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Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 20:55:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Harry 
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      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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***POLICE HARASS ANTI-RACISTS AT BENEFIT CONCERT IN KINGSTON, ONTARIO***
Two undercover Kingston police officers came to the Rock Against Racism 
show on Saturday April 11. They first arrived at 9:30pm, and refused to 
pay the $5.00 admission, stating that as police officers they should 
have free access.  After the person in charge of admission insisted, one 
police officer paid the fee while the other officer continued to refuse.  
They asked organizers about the name of the band that was currently 
playing, and stated that they would return later to "observe" the 
headline Montreal Oi! band: 'The Street Troopers'.  At no time did they 
show any identification, and organizers were left wondering if indeed 
they were police officers, or if they were Heritage Front sympathizers.
The Street Troopers were featured in an interview on the front of the 
Kingston Whig Standard Entertainment section on Thursday April 9th, and 
the article prominently displayed a picture of the band and the artwork 
on their album cover.  The picture on the album cover is of a riot cop 
wearing a patch that reads: "TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE RICH".
The two, as yet unidentified, undercover police officers returned at 
12:00am and immediately searched an individual on the pretext that he 
might possess marijuana.  It should be noted that alcohol and drugs were 
not permitted at the concert and the organizers had their own security 
throughout the entire show in order to maintain a safe, friendly 
environment.  One officer was heard telling the youth: "Don't give me 
any shit!" and "I know you have something you little prick". The youth 
was a Montreal Francophone who spoke very little English, and the 
officer made no attempt to communicate with him in French.  The officer 
proceeded to frisk the unfortunate youth until satisfied. The officer 
had not identified himself or provided any identification to the youth, 
who afterwards told organizers he had not even realized the man was a 
cop.
At the same time that the youth was being harassed, the other officer 
was asking organizers inside about the location of the Street Troopers. 
When informed that the concert was over and that the Street Troopers had 
already exited the venue, the officer said "Bullshit!" and rushed 
outside in an attempt to find them.
The officers then approached one band member on the pretense of "showing 
him a picture" and led him around the block to their vehicle.  The other 
band members and the organizers, concerned for the safety of their 
friend, followed the officers to their vehicle and demanded to see their 
identification.  The officers stated that: "We don't have to show you 
anything". After the group insisted that it was their right, they agreed 
and presented their badges. 
The police had seen the band's picture in the Kingston Whig Standard 
interview, and had searched the mug shot book for any skinhead who 
looked vaguely like a band member and shared a common first name.  The 
officers asked the band members where the individual in the picture was 
hiding and why he was not present at the concert. The Street Troopers 
repeated that they did not know the person in the mug shot and that no 
one in the band resembled him.  
Unless the police regularly search for criminals on the entertainment 
page it seems that this band was singled out. Why? Was it because they 
are critical of the proliferation of racism and brutality within 
Canada's law enforcement agencies? Or was it because they are associated 
with Anti-Racist Action (a group known to be disliked by police for its 
aggressive opposition to Nazis)? Or was it just because they were the 
headline act at an anti-racism benefit concert?
Only the Kingston police officers can tell you what their motive was.  
When it turned out that the mug shot was not the picture of a Street 
Trooper, the officer said: "I guess I lost a bet tonight."
When police officers start betting amongst themselves whether or not 
they will succeed in arresting a supporter of an anti-racism benefit 
concert, then it is clearly a case of selective policing. The surly, 
hostile attitudes of the officers that night, combined with the searches 
and threats that youths received outside the venue, leads one to 
question whether the Kingston Police Force is currently engaged in a 
plan to dissuade anti- racists from meeting and promoting anti-racist, 
feminist and gay positive views.
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