

espaces, chaque muscle de nos corps et les idées dans nos têtes. Si nous

refusons la colonisation par le capital, nous devons nous battre. Nous

avons fait ce choix d'être en conflit, ensemble, face à ce système plutôt

que d'attendre devant la télévision en croyant que le système s'effondrera

de lui-même. Si les émeutiers de Londres ou de Paris ont choisi de prendre

leur propre vie en mains, nous bouillonnons d'envie de faire de même.



C'est le moment de nous retrouver comme camarades de lutte et de nous

organiser nous-même, en groupes affinnitaires, et MAINTENANT. Il nous faut

créer se que nous voulons voir exister par nous-même car personne ne le

fera pour nous. Nous devons développer nos pratiques en therme de

communication, de créativité et de conflit. Le saut de l'idée à l'action

n'est pas si grand.



Il est aussi temps de travailler sur nos différences et construire une

solidarité critique entre nous, ne pas laisser l'État nous diviser pour

des conflits ridicules. Cela ne veut pas dire que nous devons éfacer nos

différences, ou que nous devons tous faire les chose ensembles, mais

pouvons-nous au moin nous supporter?



Nous devons faire gaffe à ne pas nous faire prendre dans une guerre

d'usure contre la police. Si nous ne restons que quelques-uns, nous ne

pouvons éventuellement que perdre. La stratégie répressive de l'État

canadien, tout comme celle de la France, des États-Unis, de l'Angleterre

et de tout les pays dominants, est basée sur la théorie de la

contre-insurrection permanente. Cette dernière évoque le besoin de

réprimer chaque lutte sociale avant même qu'elle n'ait la chance de se

répandre et de rejoindre une certaine masse critique. Notre plus grande

force n'est donc décidément pas notre passion, notre colère ou ni même

notre revanche, mais la possibilité que nos idées et pratiques se

répandent dans ce baril de poudre à canon qu'est notre société.

Montreal: Demos in solidarity with Pelican Bay prisoners and prisoners everywhere

Montreal, July 3 Sabotage Media

Sunday afternoon in the Montreal area demos were carried out in solidarity
with the Pelican Bay prisoners on hunger strike and with prisoners
everywhere.

A group of about 30 people appeared at the prison complex in Laval
comprising of the Federal Training Center, Montée St-François Institution
and Leclerc Institution, and the Canadian Immigration Prevention Center
which holds immigrants whom are awaiting deportation and is operated as if
it was a maximum-security penitentiary.

Although the screws attempted blocking the way with their vehicles and to
drown out the chanting with their sirens, the group of comrades were able
to break through them and dash with their banners up to the fence yelling
slogans of solidarity like “OUR PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR
PRISONS” and shooting fireworks. The banners deployed were: “FOR A WORLD
WITHOUT BOSSES, COPS NOR PRISONS Ⓐ” “FROM CALIFORNIA TO QUEBEC SUPPORT THE
PRISONERS IN STRUGGLE” and a third with a PO box to which the prisoners
could write. The group was then able to continue bringing their solidarity
to all sections of the complex.

A group later appeared at the Bordeau Detention Center with chanting,
banners, flares and fireworks. Afterwards they marched through the
surrounding neighborhood handing out flyers and chanting as they finally
reached the Tanguay Detention Center for women. At this point the pigs had
arrived but people were able to reach the fences and get eye contact with
a group of women in the prison yard and as the group of comrades screamed
slogans, throwing themselves against the fence, climbing on it and shaking
it the women responded by yelling back their joy for the solidarity.

With the presence of pigs growing, the group then headed back through the
surrounding neighborhood while chanting “PIGS, COPS, MURDURERS”, marching
in the street, passing out flyers with a heavy presence of SPVM squad cars
tailing behind and repeatedly urging them to get off the street to which
comrades responded by chanting louder. Everyone was able to get back to a
bus which brought them downtown after some harassing by the SPVM and being
followed by a squad car until they all dispersed upon arrival at a metro
station.

