Yeah, this actually happened. And here’s how it was reported. Note the discrepancy:
Hamilton police are investigating a physical confrontation between two opposing groups at the Hamilton Pride festival at Gage Park on Saturday.
Jackie Penman, a Hamilton police spokesperson, said she “can’t say for sure” what sparked the altercation, but that a group of protesters clashed with a group attending the festival.
“I do believe there was a religious group there, and they were joined by some yellow vest protesters as well, and then some of the participants at the Hamilton Pride festival also got involved,” she said.
Uh, nice way of downplaying the fact that police effectively took the fascist side there, madame spokesperson of the cop shop.
And if you’re wondering what sparked the altercation, it’s simple: FASCISTS GOING TO PRIDE TO STIR UP TROUBLE, FUCKING DUH.
Oh, and then there’s this:
Although there were officers on duty at the event, Penman said altercations like this are “not a common occurrence at festivals like this.”
She added that police witnessed several minor injuries, but no victims or witnesses have come forward with information.
“Anyone that was injured at the festival, we would certainly encourage to come forward to police to report their injuries so we can investigate further,” Penman said.
Given the way the cops behaved in refusing to step in and arrest the fascists because waa-waa, boo-hoo, sulk-pout, they weren’t invited to Pride because of the long and storied history of police homophobia here in Canada, I’m not surprised that no one’s coming forward. If you want to build trust within your community, you have to be fucking trustworthy to start with. And that includes not treating sexual and gender diversity as crimes.
I’m not at all sure why this is so controversial, or so hard to understand. But cops do have a history (and in many places, an actual policy) of not hiring the brightest lights in the string either, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, fascism isn’t a smart person’s ideology.
