Warning About Violence

In one of my posts I advocated using bear spray against the police because they were using pepper spray against the protesters - I got a personal message warning about advocating violence on the forum - I fully understand why I got the warning - I guess I broke one of the rules - sorry about that - but this subject brings up a question - is violence against police ever justified - can they use whatever means against the protesters without any similar reaction from them -

I was watching one of the you tubers showing the police pushing the protesters who were "holding the line" and having success - but then the police starting using pepper spray against the protesters which resulted in some having to leave the line - I was wondering if the protesters would be justified in using a spray against the police - what if the police started using clubs against the protesters - or starting to shoot them - I'm wondering what is the average Canadian's thought on this - thanks for your thoughts

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Originally Posted by JoePa

In one of my posts I advocated using bear spray against the police because they were using pepper spray against the protesters - I got a personal message warning about advocating violence on the forum - I fully understand why I got the warning - I guess I broke one of the rules - sorry about that - but this subject brings up a question - is violence against police ever justified - can they use whatever means against the protesters without any similar reaction from them -

I was watching one of the you tubers showing the police pushing the protesters who were "holding the line" and having success - but then the police starting using pepper spray against the protesters which resulted in some having to leave the line - I was wondering if the protesters would be justified in using a spray against the police - what if the police started using clubs against the protesters - or starting to shoot them - I'm wondering what is the average Canadian's thought on this - thanks for your thoughts

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Violence against Police is never justified. It's a very serious criminal offense in Canada. Even a first offense in any jurisdiction will land someone in jail for a minimum of 30 days. Using a weapon like pepper sptay against Police rachets that up considerably and if anyone is injured,the offender is looking at heavy prison time. Canadians have a fairly high regard for our Police services. Having said that,we also won't tolerate over reach or illegal activity. The hammer falls hard on errant law enforcement personnel who screw up,sometimes slowly,but,it most certainly falls. Protest is fine,even a legal activity until it gets out of hand like we're seeing in this instance. When the courts and Police becaome involved,their duty is to enforce the law. Whether they agree with it or not is immaterial. It's also the duty of every citizen to do the same. Under the circumstances,when a Police Constable directs one to obey the law and they choose not to,they can tell it to the Judge in court.Police are required to use as much reasonable force as necessary to affect that end. If someone gets injured in the meantime,that's on them.

In response to your question about the use of force against police, the short answer is no, protesters would not be justified. Police are authorized to use only as much force as is necessary to effect a lawful purpose. So, police are justified to use force necessary to remove the protesters, as they were committing a criminal offence. As a use of force instructor for several years, I always maintained that police do not make the decision as to how much force is used. The subject, by their actions make that determination. Police will respond to any use of force, by increasing their level of force applied to effect their purpose. The use of pepper spray by police is an escalation of force, usually because less force options were not getting the desired outcome.
Any use of force by police will be scrutinized to ensure it was appropriate and lawful.

I beleive you got the best answers possible.
Going to close it for now until admin has a chance to review the thread