Second Day Protest at SPP Summit
Phillip Stillman, 21.08.2007 13:35
Today, Aug. 21st, at approximately 12pm, five protesters made their way from the Indymedia Center in Montebello to Chateau Montebello, the site of the ‘Security and Prosperity Partnership’ (SPP) summit, where George Bush, Steven Harper, Felipe Calderon and several corporate executives met to discuss North American trade and security.
Today, Aug. 21st, at approximately 12pm, five protesters made their way from the Indymedia Center in Montebello to Chateau Montebello, the site of the ‘Security and Prosperity Partnership’ (SPP) summit, where George Bush, Steven Harper, Felipe Calderon and several corporate executives met to discuss North American trade and security. As the protesters made their way down Rue Notre Dame toward the Chateau, they spoke to assembled journalists, claiming that their intention was to remind the country of what was happening at the SPP summit. They invited the journalists to come with them to the Chateau gates, and their invitation was non verbally accepted.
Yesterday’s pepper spray lingered in the air as today’s protesters listed among their objections to the SPP summit that it represented another imposition of U.S. and business interests on the Canadian people. They went on to accuse Steven Harper and George Bush of war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to highlight the allegedly anti-democratic nature of elected officials making nationally and internationally important decisions in secret.
Upon reaching the gates of the chateau, the protesters were stopped by a group of approximately 50 police officers. The protesters requested access to the Chateau in order to get close enough to voice their complaints within hearing distance of their elected officials, but were denied. When they asked why, they received no response. One protester, identifying himself as Alex Hundert of Toronto, compared the silence of the police to the silence of the riot police which yesterday, according to him, had started a riot. Mr. Hundert accused police yesterday of attacking without sufficient provocation and wounding peaceful protesters, and described a scene of police brutality being used to protect war criminals. He made reference to the historic trial at Nuremburg, in which it was determined that following orders does not exempt one from guilt in complicity with crimes against humanity, and posited that today’s and yesterday’s police, through their obedience, had bloodied their hands.
After taking several questions from the assembled media, such as “why aren’t there more of you” or “how can rock-throwing be considered non-violent,” protesters once again asked the police for admittance into the Chateau grounds. Receiving no response, they claimed that their right to enter was obvious and demanded of the assembled guards, “anyone who thinks we’re violent, raise your hand.” When none of them did, a protester declared it a consensus in their favor. When not one officer would answer a single question, Mr. Hundert declared it the end of democracy in Montebello, and the protesters thanked the media, and left.
When a police officer was asked to comment on the days events, he responded, “it’s not our place.”
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