The first minor incident with protestors just happend in Ottawa. What they were showing on Newsworld didn't really make what was going on clear, but what I've just heard makes it a little more clear, or maybe less.
I have a friend who's there and during a peaceful protest a single cop took a swing at somebody. Nobody knows why, it might have been because the protestor put (or had) a balaclava on or he might have said something or he might have kicked the cop in the shins. That's three possibilities from one person who was only a few feet away.
Anyway, what the crowd saw was a cop hit a protestor. They surged forward and the cops pushed back. Keep that in mind...what the crowd saw was a cop hit a protestor. Even then they remained mostly peaceful. There was a stick or two visible on TV and some punches thrown against cop shields, but it was mostly just a bunch of people taking a step or two forward.
One cop was hurt (the rumour there is that he was hit by another cop who was swinging at a protestor, but nobody knows) and some protestors were arrested. At least one was beaten a bit, a few others were treated very roughly considering they were not fighting back. There is no need to kneel on a man's head when he is resisting by letting his body go limp, especially when two of your buddies are holding him down.
When the cops put on their gas masks, my friend decided it was probably a good time to go grab a bite to eat. So did most of the crowd. He is looking forward to more peaceful protesting in a few hours. Also, he thinks he can score with some girl from Montreal. 8) :lol: