Two stooges and one unfortunate cop…
Wednesday was Barrick Gold‘s annual general meeting and, like previous years, Sakura Saunders and her merry band of anarchists came to protest. Barrick’s been having a hard time of things lately, between drops in the price of gold and some challenged project schedules their stock hasn’t been satisfying investors. So, it was sure to be a stressful day for Barrick’s executives.
Had only they known the comedic relief waiting outside they’d have had a great opportunity to unwind- there’s always a good laugh to be had when the Activistocrats put on a show. Besides the signs, the giant puppet of Peter Munk (with an uncomfortably large nose), the marching percussion band, and the presence of a prominent religious leader, the protesters were blessed with one of the most comedic of the obedience cult’s characters- Dee Shanger (a.k.a Captain Yarr) a growingly notorious cop baiter who think’s he’s a pirate.
Welcome to the world of the Canadian Socialist Obedience Cult…
Protest Barrick is an organization that’s (officially) co-led by Sakura Saunders, an American anarchist and professional agitator with a history of working with billionaire funded NGO’s and a current working relationship with the Mennonite church funded (and anarchist) Christian Peacemaker Teams – they’re the ones who sent Canadians to Iraq as human shields for Saddam. The CPT have a curious history with connections to most every major incident of anarchist violence since the early 90’s.
Saunders arrived with her anarchist husband, a rapper who (sorta) sings songs about the joy of going all “smashy smashy”- kind of like Vanilla Ice songs, but promoting violence towards windows & street furniture with a bit more of a suburban flair (Mississauga with a taste of Kensington Market). Curiously they were driving a late model Volkswagen with Oregon license plates on it. Interesting.
It was pretty much the same crowd, as always, but there were many less people this year. At last year’s event Saunders had the luxury of support of the remaining members of Occupy, today it’s all but dead. There were many familiar Occupy faces though including Dave Vasey, Trey Winney, and Katie Berger. The big star of the day was Alex Hundert, a G20 ringleader who has recently been released from solitary confinement after serving his part leading the orchestrating crimes back in 2010.
Christian Peacemaker Dave Vasey, yawning in disappointment how lame things were…
The Barrick protesters began their rally standing across the street from the Toronto convention centre, 45-60 people gathered drumming and yelling things out into their public address system. It was rather uneventful, and I was tempted to leave early, but UndercoverKity encouraged me it was worth the wait as Saunders follows the same pattern in her protests- there’s the inevitable charge against police lines to satisfy the urges of the cop haters (which is most of them).
When protesters crossed the street to the front of the convention centre they were told that all of the sidewalk except for the outer 18 inches was private property and that they were not allowed to cross that line. It was a curious statement that got my BS meter ticking. Thursday, after a trip to the land registry office, I confirmed that the police were absolutely right in what they were saying.
Baptist minister Lee Ann McKenna quixotically yelling at the cops over her right to occupy private property…
Here’s where Captain Yarr stepped in, Dee Shanger followed his normal pattern of bouncing up against the police with his notebook, yelling out his trademark phrase “I’m media” while live streaming video over the Internet entertaining those who like a good cop baiting but were unable (or too scared) to do it themselves. The last time we saw Captain Yarr do this was at the racist anti-police march NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo headlined at a couple of months ago.
Yarr crossed the 18 inch demarcation and was quickly directed by a cop to move back behind the line. Like clockwork, Captain Yarr yelled out “I’m media” and then screamed out that he was being “assaulted”. Meanwhile you could see on the cop’s face that he was trying his damnedest not to burst out laughing- at one point the cop says to Yarr “you can be media, that’s fine sir”.
Dave Vasey & Alex Hundert harassing the cops…
Next Yarr points at me and says to the cop “why can that undercover be back there”! The cop breaks out a big smile and responded saying “you just said it sir!”. Sadly for Yarr he didn’t realize the officer was bring sarcastic. Dee Shanger isn’t the brightest bulb on the anarchist string (and that’s quite an accomplishment).
The protest ended without any major incidents, it was raining and the crowd quickly faded away. But then, on Thursday morning, Jeremy Oliver of Civilian Media put out the most curious tweets:
The tweets linked to a video recorded by Captain Yarr, and posted on Oliver’s Civilian Media YouTube account. He’s removed the video now- here’s a screenshot from the posting:
The problem is that there was never any assault. As you can see in the video at the bottom of this article, the cop was incredibly polite, professional, and he did an excellent job at not breaking out into laughter at the crap coming out of Yarr’s mouth. His work was a near perfect example of how to deal with anarchist agitators (could have done better not turning the camera though). But in the strange world of Dee Shanger, and now Jeremy Oliver, the cop was violently assaulting. Crazy.
