Statement on Provocateurs, Informants, and the conflict in New Brunswick
Zig Zag, Warrior Publications, Oct 18, 2013
In the aftermath of the RCMP raid on the anti-fracking blockade in New Brunswick, in Mi’kmaq territory, there has emerged a conspiracy theory that the six police vehicles set on fire were the act of police informants acting as agents provocateurs.
In particular, one individual has been identified and publicly labelled a police informant: Harrison Friesen. It has been implied that he, along with one or two others, were responsible for several Molotov cocktails thrown at police lines and the torching of the police vehicles.
We saw similar theories promoted following the Toronto G20 protests in 2010, during which four cop cars were burned in the downtown streets. Conspiracy theorists immediately claimed that the police set their own cars on fire to justify their massive police operation and violent repression of protesters.
Not a single piece of evidence has ever emerged to justify these theories about the G20 protests, and they remain nothing more than speculation.
Harrison Friesen first came to prominence in 2010 as the leader of Red Power United (RPU). At that time, he released a public statement against the arson of a Royal Bank of Canada branch in Ottawa. I sent his group an email stating that I disagreed strongly with his denunciation of the attack.
Just prior to the Toronto G20, Harrison set up a meeting with agents of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), who had requested an interview with him (a common practise of CSIS). Unknown to CSIS, Harrison had also contacted reporters from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), who secretly filmed the meeting.
Aftermath of May 18, 2010 arson of RBC branch in Ottawa.
During the APTN broadcast, my email was flashed across the screen. The implication was that I was involved in the RBC attack. The email was supplied to APTN by Harrison.
A dirty trick, approaching the level of informant? Yes. But it does not prove that Harrison is one, only that he is an opportunist. Over the last three years, more people have come forward with allegations against Harrison, most of which implicate him as a movement hustler and abusive towards women.
In fact, despite these new allegations against him, including a widely circulating meme accusing him of being both a police and CIA informant (!), there is no evidence that Harrison is, in fact, an informant. It’s all speculation.
To back up the claim that police would participate in burning their own vehicles (again, to justify their repressive actions), conspiracy theorists have found an actual example of the RCMP blowing up an “oil installation.”
On October 15, 1999, the RCMP blew up an unused shed belonging to the oil corporation AEC, in northern Alberta. The bombing had no effect on oil production and was intended to bolster the credibility of an informant: Robert Wraight, aka Agent K4209.
Four RCMP vehicles burned in New Brunswick on Oct 17, 2013.
The bombing was part of Operation Kabriole, the RCMP’s effort to entrap Wiebo Ludwig. Wiebo and his family had been a thorn in the side of the oil industry due to their determined opposition. The police worked closely with oil corporations, including AEC, to neutralize the Ludwigs, who were suspected of carrying out a campaign of sabotage against the industry.
As part of the resistance against oil companies, roads had been blocked, pipelines drilled with holes, and facilities damaged. None of these scores of sabotage attacks were reported in the media, although they are documented in the book Saboteurs, written by Andrew Nikifouk and published in 2002. It should be noted that these low-level attacks actually impacted industry, while the RCMP’s bombing did not.
According to those re-posting this old bit of news, if the RCMP would blow up an “oil installation” in northern Alberta, what’s to stop them from torching their own vehicles in New Brunswick?
The question is: for what purpose? In the case of the Alberta bombing, it was part of an extensive effort to insert an informant into the Ludwig family circle. In New Brunswick, we are told, it was to justify the acts of repression carried out by the RCMP. But those acts of repression were already in motion, long before the police cars were set on fire.
In their own statements, the RCMP justify their raid on the basis of alleged threats made to SWN employees, the presence of firearms, and general concerns for public safety.
If police are going to go through the efforts of staging an attack on their own resources, it is only logical they would do this prior to a raid thereby justifying the raid itself. It is highly unlikely they would instruct an informant to do so after the raid has begun, a raid already justified by “public safety” concerns, etc.
In fact, the burning of the six police vehicles appears to be a response to the raid. But there are those who seek to dampen the fighting spirit of our warriors by implying that any act of militant resistance is a police conspiracy. Some of these people are pacifists, ideologically committed to nonviolent acts, while some are conspiracy theorists who see the hand of the “Illuminati” behind any acts of resistance.
Two police vehicles torched, Oct 17, 2013.
This is what one radical journalist, an eyewitness present during the conflict on Oct 17, stated about the burned cop cars and the theories of who burned them:
“To all the people spreading misinfo about provocateurs at Elsipogtog, listen up. RCMP cars were not burned by provocateurs. It was an expression of rage by an angry crowd sick of being trampled by the government. People put their cameras away as the cars were being lit, as to not incriminate comrades and cheered every time one went up in flames. Hundreds of people witnessed this, so drop all the propaganda and snitch jacketing and raise your glass to all the brave peeps who risked life and limb to protect your fuckin water.” – The Stimulator, Oct 18, 2013
When we consider the 1999 RCMP bombing of an unused shed in northern Alberta, we should not forget that there were scores of sabotage attacks carried out against the oil industry prior to this. Were these all the result of police conspiracies? Highly unlikely. It was due to their inability to stop these attacks that police resorted to the bombing in order to insert their informant.
In the past, it was common sense that you did not label a person a police informant without substantial evidence. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. Informants and police infiltrators have been exposed in the past based on real evidence, through court transcripts or intercepted communications with their handlers, for example.
At this point, Harrison is being made a scapegoat by those pacifists and conspiracy theorists who are either opposed to militant resistance on principle, or who see a government conspiracy behind any spectacular event.
So far, we have no evidence that Harrison Friesen is an informant or that any agents provocateurs set the cop cars on fire in New Brunswick. And until such evidence is produced, those circulating unsubstantiated claims should cease doing so.
See also:
“Countering Conspiracy Theories on Police Response to Black Bloc,” by Zig Zag
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/countering-conspiracy-theories-police-response-black-bloc/4094
Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War Against Big Oil, by Andrew Nikiforuk, Macfarlane Walter and Ross, Toronto 2002
Stimulator’s website: http://www.submedia.tv/stimulator/
Posted on October 18, 2013, in Oil & Gas and tagged agents provocateurs, anti-fracking New Brunswick, Elsipogtog First Nation, Indigenous resistance, informants, Mi’kmaq, native blockades, native resistance, New Brunswick shale gas protests, police informants, RCMP and Natives. Bookmark the permalink. 86 Comments.
Warrior Publications 
very educational, constructive and well informed, thanks. The internet gets messy at times.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lisa-currier/harrison-friesen-red-coward-indicted/488675951152566?refid=52&ref=m_notif¬if_t=share_reply
What a bunch of CRAP
Would you care to elaborate?
maybe all the propaganda is from the Government and r.c.m.p. where’s your prof to back up what you say or police…
Say again? I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make…
Mikmaq Mama @MikmaqMama 5h
Photo proof people did NOT set RCMP cars on fire, but rather an informant #Elsipogtog #mikmaqblockade https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568992286501453&set=a.449560758444607.104072.391394594261224&type=1 …
This is not proof that an informant set the cars on fire. It is simply a masked person, alleged to be Harrison, posing in front of a row of burning cop cars.
” It was due to their inability to stop these attacks that police resorted to the bombing in order to insert their informant.” Could you elborate pls?
It was my understanding (from reading Nikiforuk’s book) that the oil well shed bombing was to serve a dual purpose of lending credibility to their police infiltrator/informant and perhaps more importantly to create fear and generate support for more aggressive court and police actions against Ludwig. And escalate it did…
In this case, the police were at the road blockade to enforce a court injunction in favour of the fracking company, *not* conducting a raid because of threats to SWN employees or a concern about public safety.
The police were ordered to enforce the injunction but the time when to enforce this was their decision to make. To justify their actions, the RCMP have cited public safety concerns, including the alleged threats to SWN employees. So yes, the RCMP were enforcing the injunction, but their decision to act on Oct 17 was based on “public safety.”
Your assertion that the RCMP bombing had two purposes, the more important of which was to spread fear, is your own interpretation. The primary purpose of the bombing was to bolster the credibility of the informant, there was already a high level of fear and anxiety in the region and the RCMP felt that they needed an infiltrator within the group.
Matt
He means the police blew up the unused shed to build credibility of the informant they were attempting to infiltrate into the Ludwigs.
Thanks for this. I’ve been ‘gently lecturing’ friends on facebook to not spread memes like this without hardcore evidence to back it up. I appreciate your level-headed response to the issue. Kudos.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lisa-currier/harrison-friesen-red-coward-indicted/488675951152566?refid=52&ref=m_notif¬if_t=share_reply
If this is Lisa who posted the above fb note, I’m sorry that happened to you. (I can relate, as a survivor of DV myself, on a few fronts.) I wholly support you in exercising your need to expose HF for his abusive/misogynistic bullshit, but (sorry), will all due respect, this isn’t what the post is about. There’s a big difference between being an assaholic abuser and an RCMP/CIA informant – if he is neither of the latter, but you support anyone accusing him of it, it undermines people believing your own experience with him. I think we activists need to be really diligent in taking the higher ground in situations like this (unlike dirty games played by our detractors). Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you got out, and I hope you’re finding peace & healing!
Are you speaking for the Mi’qmak Warrior Society? When I clicked a link to this article that was my impression. Just letting you know, I think its a great article but it could be seen as speaking for the Mi’qmak Warrior Society which could be problematic for them.
No, I am not speaking for the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society, and this should be clear from the article. There is no mention of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society or implications that this statement comes from such a group. It might be more helpful if they did issue a statement.
I doubt they would because the evidence would eventually prove otherwise — this is why none of the stories presented so far really prove any of this with substantiation. PROVE IT!
Maybe Ben is an informant too….trying to stir up shit with no credible or intelligent comment…..sounds like a pig to me….
He’s exposing someone we here in Manitoba have already had to deal with https://www.facebook.com/notes/lisa-currier/harrison-friesen-red-coward-indicted/488675951152566?refid=52&ref=m_notif¬if_t=share_reply
Hope u choose to ACT instead of wait for permission when something NEEDS to be done
Thank you for posting this! I can’t believe the amount of people that would follow and believe anything!
Our people need to work together…
Keep those moccasins moving 🙂
gonna take the society a few days or weeks, even months to say anything assuming they are in jail right now. good article well spoken.
In the early 1970’s here in south dakota the KKK and the FBI with their shared intelligence would somehow call your unlisted phone number and make personal threats to intimidate you or if your doing something peaceful and meaningful they would secretly provide you with a undisclosed trouble maker to make a positive look negative. I am really impressed with your publication. Unfortunately, today they use natives to carry out all the dirty work.
Yes Friesen has been outted
Several times in fact:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lisa-currier/harrison-friesen-red-coward-indicted/488675951152566?refid=52&ref=m_notif¬if_t=share_reply
Outed as abusive to women and a hustler, yes, but there is no proof that he’s an informant, merely speculation.
Snitch jacketing it serious and has resulted in many innocent people’s deaths, not to mention that it plunges movements into paranoid cycles that can only support their foes. Thanks for this piece.
how about some evidence that he threw all of the molitov’s (which should be easy to prove with all the video taken that day), evidence that it was he who brought the pipe bombs (not even mentioned here), and proof that he is associated with the police (he did chat with CSIS but APTN was present with him for that, lol). Where is the evidence you left wing BS artists and spinsters?
Then what do you think of this: https://www.facebook.com/notes/lisa-currier/harrison-friesen-red-coward-indicted/488675951152566
As noted in the article, Harrison has been accused of being abusive to women and a movement hustler. This doesn’t prove he’s a police informant or that he set all six cop cars on fire in New Brunswick.
Read the whole statement people are linking to. It’s not “just” abuse of women (which is serious enough and is used as a tactic to rip apart activist communities), witnesses saw him in the catch-and-release program with the police: he would be pulled over but then let go despite having active warrants. This is a big, huge red flag.
