Eye View 

by David Charbonneau

Humour best weapon for crowd control

 

June 24, 2010

What enemy threatens Canada to the extent that we need to spend $1 billion on security at the G8/20 summits? For that amount of money we could fund a whole year of our war in Afghanistan.

As Pogo famously noted, it turns out that the enemy is us. Government agents have been following citizens as they go about their daily lives; citizens whose greatest threat is belief in social justice and concern about the environment. Agents have been spying on them on the streets, knocking at their doors at home, scrutinizing meetings they attend, and harassing them at work.

Spy agency spokeswoman Isabelle Scott thinks it's necessary. "CSIS is continuously assessing the potential for violence resulting from the activities of certain groups."

However, if past summits are any indicator it's the police we have to worry about. At 2007 at the North American Leaders Summit in Montebello, Quebec, protestors were so peaceful that undercover police officers wearing bandana masks had to incite demonstrators to throw rocks.

What was it that worried police in Montebello so? Was it the sight of Maude Barlow, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, wheeling boxes petitions down the street? Was it the Raging Grannies in their bright dresses and flowery hats, driving a battered old Lincoln Continental?

No, what summit organizers fear most is being out-maneuvered as they were in 1999 at the World Trade Organization in Seattle. More than 40,000 protesters converged on the city with the intention of "shutting down the WTO" and they did. Demonstrators organized activities using cell phones and laptops. Teams of peaceful protestors formed human blockades at strategic locations, snarling traffic and eventually trapping trade delegates in hotels.

Summit organizers are not going to be caught by surprise again. Since Seattle, defence against citizens has become more complex in what they call "Military Operations on Urban Terrain."

Police now understand the optics. They want to avoid TV coverage in which robot-like riot squads beat helpless protestors with clubs. That explains the clandestine intimidation of potential demonstrators in advance. To avoid ugly clashes organizers have tried to corral protesters in containment pens, so-called "free speech zones." Other dirty tricks include the denial of march permits, mass detentions, harassment of legal observers, confinement of independent media, surveillance by CSIS, raids on lodgings and meeting places - - all out of the glare of TV lights. It's all part of getting a strategic advantage before the summit.



 

Once the summit begins, infiltration of groups by agent provocateurs to stir up agitation helps discredit the legitimate concerns of protesters. A small number of criminals aid in the mayhem. They provide a convenient brush to tar all protestors.

Weapons are evolving away from rubber bullets and tear gas to more exotic tools. Police will use those in Toronto as last resort. Instead, researchers are investigating weapons that modify behaviour without trauma.

The goal of these new weapons is to produce lethargy and disorientation. Police in Toronto are deploying the LRAD-X100 sound-cannons that produce dizziness and nausea. These methods are a preferred alternative to the discredited Taser as a "pain compliance" device. Police don't want to face the scrutiny that resulted after the infamous death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport.

Chemical pacifiers for crowd-control have investigated for years. The hope is that "tactical pharmacology" will quell the restless masses in the streets stirred by capitalist meltdowns, imperialist wars, and environmental collapse. Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technology is looking into some promising candidates like Valium, Prozac, and opiate derivatives that can be delivered to the masses. The irony is not lost on investigative reporter Ando Arike who writes in Harper's Magazine: "It may seem absurd that the eternal battle between the haves and have-nots devolve into a Marxist pun."

Protestors have legitimate complaints that governments would like to ignore by treating them as crazed demonstrators. That misrepresentation becomes more difficult to sustain as the corrupt business of arms manufacturers, dirty oil, and Wall Street bandits become more apparent.

I like the pharmacological solution for diffusing tension. The Raging Grannies should hand out hash brownies to everyone; protestors and guards alike. The police could then hand over riot gear for protestors to wear and the protestors could give rally signs to police and everyone would have a good laugh. Humour is the most disarming device of all.

 

 



 David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
 





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