It’s this sort of idiotic behaviour that’s turning the environmental movement into an unhealthy self-parody. Making false claims of police violence is the height of irresponsibility. What happens the next time there’s a real incident of police violence? Well, it’s likely people will take it less seriously each time someone cries wolf. Eventually someone is going to get hurt because of this- classy.
People who view themselves as environmentalists and/or activists should be most disturbed by what happened here. Each time these fools use environmental rallies as an excuse to battle with the police they’re cheapening the effectiveness of real activists and valuable causes. Isn’t it time to say enough is enough?
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Meow. OK, so, having been at this same event , and further , after viewing both videos, I am STILL waiting to see where this assault took place . What i DID see was the officer escorting Sahngar to the side of the curb where , the rest of us were also required to be . I don’t see what part of ” please step to the side’ is problematic here. It is also very important to note that there is a huge misconception about what exactly public property really is. Public property actually is crown land, own by any level of government and the public has ACCESS to it, not ownership of it. City hall is a great example of this, While it is city owned, the public has access to it , with the police having the power to remove those who are in violation of bylaws or other laws. This applies to ANY piece of crown land. As for him being media, he is only considered media if he has actually , recognized and verified media accreditation by A RECOGNIZED MEDIA OUTLET. I understand that live streaming may be the new form of media that may well be the next wave, but for now, since he does not work for any recognized media outlet, he is not accredited and therefore, is obligated to follow the exact same rules as any person, including following the directions of the police when required to do so, such as clearing an area or remaining in a certain place when and if covering an event.
I have covered a great many events of the many years. I have recognition and am known by most media outlets as another person who is there to cover an event. I have to follow the exact same rules as everyone else, regardless of whom I am or claim to be . Simple respect and courtesy goes a great deal farther than being arrogant and disrespectful. My many years of covering events, event though I am not accredited , but am respectful and follow direction, has, from time to time, afforded me considerations that are not afforded to many.
These guys who are there to cop bait are giving responsible and respectful media a bad name.
Maybe he thinks “Media” are above the law. That they have a sort of diplomatic immunity.
Author
Yeah, he’s not so bright that Captain Yarr… (And why does every city have an idiot who thinks he’s a pirate?)
What kind of pirate would he make anyway? A crybaby like that. A cop gently put a hand in his back to guide him off private property and he starts crying “Assault! Assault!” like a school child. And the whole “The cops touched his camera” thing is more school child crap. Thankfully for him he lives in a country like Canada.
Author
Indeed. I know from living in Russia that if Yarr was doing this crap there he would have probably gone home with a broken nose, or perhaps not gone home for a very long time.
If you want to know what sort of pirate this guy is, this episode of the Big Babies should help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woct2XRUzvo
Oh yeah. When I lived in Mexico a friend lipped off to a cop at a spot check for drunk drivers. Ended up with a broken nose and some broken ribs from the but of the cops assault rifle.
I think he, and others who cry about phony police brutality in Canada, are just suffering from white liberal guilt.
Author
I forgot to mention that I was talking with one of the cops there that day about the police violence I saw in Russia and he responded saying he got roughed-up by Mexican police. lol
At long last, we finally know where to come to find out if LiveStream has become Recognized, Actually “Real”, and Legitimately Deserving of Legitimizing Accreditation. As to why, oh, say, Lisa LaFlamme’s cameraman isn’t always afforded the same freedoms as “Undercover” kitty, must remain a puzzle…
The medium has nothing to do with who qualifies as media. I don’t believe anybody in either the alternative or main stream corporate media would ever consider somebody who is there to create the story being somebody also able to cover the story.
HectoMcGrego , I don’t claim to be media , nor am I there to create a problem . it may behoove you to know that I am obligated to follow the exact same set of rules and laws as everyone else. If I am asked to move back to to keep clear of a specific area, i don’t have any issues with complying. I have been shooting ( photographing ) in this city for more than 20 years now. I have earned a certain amount of respect from those who enforce laws because they know I am there to capture the event, not create a new one.
Sorry for the second post, forgot to add this and I could not find the edit function……. In the more than 20 years that i have been shooting in this city, as a NON-media accredited photographer, i have shot prime ministers , royalty , heads of state and high profile events from spaces that many media didn’t get to shoot from. I also know what the boundries ( both physical and personal space ) are for shooting subjects and events and those I don’t cross. I think that when one goes to cover an event in whatever capacity that may be, there is an understanding between them and those who are to ensure the safety of everyone else, that all will follow the same set of rules. The good ones do follow them, the ones that don’t, well, they get noticed and sooner or later, they are asked to leave to are relegated to the worst positions available.