Look at the case of Brandon Darby, FBI informant and the abuse of women in the communities he infiltrated. For quite a while now one of the tactics has been to set known abusers, bullies, batterers and even rapists loose on activist populations as agent provocateurs.
Know the signs and decide for yourself. As they say, “It’s not bad jacketing if it’s true.”
http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2013/07/06/is-she-an-informant-a-ten-point-checklist/
The statement by Lisa Currier does not refer to Harrison being involved in a “catch and release program with the police,” it actually states: “I am reminded each time I remember getting stopped at a wrong turn at the border with his long history of warrants in other Provinces coming to light (and to this day, I wonder why they didn’t want him on his warrants, but instead continuously let him go.” Just because a person has a warrant in one province doesn’t mean they are automatically arrested, only if there’s a nation wide warrant for them.
The case of Brandon Darby differs in that it was proven he was an informant and he himself acknowledges his work as an informant. Yes, Harrison’s activities resemble those of Darby (and other informants), but being a dick head doesn’t make you an informant. I don’t know who says “It’s not bad jacketing if it’s true,” because the term itself implies that the label is incorrectly applied. It was actually one of the techniques used by the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Program (Cointelpro) to make genuine resistance fighters as being informants in order to divide movements and instill paranoia (kind of like the work many conspiracy theorists are presently engaged in).
FIVE HUNDRED NATIONS, FIVEHUNDRED YEARS, WE SHALL REMAIN, IDLE NO MORE
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDbJlWnW-VA
I just find it somewhat odd that you failed to mention this evidence.
The Montebello incident is discussed in the article on countering conspiracy theories and the black bloc, in the link below the article. The difference, I’m sure you will agree, is that this incident has been substantiated by the Quebec police admitting they had sent undercover cops into the rally. It’s proven, not just mere speculation. In regards to New Brunswick, there is no evidence that Harrison is an informant or that he set the cars on fire.
The above link details an incident occurring in Montebello, Quebec a few years ago where undercover police were called out in the rally as police. Police later admitted to these men who clearly in the video are attempting to incite violence or a riot.
Or this here where police infiltrated activist groups previous to the G20 and according to one witness:
“[The officer]was saying ‘we need to take monkey wrenches and [damage construction]machinery,’” he said. “The occupation had a lot of support and he was talking about wrecking machinery, which tactically makes no sense.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/how-police-infiltrated-groups-planning-g20-protests/article4170473/
I fail to see what point you’re trying to make? Yes, police infiltrate all types of groups. In the example you quote, I believe, it refers to an occupation in Guelph, Ontario, during which a police infiltrator attempted to act as an “ultra-militant” and encouraged militant actions which were far beyond what the protesters were doing. They were suspicious of him and he was forced out. What does this have to do with the case in New Brunswick?
Everyone should read: STRATEGIC INTERACTION, by Irving Goffman, 1970. It covers everything discussed above as well as planted evidence. Planted evidence is a tough one to handle. I’d bet that the police will sooner than later plant evidence on Mr. Harrison Frieson “proving” that he’s a rat.
Known RCMP informant ‘agent provocateur’ Harrison Friesen photographed & unmasked as at scene of crime torching the cars. Eyes don’t lie!
Simply saying Harrison is a “known RCMP informant agent provocateur” and that he was photographed at the scene doesn’t make him one. Where’s the proof that he is 1) an informant, or 2) that he burned all six RCMP vehicles?
Yup, Harrison Friesen is a saint. Don’t be fooled.
FACT: He was allegedly 1 of 3 seen torching the cars. He is the guy in mask photographed moments after cars burning.
FACT: He’s done this kinda shit before. Do the math. Research the guy’s background and see for yourself. If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it’s more than likely – in this case -a #falseflag pawn has been utilized by so-called authorities to fuel then fan the flames and stage a photo-op to falsely justify state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protesters (mostly elders, women and youth). Look for tell-tale clues later when it’s determined whether or not those 5 cars were cleared of valuable equipment before being torched. Peace ~A5
I am not saying Harrison is a saint, in fact I describe him as a fool and a movement hustler and acknowledge the numerous statements attesting to his abusive treatment of women. You state as a fact that he is “allegedly” seen torching the cars, which is a contradiction. It’s either a fact or it’s alleged, it can’t be both. The fact that he is (alleged) to be the person with the mask posing in front of burning cop cars doesn’t mean he torched them. Asserting that someone is an informant requires more than “doing the math,” it requires actual proof, not speculation and theories.
