Mysterious military exercise leads to gruff encounter

[Chaske]

Source:

A man with a camera who stumbled on a military special forces exercise in a small Cape Breton town had his patriotism gruffly questioned by an undercover soldier, and was quizzed about whether he belonged to an anti-government movement.

Robert Westbrook said he was also threatened with arrest and he worried the undercover soldier would lash out and strike him.

"He takes a few steps back and clenches his fist and jaw angrily," Westbrook wrote in an account he posted online. " I truly think for a moment that he's going to take a swing at me."

Really weird indeed. Here is the video he took.

 

[RackMaster]

Not all that wierd except for the the patriotic questions.

 

[pardus]

The cameraman seems like he's a bit of a douchebag too.

 

[Bloodline]

I don't buy his reason for taking pics because from the start he began answering MP's questions as though he was ready for them. I think he was let down that he didn't get something more juicy on the security team and only had this crappy, non-issue to twist into civil rights vs. security debate.

He sounds more like a provocateur and pseudo-activist than a photographer of unusual parking lot activity.

 

[Brill]

Total bullshit! Not once did either of these alleged "Canadians" use the word "eh"!

 

[hoepoe]

The cameraman seems like he's a bit of a douchebag too.

Yup, the MP was ok, the second security guy and cameraman are both douche's.

 

[Arrow 4]

I don't know about Canada, but there is enough bullying by our Government, that if I was asked why I was photographing, video taping, or just observing anything the government is doing I would be suspicious and it would not take much for me to cop an attitude, especially if someone questioned my patriotism....FUCK YOU Buddy! This is my country, not the fucking secret squirrel governments.

 

[SpitfireV]

I think it is perfectly reasonable to find out what the person is all about in a polite manner.

 

[Arrow 4]

I have no issues with them talking to the guy filming and finding out a little about him, keeping in mind he is within his rights to film. If the operator's identity needed to be protected they could have worn masks, set up exclusion zones or picked another training venue. Bottom line is that their training in an area open to the public does not trump a citizens constitutional right.

 

[SpitfireV]

Oh yes I totally agree.

 

[Etype]

I agree 100% with Mr. Citizen Photographer.
- If you are doing "secret stuff", no one should be able to tell it is going on.
- If someone showed interest in what I was doing, I would never flag myself as a member of the military conducting low-vis training- I would simply remain the weird guy by the building.
- As a "patriot" myself, I would never step on someone's rights.
I would assess whether or not the photographer was an anti-gov't nut or not BEFORE I exposed myself as a member of the military.
- If I truly were trying to preserve PERSEC, I wouldn't drop Shelby Miller's name.
This was a lesson in secret agent failure, you could learn more from Spies Like Us than from this guy.

 

[0699]

This was a lesson in secret agent failure, you could learn more from Spies Like Us than from this guy.

Probably the most realistic movie about the IC ever made... :-"