Headline "Condoms and needles found in tents at Occupy Montreal!". Sensationalism, everyone thinks there's drugged induced orgies!
Well how about diabetics? What are they supposed to do while they Occupy Montreal. Go home at meal time so that the needles they use to preserve their health isn't misconstrued as someone with a drug problem? I remember when travelling that the Canadian National Parks have needle disposals in their campground bathrooms. And not because they have a junkie problem on the campsites.
As for the condoms, anywhere people are going to sleep - like tents, is places they will have sex. I'd be more worried if NO condoms were found. Condoms mean safe sex. That's a big positive for everyone involved.
I don't discount that there have been drug addicts, homeless people, and people with mental health issues. I've run into some of them myself at the People's place. However as the population of the Occupation is a microcosm of society at large, you will see the problems of society at large. IT is not the occupation that has created the problems that lead to drug addicts, homelessness and mental health issues.
The media is making the 99% sound like they are all undesirables and nothing could be further from the truth. If people think that by removing occupation camps that we will go away they are in for a big surprise, this is far from being over.
Also I'd like to clarify what I said yesterday about "The Arrests"
Only one person was arrested and landed in jail. I had heard it was because he got physical with the cops. Not the physical I was expecting. This guy, dressed in a batman costume no less, came from behind and gave a police office a huge bear hug. His problem - was he probably took the cop by surprise so got arrested for getting 'physical'.
Let's recap. Montreal has the NICEST and BEST police officers in North America. My buddy Guy would say in the whole world.
The police who showed up to remove the protesters and take apart the camp were NORMAL police officers, they were not in riot gear. They had 2 buses full of officers in riot gear ready in case they were needed, but they were not so they were not used!
The only 'fishy' thing that happened, and which the protesters were NOT told is that they were tagged with some form of
invisible tattoo, that shows up under a black light. When the friend who got arrested felt something metallic being dragged on her cuffed hands, she asked and she was told it was a pen to put a number. Sure she has a number on her right hand in ink, but on her left hand, there's a number that can only seen by black light. Something else - this number will take several months to go away because it is under the skin currently.
The other reason I'm saying the police in Montreal was nice is that they kept their word.
This tweet that was received Thursday evening was clearly intended to let the camp know that they would not wake them up at 4 or 5 am to tear the camp down. The best part is THEY KEPT THEIR WORD.
Please let people know that Montreal's police was exceptional in it's work with the people of Occupy Montreal. Thank-you!
Edit 27-11-11: Final tally of detainees 16, all released. Including the guy in the batman suit. He was also released unconditionally.