If you were to be redible, maybe leave your name instead of “Zig Zag”… Kinda hard to believe someone telling others to believe in the words when one cannot stand behind their own name when they speak such words of compliance.
What does it matter what name I attach to the article? I use a pen name, many people do. However, if you are so determined that I be identified: my name is Gord Hill, Kwakwaka’wakw nation, author of the books The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book, both published by Arsenal Pulp Press. My “code-name” is an old one and the police/intelligence agencies have long ago uncovered my “true identity,” so it is no longer a valid code name. Warriors and rebels throughout history have used code-names and pseudonyms to conceal their identities as a basic security measure. Perhaps if you knew anything about the history of such movements you would understand why this is done. “Words of compliance”? I don’t get what you’re trying to say with that statement…
Sorry, I misunderstood the tone of this article. I agree that such information should be validated before being circulated as the truth. Thanks for including your real name. I find this easier to take in when its not just an anonymous name out there on the internet.
(y) 🙂
Keep up the good work, critical thinking and analysis will be far more effective than reactionary measures based up speculation and emotions.
Reblogged this on .
Harrison was 1 of 3 who supposedly did this. One went by the handle of
Eagle Claw and the other unnamed.
All three showed up a few hours before the raid and witnesses claim they ran
behind police lines.
Also look at the camo cops. One is wearing a cap with US Delta Force Insignia
Why?
One witness, Miles Howe, claims that Harrison and “Eagle Claw” ran towards the police lines in an effort to flee the area. Miles was arrested shortly after and was not present when the cop cars were torched. As I stated in response to your previous post, the personnel in Multicam fatigues are members of the RCMP Emergency Response Teams and they are wearing RCMP logos velcroed on their arms. The US Army Delta Force does not wear insignia on their combat uniforms and it is highly improbable that members of the most elite, secretive “counter-terrorist” unit of the US military would be involved in a raid on a blockade site in Canada.
Embedded reporter’ story:
http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/rcmp-bring-60-drawn-guns-dogs-assault-rifles-serve/19358
Delta Force
http://presscore.ca/2012/rcmp-supported-by-armed-u-s-infiltrators-attack-first-nations-canadians-to-cover-up-enviroment-canada-raid-of-irving-oil-canaport.html
This is a good example of how conspiracy theories spread, and of how inaccurate they can be. The link you provide for “Delta Force” claims that the “snipers” wearing camouflage fatigues are US soldiers, when in fact they are members of the RCMP Emergency Response Teams (ERT) wearing Multicam fatigues.
Your assertion that the police burning cars at the G20 in Toronto is a conspiracy theory is completely false.
I lived above a store at the time and filmed several police officers park 2 cars on the street outside while firetrucks and other officers blocked both ends of the block. The officers threw trash from street bins into the cars, set them on fire and once the flames were good and high, they let a city tv news van through the blockade and film the burning cars.
I uploaded the video to youtube where it had about 16000 views before police bursted into my place and I ended up at the old toronto film studios in a cell for nearly 30 hours before I was let out. When I got home there was a police seal an eviction notice on my door and locks had been changed.
There you have it, a genuine eyewitness account of your socalled ‘conspiracy theory’ assertion. But since this blog appears to only support the police, I suppose this will be called a lie since it doesn’t jive with your own theory, if it doesn’t get deleted.
Well this is a new twist on the Toronto G20 conspiracy theories. I was present in Toronto and saw all four cop cars set on fire. You’re lying. There were crowds of people present and the police in every incident fled and abandoned their cars, which were subsequently set on fire by masked militants as well as youth caught up in the excitement. Some of these youths, who had no masks on, were later identified, arrested, charged, and convicted of arson.
If the torching of the cars was done by protestors, then they have lost a lot of the support they did have. How does that further the cause?, it only creates more enemies and ‘legitimizes’ escalating police brutality and state oppression, on behalf of corporations, in the eyes of the ignorant masses, as societies have been conditioned for thousands of years to respect authority, from Ur all the way to Washington. Most often the state co-opts religious beliefs and place themselves as either a mouthpiece for the ‘gods’ or as following the doctrines set out in the texts, often by rewriting them or twisting the words. That’s already a monumental task to over come, delegitimizing a movement that initially had some good public support makes the task of winning minds through reasoned dialogue, persuasion and facts that much more difficult. Violence begets violence and normally just replaces one form of tyranny with another. If the cars hadn’t have been torched, the RCMP and the Provincial Government would have looked like complete douches, and the task of stopping the fracking that much more easy. Your logic is broken on this front, I get that it may be the case they got upset and torched the cars, but it was the wrong move, by far.
It’s always assumed that “the people” are against militant actions. During Oka 1990, thousands of Natives and non-Natives across the country rallied in support of the warriors, occupied buildings, blockaded highways and trains, sabotaged electrical pylons, etc. This was in support of an armed resistance in which a police officer was shot and killed. So please, stop with your revision of history.
The RCMP didn’t need the torched police cars to justify their raid, they are in fact using the presence of hunting rifles and pipe bombs allegedly found on site, as well as threats allegedly made against SWN employees.
Reblogged this on Lingit Latseen and commented:
Don’t believe the hype without proof. Great analysis from Zig Zag here.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=agent+provocateurs+used+at+g20+summit+in+toronto&oq=agent+pr&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j69i59l2j69i61.4320j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
You are merely reposting old conspiracy theories relating to the Toronto G20, none of which have been proven despite all the internet trolling and video analysis carried out by conspiracy theorists. What’s your point?
blaa blaa blaa focus! on the real! sad how so many ppl are blind to how this government and its ”ARMY”! ARE REALLY ABOUT!!!! MONEY ,CONTROL,POWER, AND KEEPING ITS PPL IN THE DARK!!!! POWERS DAT B N UR PUPPETS UR TIME IS COMING!!!!
Hi Zig Zag, Can you tell me what you think of this article? It seems to be a first-hand account of someone at the protest which claims that Harrieson and one other person showed up the night before the raid, and fled immediately after the molotovs were thrown from the woods. He also discusses how it is strange that the police should attack the warriors, when they were no longer blocking the site, and due in court that very day. I would appreciate your opinion, as I have posted it on facebook and i don’t want to spread disinformation. however it seems to be a first-hand account so at least it is not pretending to be objective… http://www.globalresearch.ca/serving-acorporate-agenda-canadas-rcmp-brutalize-indigenous-people-for-opposing-fracking-on-their-land/5354782
i am personally not opposed to property destruction and even some violence against oppressive actions by police and state, but do believe a healthy scepticism of the mainstream portrayal of any events involving protests, violence, and indigenous people is wise…
respectfully,
m
Global Research is a prime conspiracy theory site, however the article you link to is by Miles Howe, a journalist with the Halifax Media Coop. Miles’ account mentions Harrison and one other individual (“Eagle Claw”) whom he implies are agent provocateurs but does not state this outright. He sais Molotovs were thrown and the two individuals fled the scene. Miles was arrested shortly after this and was not present when the six cop cars were torched. The assumption many are making is that Harrison is an informant therefore he set the cars on fire, yet there is no evidence of this.
