I was an active participant in the March 15th demonstration in Montreal that marked the international day against police brutality. I wrote this statement after reading the communique issued by the organizing body of the demonstration, Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) Montreal. The communique issued to the media is copied below this statement. I have chosen to re-post their communique along with my statement because I think it's important for those of us who choose to participate in these demonstrations to be aware of the motives of the organizers and not have their voice as the only explanation for the actions that occurred. The following statement is representative of only my personal feelings and does not necessarily represent others who chose to act outside the confines of legality that day.

The police's main function in society is the protection of property and social control. The police are a constant force of daily repression and the actions of the police during the demonstration and leading up to it should not be shocking. A quote from the COBP communique states, “We must not give them the excuse they are hoping for to proceed to arrests which will threaten the entire demonstration”. Not only is this line absurd since the police have never needed justification to attack/arrest demonstrators but earlier on in their communique they clearly state that arrests/searches took place before the march even began, which was before any property or police were attacked. Here's the quote. “On Sunday the mood of the protest was set before the march had even begun with numerous demonstrators being searched illegally and some even brutalized during the process by police officers whose badge numbers were obscured. At least five people were arrested arbitrarily despite the fact that they had committed no offense”. Maybe if people were put up against walls and searched legally by police and arrested for actually committing some kind of legal offense COBP wouldn't have any complaints. Why should we be tolerant of these police actions which are carried out against those the police identify as potentially dangerous ie: punks/people of colour/people in dark clothing and people attempting to conceal their identities?
COBP quote, “Many attempts were made throughout the demonstration to calm tensions and prevent acts of vandalism.” This played out during the day with other demonstrators (some wearing masks) and presumably part of the organizing body based on the quote above physically preventing people in the march from building barricades (A tactic used to slow police formations and allow demonstrators to hold ground) and attacking police and capitalist targets. A few of these vigilantes were later identified as known anarchist organizers in Montreal who are part of groups such as NEFAC(North East Federation of Anarchist Communists), and anarchist student groups. “Organizers” have no place to control public demonstrations that they have encouraged people to attend through posters/stickers/call-outs/etc. People's anger and their expression of it is a legitimate response to daily repression by police and this prison society of surveillance/courts/security guards/9-5 jobs and should not be allowed to be controlled by those who seek to direct our anger into single issue campaigns of police accountability, etc that the “organizers” frame as the goal of the action. What place do “organizers” have in protecting the property of capitalists, the city, and pigs from destruction? These vigilantes are worse then the the pigs for doing the pigs work without pay and essentially acting as undercover cops. Our spaces of action need to be protected and just as we would defend ourselves from police attacks with our bodies/rocks/sticks we need to do the same against those who choose to be volunteer pigs.

COBP quote, “Organizers also made two calls for dispersal which failed due to the fact that police literally stole our megaphone, taking it from the hands of one of the organizers”. Fuck the organizers call for dispersal! We already have enough people directing our lives everyday we hardly need anymore to manage us. Even if their dispersal call was heard many of us would ignore it and continue to act collectively as individuals with our own intentions, motivations, desires for that days demonstration and will cease acting when we see fit.

The organizers of this demonstration have tried to frame it as getting justice for Fredy Villanueva and his family and to holding the police accountable. This demonstration for me was not just about Fredy Villanueva and certainly had nothing to do with police accountability. I sympathize and am enraged by his murder and am also inspired by the riotous act of revolt taken by youth in his community following his murder http://confrontation.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/frustration-with-police-si.... Where were the vigilante scum of COBP when those youths were attacking pigs? Surely if those same vigilantes tried interfering in their actions they would receive the treatment they deserve. Everyone attending these demonstrations or any for that matter has their own reasons and motivations, many of us have had our share of unpleasant encounters with the police/courts/etc. I don't need the death of another youth to motivate me to take action in the streets, the daily reality of this society is enough to bring one to the boiling point.

The “organizers” of this demonstration will likely place the blame of violence and resulting arrest of over two-hundred demonstrators on self styled middle class white anarchists wearing black with masks. There was definitely a crew of people who donned black clothing/masks and definitely came prepared to engage the police and did but a look at the media coverage of the day will show you people of varying backgrounds attacking police, property and building barricades http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opvYAFt1EfA&NR=1 or http://www.montrealgazette.com/Business/Gallery+Against+Police+Brutality....

