It happens all the time.
A peaceful demonstration turns violent,
the TV news flashes pictures of mayhem,
the issue is completely forgotten, and
the protesters are entirely discredited.
Would it surprise you to know that police
*engineer* these outcomes?
P.S. The more successful popular opposition
to corruption is, the more likely, dirty
and violent tricks will be played against
peaceful demonstrators.
It's always the same story:
Undercover police dress up as protesters and incite, or even engage in, violence.
Uniformed police then take advantage of this to assault legitimate protesters, sometimes brutally.
It's the oldest trick in the book and the French have a phrase for it: "Agent Provocateur.
Bizarrely, US protesters NEVER seem to get their heads out of their arses and see it coming no matter how many times it gets pulled on them.
In contrast, one labor leader at the Montebello meeting of the so called "Security and Prosperity Summit" in Quebec earned the title "leader" and not only detected this crap as it was talking place, but confronted the government-employed criminals involved and forced them to stand down.
This kind of activity isn't legitimate police work. It's thug-for-hire work on behalf of fascists.
You can watch the corrupted policemen during the demonstration at: Ahmed Ismail
Stop SPP Protest - Union Leader stops provocateurs.flv (12mb)