The RCMP worked to keep close tabs on the Occupy Ottawa movement, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Press.
The Mounties put together a dossier on the protests – tracking Facebook and Twitter posts – and planned to use a camera to monitor Confederation Park, the documents show.
Documents also reportedly reveal that RCMP officers were tracking early planning meetings, at one point interviewing University of Ottawa campus security about how many individuals had showed up to a session before protestors moved into the park.
“It’s common practice for RCMP and their partners to maintain open dialogue and constant contact with organizers before and during an event,” RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lucy Shorey said.
Shorey said the RCMP work to ensure that “everyone has the right to peaceful freedom and expression, and that there is a safe environment for the general public.”
“I don’t know what they were afraid of,” said Occupy demonstrator James Brummel. “It’s always been a peaceful movement. There was never any organized violence that came from us.”
Brummel said he felt mostly safe at Confederation Park, but added that it was impossible to feel “completely safe” in a public setting.
“All those problems that go along with being in a public park are still there. We did not have complete control over what went on in the park, nor could we have.”
There were reports of drug use, sexual assaults and even rumors of neo-Nazi activism within the camp, according to the documents.
Brummel and fellow protestor Emily King both said that the RCMP and local police forces would frequently visit the protest, watching their rallies and meetings or looking through the park site. Brummel said that he often saw officers walk through the camp at night.
There were also rumors among demonstrators within the park that the RCMP had sent officers disguised as protesters to spy on them.
King said the dossier was a violation of her privacy, explaining that she wasn’t engaged in any harmful or violent activity.
Brummel said perhaps it was naïve to think the police wouldn’t be constantly watching.
“In a way, it’s a small vindication of us,” Brummel added. “ A lot of people thought that we were a joke or inconsequential, but the RCMP were building up this huge intelligence on us, on our earliest activities.”
The RCMP documents also revealed they would not rule out the possibility of the demonstrations becoming violent.
