APEC Enquiry II, anyone? [updated]

Judge Hughes, we may be needing you again.

The following is a news and progressive blog round-up of the growing Montebello "agents provocateurs" scandal. Were police caught, er, flat-footed?

Red Tory
Art Threat
Exile Infoshop
Brian's Thoughts
Exposé Skateboard Magazine
Pacific Tribune
Canadian Cynic
HawkEyeNews
LiveJournal
Goudaille
Cent Papiers (boot shot)
CUPE (boot shot)
O'Neil Brooke
Cathy from Canada
Stageleft
Bene Diction
Gazetteer
Gazetteer
Rusty Idols
Larry Hubich
Galloping Beaver
Climate and Capitalism
Big City Lib
Welcome to 1984
blogx
Your Dirty Answer
Impolitical
A Canadian Lefty in Occupied Land
This Canadian
Unrepentant Old Hippie
Vanity Press
Getting It Right
Dodosville
Far and Wide
The Last Minute Blog (good hi-res pic of one of the "protesters")
Les Enragés.org
Voice of Grant
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
Matthew Good
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Paulitics (interesting boot analysis)
Audette-o-Blog
This Can't Be Right
Kate Hermelin (good flikr photos, with commentary)
YaYaCanada (comprehensive photo essay of the Montebello events)
Torontoist
Daily Kos
AOL Newsbloggers
CTV
Ottawa Sun
Harper Index
Ottawa Indymedia
National Post (if you can believe it)
Yoni Goldstein, National Post
Toronto Star
CBC
CBC As It Happens (interview with David Coles)
Maclean's (columnist Kady O'Malley calls for an enquiry)

If you freeze the YouTube video at 2:22, you will see a side face shot of one of the provocateurs, momentarily unmasked. That picture should be given wide circulation (I don't have screen capture software--anyone?). As has been noted, had the three masked fellows been arrested, there would be no story. Instead, they were not, even though these "dangerous anarchists" edged right up to, and penetrated, police lines--and the RCMP and Sûreté du Québec have suddenly become coy:

Neither the RCMP nor the Surete du Quebec would comment on the video or even discuss generally whether they ever use the tactic of employing agents provocateurs. "I cannot answer your question because I don't have the information,'' said Const. Kane Kramer, a spokesman for the RCMP at the summit.

Sometimes silence does indeed speak volumes.

UPDATE: (August 22) Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (and hero of the moment on the infamous YouTube clip), will be holding a press conference today at 1:00 at the Chateau Laurier, to unveil proof that the three "anarchists" were members of the Sûreté du Québec. Stay tuned.

UPPERDATE: (August 22) My old buddy and sparring partner, former police officer Doug Kirkland, weighs in.

UPPERDATE: (August 22) CTV's David Akin, who attended the CEP press conference about the agents provocateurs, reports. The money quote: "They won't be winning any Oscars for their performance" --senior Sûreté du Québec officer. Meanwhile, Caroline Fram, a commenter over at the Globe & Mail, has my vote for best quote of the day: "I'm sure the RCMP will get to the bottom of this. In fact, I'm sure they've been there all along."

UPPERDATE: (August 22) Who were those masked men? A hat-tip to Dana for this:










and also for this, a second "protester" who shoved David Coles at one point:









And a higher-resolution shot thanks to CUPE:














And here's another high-resolution shot, h/t Last Minute Blog, photo by Kate Hermelin, apparently of the same fellow:

And another h/t to Michael Cowley-Owen, StraightGoods.ca webmaster, for this clear shot of the first man (more pics and coverage in StraightGoods here):








Perhaps a little wide-circulation, people, to help identify these guys?

UPPERDATE: (August 22) A former police officer makes some interesting comments over at Dust My Broom about the provocateurs' body language on the YouTube video.

UPPERDATE: (August 23) Stageleft has the last word on the boots angle.

UPPERDATE: (August 23) The Sûreté du Québec confesses. H/t Stageleft.

UPPESTDATE: (August 24) And finally--the agents provocateurs' identities revealed? :)