Quote:
Originally Posted by Zulu29
I can tell you that the vast majority of police officers there DO NOT want a confrontation. You think they look forward to getting bags of urine and feces thrown at them? Marbles, ball bearings, bottles, rocks, molotov cocktails? I agree with you that this is a huge mistake by the government to decide to hold the event in the middle of the city, but the police don't exactly have a choice in the matter. They have to react to the situation at hand. And by the way, it is pretty much impossible to not discriminate at some level. If I'm a cop on the street and I see a family with two little kids walking or a group of 4 younger males walking around, who do you think poses more potential for trouble? Take off your utopian glasses and be realistic. I'm not saying that police don't overstep their bounds sometimes but the vast majority are there for the right reasons and they have very difficult decisions to make with very little time. You're right, these summits should have been held at CFB Petawawa or Borden where they could have done their business without being bothered.
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I can also guarentee you that most protestors don't want confrontation either, but some of them still get it. Nothing takes attention away from the issue faster than a confrontation with police. Can anyone remember what the protestors in Montreal were protesting against a few years ago when they had their big clashes? No, I bet most don't... all people remember are the clashes.
In a lot of ways, having the police get into confrontations with protestors serves a political gain if you don't want the issue being protested to get attention.