Here’s the text from the flyer:

CALIFORNIA PRISONERS ON INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE

On july 1st, dozens of prisoners in long-term isolation units in
California prisons (“SHUs”) began an indefinite hunger strike.

These men are held in their cells for 22½-24 hours per day. Most are there
for having been labelled “active gang members”, often based on the false
information (e.g. labelling self-help or cultural groups as gangs).
Isolation has been shown to induce psychological trauma, yet many
prisoners have been in the SHU for decades. The only way out of this slow
torture is to “debrief”, i.e. inform on other prisoners, a situation which
clearly encourages false accusations.

These prisoners are served unsanitary and unwholesome food, punished
collectively for the actions of individuals, and routinely – and without
reason – denied access to programs and amenities which are considered
standard in similar facilities in other states and at the federal level,
including self-help and educational programs, one phone call per week, and
warm clothing.

In response to these conditions, these prisoners have united to put their
own lives on the line.

the prisoners demands are:

1. Eliminate group punishments.
2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status
criteria.
3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and
Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to longterm solitary confinement.
4. Provide adequate food.
5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite
SHU inmates.

The US now holds over 2,000,000 prisoners, almost 100,000 of them in
isolation. Meanwhile in Canada the government is preparing for a massive
rise in the number of prisoners as a result of new and upcoming
legislation (for example, the “omnibus crime bill”).

To support the fight of tortured SHU inmates in the US is to fight against
the Canadian government’s attempts to implement and expand those policies
here!

PICKETS AT THE US CONSULATE! (July 8, 15, etc.)
Noon-1:30pm, 1155 rue St-Alexandre at René-Lévesque Every Friday as long
as the strike continues!

SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATION ON JULY 16!
1pm Saturday, July 16th Dorchester Square (Peel metro): denounce
Montreal’s prison contractors

HUNGER STRIKE SUPPORT COMMITTEE
contrelesprisons.blogspot.com

Montreal, July 3 Sabotage Media

Sunday afternoon in the Montreal area demos were carried out in solidarity
with the Pelican Bay prisoners on hunger strike and with prisoners
everywhere.

A group of about 30 people appeared at the prison complex in Laval
comprising of the Federal Training Center, Montée St-François Institution
and Leclerc Institution, and the Canadian Immigration Prevention Center
which holds immigrants whom are awaiting deportation and is operated as if
it was a maximum-security penitentiary.

Although the screws attempted blocking the way with their vehicles and to
drown out the chanting with their sirens, the group of comrades were able
to break through them and dash with their banners up to the fence yelling
slogans of solidarity like “OUR PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR
PRISONS” and shooting fireworks. The banners deployed were: “FOR A WORLD
WITHOUT BOSSES, COPS NOR PRISONS Ⓐ” “FROM CALIFORNIA TO QUEBEC SUPPORT THE
PRISONERS IN STRUGGLE” and a third with a PO box to which the prisoners
could write. The group was then able to continue bringing their solidarity
to all sections of the complex.

A group later appeared at the Bordeau Detention Center with chanting,
banners, flares and fireworks. Afterwards they marched through the
surrounding neighborhood handing out flyers and chanting as they finally
reached the Tanguay Detention Center for women. At this point the pigs had
arrived but people were able to reach the fences and get eye contact with
a group of women in the prison yard and as the group of comrades screamed
slogans, throwing themselves against the fence, climbing on it and shaking
it the women responded by yelling back their joy for the solidarity.

With the presence of pigs growing, the group then headed back through the
surrounding neighborhood while chanting “PIGS, COPS, MURDURERS”, marching
in the street, passing out flyers with a heavy presence of SPVM squad cars
tailing behind and repeatedly urging them to get off the street to which
comrades responded by chanting louder. Everyone was able to get back to a
bus which brought them downtown after some harassing by the SPVM and being
followed by a squad car until they all dispersed upon arrival at a metro
station.

Here’s the text from the flyer:

CALIFORNIA PRISONERS ON INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE

On july 1st, dozens of prisoners in long-term isolation units in
California prisons (“SHUs”) began an indefinite hunger strike.