Good to know! I thought it sounded like a pretty true account (at least from one persons perspective) and as you say, he does not come out and claim anything that he doesn’t know to be true (for example that Harrison or “Eagle Claw” threw the molotovs, he only says how they were acting suspiciously). I shall avoid Global Research in future. I understand many people are jumping to conclusions, and i have tried not to be one of them. I have a great distrust of this whole official narrative, but making unsubstantiated claims about someone without proof is still wrong, native or RCMP. I do find it hard to believe that in a chaotic situation such as this, that consensus was reached and every single person put away their cameras, both regular and cellphone, that absolutely no media got pictures of the torching. However security culture states that bringing cellphones to blockades is unwise, so there is a chance no one had them, but there must have been regular cameras, as there are plenty of other pictures which have surfaced. There is also a possibility that it was agreed before hand that should any sort of activity such as car-torching appear, that no one would film it. And maybe everyone is just withholding the pictures, possibly even the RCMP seized them all. Alas its all speculation, but thanks for the sober reminder not to jump to conclusions…
This whole episode is ‘fishy’ and inconclusive. From within the article:
QUOTE RCMP cars were not burned by provocateurs. It was an expression of rage by an angry crowd sick of being trampled by the government. People put their cameras away as the cars were being lit, as to not incriminate comrades and cheered every time one went up in flames. Hundreds of people witnessed this …The Stimulator, Oct 18, 2013 UNQUOTE
The allegation above is that regular MicMaqs did this, not paid insurgents, which can be refuted.
There were 100s of possible cameras or cellphone cameras on scene that day, as also attested above. I remain totally unconvinced that all of them were turned off, factoring in adrenalin-driven human ‘Drama’. I do believe that proof is out there somewhere of who really did this– and it could well be that angry people were inflamed and spurred to act out or else stand by in shock and horror as this all unfolded.
Ryan, Commentator Oct. 19 at 7:29 AM asks:
QUOTE how about some evidence that he [suspected Informant Harrison Frieson] threw all of the molitov’s (which should be easy to prove with all the video taken that day), evidence that it was he who brought the pipe bombs (not even mentioned here), and proof that he is associated with the police UNQUOTE
In response, I say: Ryan, Videos and still shots may prove whether or not Frieson is the one supplying and distributing and/or using incendiary devices and inciting others to violence. I agree that evidence is scrambled here. Other commentators observed that valuable equipment was removed from the vehicles first, and evidence points to pre-staged arson to the interior of the vehicles as well as the exterior attacks.
Proof that Friesen is associated with RCMP as a paid Informant is hard to verify without a subpoena for Court evidence that he was on the payroll at the time associated to a specific task force– but I believe Informant Payroll information is Classified. From weighing all I’ve heard so far, like you I remain strongly unconvinced that Friesen was an innocent bystander. I would love to see this go to Court but I doubt it ever will.
Can you trust your government? Yeah, ask an Indian…
Don’t you find it strange that the cops are not offering up any inkling of looking for the people responsible for torching their vehicles and their cop shop?
They are not even looking for anyone
Are you inside RCMP headquarters in Ottawa or their divisional HQ in New Brunswick? Probably not. We can be sure the RCMP would like very much to identify those responsible for torching their cars. Such investigations, as can be seen from recent events such as the 2011 Canucks Riot and the Toronto G20 protests, can take a long time as police gather all the evidence they can to make an arrest. We should not assist them in this…
BTW That photo you published shows Harrison with his face covered during a protest, which is now illegal in Canada.
He should be up on charges for this. Where did he go and why is he getting a free pass?
Frankie, it is not illegal to wear a mask in Canada. It is only “illegal” when police have declared a gathering/protest etc as an “unlawful assembly” or a riot. Calling for his arrest is the act of a snitch.
Calling for him to be allowed to run loose in activist circles when he has warrants for abuse of women is the act of a misogynist.
Not sure who’s calling for him to be “allowed to run loose in activist circles.” Men who abuse women and hustle the movement should not be allowed to participate in our circles, I agree, but this is a different matter than labeling someone a police or CIA(!) informant without any actual proof.
Reblogged this on Third World Council – Native America.
In NB we are witnessing a very heavy hand meant to deliver a crushing blow and message to anyone who will stand against oil and gas all the way to the west coast. Essential was to provide the classic burning police cars, thus violence from the indian and a deserved response, ie, the police are good and looking after Canadian interests. This site, under the guise of bravado, serves to justify the police response. The “Global Research” has a great alternate view of what happened, dismissed by Zig Zag as “Conspiracy theory” as is anything outside of the ‘official’ story of the police, why does he seem to know and everyone else is wrong. The use of “Agent Provocateur” to incite violence and allow the police to get heavy, is a well established practice whenever people stand against governments or corporations.
