Again please don’t trivialize the real meaning of the protest by taking everything to the extreme. Nobody will take us seriously if we keep talking just like the sensationalist media we dislike so much.

jc, I know the police provoked people, but they didn’t provoke them to break store or car windows, that makes no sense. I was there and I saw them aim at the windows, it was not a mistake. If those kids had not done that, if the confrontation had been only between police and marchers, believe me, the media would be focused on the protest and not on them. My point is that we need to do something about them, we need to get and talk to them somehow or otherwise the message of the march will never be spread. In fact, I am sure the number of people on our side has decreased thanks to what they did. That is what I mean by trivializing our message, and I am sure we all agree on that.

I agree with almost everything you say. I did see some police attacking marchers for no reason. I know there is police brutality here (not as much as in almost any other North American city, but there is!) and that’s why I was in the march (some reasons are more personal but I won’t get into that). I do not agree however, with the idea that our side should ignore the kids who just want to destroy the city we love so much, and don’t care at all about the meaning of the protest. They are our enemies as much as those who are opposed to the protest.

The 40MM Direct Impact round is a “point of aim, point of impact” direct fire round that is most commonly used by tactical teams in situations where maximum deliverable energy is desired for the incapacitation of an aggressive, non-compliant subject.

The Direct Impact round is intended for direct fire deployment. The operator should be adequately trained in the use of Specialty Impact Munitions and have a thorough understanding of the round and considerations for selecting shot placement such as level of threat, target distance, size, and clothing.

The Direct Impact round will prove most successful for incapacitation when used within its optimal energy range of approximately 10-75 feet, although it may be used in situations from 5 to 120 feet. The optimal zone offers the necessary energy and accuracy to target the large muscle groups of the buttocks, thigh, and even the knees of the subject. These areas provide sufficient pain stimulus, while greatly reducing serious or life threatening injuries. However, the size and weight of this round makes it the safest of all choices for engaging the abdomen or upper torso of the subject.

The Direct Impact round can also deployed in crowd control situations to protect the riot line, cover or enhance chemical munitions, or targeting specific agitators and organizers of the crowd. When used in this fashion, it is primarily both a psychological deterrent and physiological distraction serving as a pain compliance device to either get the crowd (or subject) moving or keeping them at a designated distance.

Source: http://minnesotaindependent.com/7923/crowd-control-at-the-rnc-fifty-million-unanswered-questions

If it is illegal to use this chemical weapon in Montreal, I urge the comment poster to make a formal complaint against the police to City Hall as soon as possible. Firing chemical weapons in densely populated neighbourhoods puts citizens at risk, and hence should be totally illegal. In this case, the weapons were fired arbitrarily. Had the police simply allowed the march to proceed there would have been no skirmish – or chemical attack.