These men are held in their cells for 22½-24 hours per day. Most are there
for having been labelled “active gang members”, often based on the false
information (e.g. labelling self-help or cultural groups as gangs).
Isolation has been shown to induce psychological trauma, yet many
prisoners have been in the SHU for decades. The only way out of this slow
torture is to “debrief”, i.e. inform on other prisoners, a situation which
clearly encourages false accusations.

These prisoners are served unsanitary and unwholesome food, punished
collectively for the actions of individuals, and routinely – and without
reason – denied access to programs and amenities which are considered
standard in similar facilities in other states and at the federal level,
including self-help and educational programs, one phone call per week, and
warm clothing.

In response to these conditions, these prisoners have united to put their
own lives on the line.

the prisoners demands are:

1. Eliminate group punishments.
2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status
criteria.
3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and
Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to longterm solitary confinement.
4. Provide adequate food.
5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite
SHU inmates.

The US now holds over 2,000,000 prisoners, almost 100,000 of them in
isolation. Meanwhile in Canada the government is preparing for a massive
rise in the number of prisoners as a result of new and upcoming
legislation (for example, the “omnibus crime bill”).

To support the fight of tortured SHU inmates in the US is to fight against
the Canadian government’s attempts to implement and expand those policies
here!

PICKETS AT THE US CONSULATE! (July 8, 15, etc.)
Noon-1:30pm, 1155 rue St-Alexandre at René-Lévesque Every Friday as long
as the strike continues!

SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATION ON JULY 16!
1pm Saturday, July 16th Dorchester Square (Peel metro): denounce
Montreal’s prison contractors

HUNGER STRIKE SUPPORT COMMITTEE
contrelesprisons.blogspot.com

Cops break up May Day march in Montreal

6 arrested as anti-capitalist demonstration turns rowdy

May 2, 2011 Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL - Police broke up an anti-capitalist May Day march on Sunday
after sporadic acts of violence and fears it was about to deteriorate.

A mix of communists, anarchists, Trotskyists, skinheads and members of
other left-wing groups, estimated by Montreal police to number 700 to 800
people, began demonstrating peacefully shortly before 4 p.m. at Émilie
Gamelin Park at Berri and Ste. Catherine Sts.

Six people were arrested for minor infractions, and seven police officers
suffered minor injuries, Monteal police Constable Raphael Bergeron
reported.

The march was stopped because it was "no longer peaceful," and among
objects seized were a metal bar and a Molotov cocktail, he said.

It followed an earlier demonstration in Plateau Mont Royal, supported by
Quebec's big labour federations, that attracted 400 participants,
including Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe.

Mathieu Francoeur, a spokesperson for Convergeces des luttes
anticaptitalistes Montréal, contrasted the two demonstrations, saying the
labour movement's goal is to reform the laws governing society, while the
afternoon march was "an invitation to rebel against capitalism and
patriarchy."

One man wore a T-shirt saying, "I hate everything you love," and the
biggest group were red-flag-waving members of the Maoist Parti communiste
révolutionaire.

Before the march began, police Commander Alain Simoneau announced via a
loudspeaker that demonstrators would be allowed to proceed as long as they
followed the direction of traffic and were peaceful. If there were any
infractions, "We will put an end to the demonstration," he said.

That is exactly what police did. About 4:10 p.m., someone ignited a flare
and tossed it toward police at St. Urbain and Sherbrooke Sts.

Marchers' ranks began to thin out as demonstrators headed west on
Sherbrooke St. At 4:58 p.m., the police tactical squad began tapping
nightsticks against their shields, a signal they were moving in to stop
the march.

The demonstration was to end at the Ste. Catherine St. W. campaign offices
of Westmount-Ville Marie Conservative candidate Neil Drabkin.

