March 23, 2010
By Jeff Parkinson
Before we arrived at the Tom Keefer counter protest to our scheduled anti racism rally, an amateur videographer was on scene with our camera gear to capture the scene and mingle with the crowd. Between us, we got some good footage of the event which I’m glad to share with you here.
Please note in advance that these videos will need time to buffer if you want to watch them full screen in high resolution.
In the first clip our guy is questioned at length by one of the Natives for taking video of the Keefer protest. It’s worth noting that there were dozens of cameras on us the entire time we were there, and not once did we bother anyone about it, or try to hide from them.
Next we have CANACE president Gary McHale diffusing tensions between the protestors, and residents on hand. While the OPP was content to sit and watch things escalate, we were not. As you will see, Mr. McHale then politely received documentation that was being handed out by the Keefer crowd.
Before making the decision to cancel our rally, Mr. McHale did his best to convince the OPP to do their job and ensure that things remained peaceful. Part of his effort was captured here. Please note that a couple of people have experienced problems with loading the third video. Although I’m unsure what the problem was, it seems that refreshing the page helps.
After doing the best we could to convince the OPP to keep the crowds separated, Gary spoke to the media present and postponed our rally until March 28, 2010.
JeffParkinson.ca 