See the new thread here.

Their story seems a little suspect too..they were identified because they refused to throw anything? Then why was one of them carrying a rock? There should be an investigation into whether they crossed the line into instigation.

I think I need to lay down.

Gone on ya fellas for your honestly…like I said elsewhere not only are these guys cops they are really dumb cops and bad actors.

I don’t buy that for a second. Protestors who use violence expect to be injured and are not afraid of being so. Look at any other protest that erupted into violence and you’ll see that the protestors didn’t simply leave at the first sign of intimidation. Are you saying that violent protestors are more likely to flee a man in a business suit yelling at them than cops in riot gear who not only yell at them but push them with shields?

All Coles did was intimidate them. He pulled on their masks and tried to make them drop their rocks. But did he hit them? No. Did he pepper spray them? No. Did Coles actually physically “attack” them? Not in the least. So, what were these “protestors” afraid of?

Sorry, but that argument simply doesn’t fly. Those protestors were hardly being attacked as you put it, certainly nowhere near the level of injury that violent protestors are ready to endure. So the real question is, what were they trying to escape from? All that Coles and his people were doing was trying to disarm and expose who exactly these “protestors” were, so obviously they weren’t afraid of being hurt so much as being exposed.

The only question is why were they afraid of being exposed?

But if so, why were they carrying rocks around? And the protesters, if they are to be believed, claim that the cops were egging them on, not discouraging the use of violence.

I think it was a pathetic attempt by the 3 cops to infiltrate the protesters to head off potential violent acts by a small number of protesters.

Bad tactics. Here comes the inquiry.

Also noted, the CEP Union represents communications brothers like TorStar and CTV, those unbiased reporters of political matters. It may explain why the press conference was all kissy kissy rather than having any questions about the physical actions of Coles and his masked cohorts.

I think everyone can be rightfully upset about this. The right to protest is important in a democracy, and whatever people think of the protesters themselves, the police action - particularly trying to provoke vandalism or destruction of property - goes way overboard. For shame.

How stupid. As police provocateurs, the least they could have done is retreat and not play out such an obviously phoney arrest.

Law & order conservatives should be the first to condemn stupid police activities like these, not condone them.

All these professional welfare collectors were out making asses of themselves during this meeting. And now the police have managed to turn a negative spotlight on themselves? Amazing.

While I think the protests in general were silly, it’s hard to believe that these guys were legitimately there to protest. I tend to agree that it is likely the cops were looking at finding some easy, sure-fire way to start rounding up the protesters and that this seemed like the easiest way.