Montréal: Anarchist Arrested at Anti-Austerity Demo

March 12, 2011 CMAQ

Today, March 12, 2011, 12 people were arrested at an anti-austerity
demonstration in Montreal, QC. The demo, which was around 3000 strong( or
should we say 3000 weak?), was organized by various student and worker’s
unions throughout the city. A group of anarchists chose to insert
themselves into this demonstration, but were isolated by the unions and
the lack of a larger anarchist presence.
Rest of the text:

The unions, those disgusting organizations that have turned themselves
into state collaborators, and demo “security” continued to push the
anarchists to the back of the demo. At this point a swarm of between 30-50
riot police on foot and horseback encircled everyone dressed in black. It
was later confirmed that this was the “preventative arrests” squad who
were deployed to break up the contingent.

Some people were able to fight their way out, but twelve people were
arrested. The mounted police formed a circle around the group being
arrested to prevent anyone to pass through. The union security formed an
outer ring to help the police in their efforts. Everyone else stood by
passively with the exception of a dozen or so sideliners who shouted
“Porc, Flics, Assassin,” and “let them go”, which in presence of the crowd
seemed to fall upon the dead ears of the unionists. A lack of rage and
action penetrated the rest of the demo as people marched obediently from
point A to point B. Many of us who just narrowly escaped police hands had
lost our voices trying to get through to the crowd. Their pathetic
fighting spirit did nothing to help free our comrades from the guard dogs
of the state.

The Montreal Gazette has reported that ten people are being charged with
conspiracy, any details beyond this are unknown. A solidarity
demonstration is being planned for 9pm outside of their holding cells.

This is a continuation of targeted state repression against anarchists,
which is not something that surprises us but instead just increases our
rage and desire to act against them. Conspiracy is becoming a big deal.

Solidarity is our Weapon. Confrontation must spread.
Fuck the Police and their collaborators.



Aujourd’hui, le 12 mars 2011, 12 personnes on étéarrété a une
manifestation contre le budget de la province du québec, à montréal. La
manifestation d’eviron 3000 fort (disonsfaible)a été organiser par diver
syndicats et group d’étudiants. Un ensemble d’anarchistesontchoisi de
participé à la manifestations. Ils se sonttrouvéisoler par les syndicats
et aussi par un manque de présence anarchist plus grande. Les syndicats
(organisations dégoutable qui choisissentce temps ci de collaborer avec
l’état) et la “sécurité” de la manifestation ontpoussé le bloc anarchiste
en arrière de la manifestation. A ce point ci, 30 à 50 policiers à pied et
à cheval ontencerclé tout le mondehabiller en noir. Ça a été confirmer que
la brigade policièreest un group qui spécialise à faire des
“arrestationspréventive.”

Quelquepersonnesontpuéchapé au contrôlepolicier, mais 12 camarades se
sonttrouvéarrété. La police à cheval ontencreclé le group et ontempéché au
gens d’intervenir. La “sécurité” des syndicatsontcréer un cadre défensif
pour défendre la police. La pluspart du monde a resterpassif, avec
l’exceptiond’unedouzaine de personnes qui crier “porc, flics, assassins”
et “libérénoscamarades,” maiscescrisontseullementtrouvé les
oreillessourdes de membre syndical. Le reste de la manifestation a
continuer de marcher avec obéissance du point A au point B, sans rage et
sans actions. Leur esprit combatif a étépathétique et n’ariendonner à nos
efforts pour libérénoscamarades du contrôle des chiens de gardes de
l’état.

La Gazette de Montréal a reportéquedixpersonnesferont face àdes
accusations de complot dans le but de commettre un crime (conspiration),
toutesautredétailsont inconnu. Une manifestation en solidarité avec les
inculpésprendra place a 21 heures (à montréal) al’entour du poste de
police ouilssontdétenu.

Cetattaquecontrenoscamaradesn’estqu’une continuation de la répressionciblé
par l’étatcontre les anarchist. Ca nous surprends pas,
maissurementaugementenotre rage etnos desires d’agircontreeux. Les
accusations de conspirationsdeviennentsérieuses.

La solidaritéestnotre arm la plus forte. Que les confrontations s’étandent.
Nique la police et leurs collabo!