There are eyewitness accounts from the ground, including the statement by Stimulator as well as the SubMedia video (Showdown at Highway 134), that verify what the article states. Rather than being the “rogue act” of an alleged informant, the burning of the cop cars was a righteous response to the violence of the RCMP. Those opposed to such militant resistance are grasping at straws in their efforts to undermine it. Global Research, which is a conspiracy theory site, attempted this same type of disinformation in regards to the Toronto G20 summit. Yes, there are cases where the police use agent provocateurs–these have been proven. You are engaging in nothing more than speculation and conspiracy mongering when you assert that it is carried out “whenever people stand against governments or corporations.” Was it ‘agent provocateurs” who started the 1990 Oka Crisis? What about Ipperwash or Ts’Peten in 1995? Six Nations in 2006?
The part where the author says “there is nothing at all to back up the conspiracy theories about police provocateurs in G20” is straight up not true, and provocateurs are a known tactic. Rise Up Radio in Edmonton (on CJSR) recently did a long interview with a woman from Elsipogtog who is a member of the Warrior Society. There were, according to her, three lines of police blocking the protesters from approaching where the police cars were set on fire. Was she lying, or part of the “Illuminati” or anything else you’d smear with? She reported the truth, that the pigs most likely set their own vehicles on fire, not to “justify a raid that’s already in progress”, but to GIVE THE MEDIA something to smear the protesters with. Have you read the propaganda in the Sun lately by the likes of Ezra Levant? Lots of impressionable people read that crap and without some burning pig mobiles, it wouldn’t have been half as sensational. The powers that be are scared of the resistance and want PRETEXT (again, not to justify those actions that day) to go in with more force later. The “weapons” that were found were “Hidden!” so that proves they were up to no good? What kind of hunter (they were four hunting rifles, on traditional land) would leave it out in the open! The pigs raided that camp before anything else started, before they found the hunting rifles, waking people up with guns in the face. And for everyone thinking its a good idea to burn pig mobiles at a PROTEST, get fucked. If you want to attack the pigs, great, but do so in an ambush way. Same with smashing bank windows during a PROTEST… just gives them PRETEXT. Go back later that night. Don’t be a heatbag and give any pretext for violence!
Thanks for the comment. I have no idea about the radio program you mention. But in video footage you can clearly see the line of cops retreating and subsequently abandoning their vehicles as a large crowd surges forward and through their line. The RCMP have been very clear about the pretext for the raid, and it wasn’t the potential for their cars being set on fire. Yes, you are correct that the RCMP raided the camp before anything else started. But the purpose of the raid was to end the blockade and remove the SWN vehicles. The police and the state will use any act of resistance as a “pretext” so your suggestion is to engage in purely clandestine small group actions, even when this might mean abandoning a blockade site to preserve your “public image.” It’s not a PR campaign, and I think Oka 1990 (among other examples) clearly shows that our people will support not only militant actions but armed resistance as well. If the warriors at Oka had abandoned their positions when the cops arrived we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. While they didn’t burn the abandoned police cars, they did destroy them and use them as barricades.
Pingback: Statement on Provocateurs, Informants, and the conflict in New Brunswick | Redwood Forest
Pingback: A Fog Of War Surrounding New Brunswick Protest
Pingback: The Pleasure Saucer Show #12, with (Returning) Kevin Harrington | Johnny Lemuria
Pingback: First-Timer: I Co-Hosted a Video Podcast
Pingback: Parce que la liberté et de l’eau potable ça n’a pas de prix! | Antidéveloppement
Pingback: Au sujet des informateurs, des agents provocateurs et du conflit au Nouveau-Brunswick » SABOTAGEMEDIA
Pingback: Resources on Elsipogtog » Delusions of Development
Pingback: The Red Power Warrior, The Burning Cop Cars and The Conspiracy | Red Power Media
Pingback: The Red Power Conspiracy Theory and The Burning RCMP Cars | RED POWER MEDIA