It is not just us anarchists and pro-revolutionaries who feel compelled to take back a little dignity through revolt against those that daily repress and humiliate us through their continued existence.

COBP quote, “We sincerely hope that the media will take the time to seriously discuss the critical issues we have attempted to communicate to the general population today”. Why would the corporate media seriously discuss issues of police brutality/murder/impunity? Since when has the corporate media cared about the struggles of the dispossessed unless it has boosted their ratings? Our actions shouldn't be based on the hopes of getting fair media representation. The corporate media along with the state/capitalists is part of this rotten system we are struggling against and should be treated accordingly. They are owned by those who force this daily reality of police/courts/prisons/9-5 jobs/toxic food and air upon our lives and have no vested interest in an improvement of this. We do ourselves no favors by catering to the medias lens and only water down our struggles for autonomy when playing their game.

I'm not an academic or writer and this statement/rant was written with much frustration after reading the communique released by COBP and being witness to the actions of their volunteer pig vigilantes. I believe that anarchists and other social insurgents need to be prepared to defend our spaces of action whether that be from the state forces or those who wish to take their place.

In Struggle,
Anonymous Anarchist
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COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE COLLECTIVE OPPOSED TO POLICE BRUTALITY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montréal, March 15th, 2009 – The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) has rarely been as shocked by the behavior of police officers at an International Day Against Police Brutality demonstration as it was today. Following the campaign of fear orchestrated and carried out by Montreal police (SPVM) since last Tuesday, we prepared ourselves for the storm, but the abuses ended up exceeding even our worst expectations.

It began the Friday night before the demo, when the RCMP “convinced” the café-bar l’Escalier to close its doors to prevent a benefit show for the COBP from taking place. On Sunday the mood of the protest was set before the march had even begun with numerous demonstrators being searched illegally and some even brutalized during the process by police officers whose badge numbers were obscured. At least five people were arrested arbitrarily despite the fact that they had committed no offence. Twenty minutes before the time of the rally at Mont-Royal metro, the orange line of the Montreal metro system was closed between Berri-UQUAM and Beaubien stations, at which point police officers at Sherbrooke metro station proceeded to intimidate and threaten with physical violence anyone planning on attending the demonstration. Despite all of these inconveniences and the demagogic discourse held by those in charge at the SPVM in the week before the demo, it was the largest turnout in the history of the March 15th protest in Montreal, with at least 2,000 people participating.
The SPVM have criticized the COBP for exercising the constitutional right (as many organizations do) to deny the police information about the route of the march. The fact is that our collective could not take the risk of trusting the SPVM with information that would facilitate a mass arrest or brutal dispersal of the march. As it was, the police still did not respect our right to demonstrate freely, seeking from the very beginning to separate the demonstration into three distinct groups in order to prevent us from taking the route we had originally planned and instead redirecting us towards the downtown core, an area that has proven symbolically volatile in the past. Many attempts were made throughout the demonstration to calm tensions and prevent acts of vandalism. A portion of the speeches before the march were dedicated to this subject, as one of the spokespersons said: “We must not give them the excuse they are hoping for to proceed to arrests which will threaten the entire demonstration.” Organizers also made two calls for dispersal which failed due to the fact that police literally stole our megaphone, taking it from the hands of one of the organizers.
We sincerely hope that the media will take the time to seriously discuss the critical issues we have attempted to communicate to the general population today. Fredy Villanueva’s murder is not only truly moving in and of itself, but is also indicative of the larger issue of police impunity. Since 1987, 43 people have been killed by SPVM officers who have yet to see charges brought against them for involuntary manslaughter or murder. Since 2001, we have seen 300 deaths across North-America related to police’s use of Tasers. Last year, the Human Rights and Youth Protection Commission of Quebec found the Montreal police to be guilty of racial profiling. Around the world, the poor, the immigrant populations, the marginalized and protestors are all victims of illegal abuses perpetrated by police on a regular basis. For these reasons, we will continue our year long day to day work keeping an eye on police work and we will be here still on March 15th, 2010 to highlight the 14th annual International Day Against Police Brutality.

The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality
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