In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.~ George Orwell
For the past several weeks, John the Other and several other members of the organization VancouverMRA (VMRA), have been peacefully posting posters that target issues affecting men and boys in western culture, and that display the URLs of this website as well as their own web presence.
The posters have been routinely vandalized by a group of individuals, and, in one circumstance, one of these individuals assaulted a safety officer of a construction site who instructed them to stop tearing down the posters at that location, which was within his authority.
Vancouver Police were summoned to that incident, the police responder being Officer Desmond Roberts, badge number 2776. No arrest was made for the assault, at the preference of the victim. According to those at the scene, Roberts instructed the individuals tearing down the posters to cease doing so, and also indicated that there would be an investigation into A Voice for Men to determine whether it is a hate based organization. One member of VMRA, JtO, was instructed by Roberts not to engage or antagonize the individuals tearing down posters, but did not instruct him to stop placing them.
The instructions to the vandals in this incident, to cease tearing down posters, indicated Roberts had an understanding that the charter-protected postering would continue.
Several follow up phone calls to the Vancouver Police to inquire about the status of that investigation have gone unanswered.
Today, another equally serious incident occurred. JtO was back placing posters, with the permission of the same safety officer at the previously mentioned construction site. He was confronted by a group of approximately 20-30 hostile individuals, some of whom brandished box cutters, and who began tearing the posters down.
JtO immediately called police to the scene. The responder in this case was Constable Darren Ramdour, badge number 2534.
After interviewing individuals at the scene, Ramdour instructed JtO to cease putting up the posters, threatening him with arrest if he did not comply. Ramdour’s assertion was that by lawfully and peacefully putting up posters, JtO was a threat to the peace, not the mob of vandals wielding box cutters.
One has to wonder if this is typical of Vancouver law enforcement. Is it their standard operating procedure to side with criminals and to criminalize a victim, simply because they lack the courage to enforce the law?
I think this question is best put to Chief Constable Jim Chu of the Vancouver Police Department. The incident number for the case is 12-140147.
The actions of Constable Ramdour in this circumstance were that of a coward, or of a police official so inept and incompetent that he is more of a threat to the rule of law than an officer who is just cowardly. If this is allowed to go unchecked, the result will be a free pass to rule by mob in the city of Vancouver, the only prerequisite being that the mob in question must be opposed to the human rights of men and boys.
Let us hope that this is just one officer who is an embarrassment and a disgrace to his profession, and not the kind of police work that will be supported from the top of the chain of command at the Vancouver PD.
It is also something about which the media should be advised and encouraged to investigate.
Chief Constable Jim Chu can be contacted through the Vancouver Police
jim.chu@vpd.ca
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