DEMO GOES TO POT

In over 300 cities worldwide, peaceful demonstrators congregated on
May 2 to protest marijuana laws. Police across the country
participated to ensure an orderly march, and for that they should be
congratulated. There was a difference though, in the attitude of the
officers in Calgary. The parade felt more like a show of police
force, intrusive intelligence gathering and an opportunity to make
arrests than them doing their civic duty for an orderly parade.
Multiple officers were armed with a variety of surveillance
equipment, including high-definition cameras capable of interfacing
with face-recognition software, in addition to video surveillance.
Unlike many protests across Canada, users were targeted by police
where confiscations, and presumably arrests took place. Many officers
harassed protesters, staring them down and projecting an air of
intimidation and menace, while the police helicopter needlessly
circled overhead every 10 to 15 minutes. I am outraged by the
officers' outlandish, confrontational attitude towards a peaceful and
generally co-operative protest.

Reginald Caruthers

(Are you sure you're not just being a bit paranoid?)