City police on alert for risks at potentially volatile rallies

City police will be keeping a close eye on some controversial rallies planned for the city this weekend.

Addressing safety concerns raised on social media about the three rallies with racial and cultural overtones, Calgary police Supt. Cliff O’Brien said the public should have little to fear this weekend.

“We are confident we have the right resources dedicated to these events — ready to respond if anyone becomes violent or decides to break the law,” he said. “However, we’re not anticipating any threats to public safety.”

Declining to discuss specifics, he said the rallies will have an overt police presence — a response O’Brien described as ‘scalable’ according to the situation.

He said police have been in regular contact with rally organizers, and have no information regarding potential trouble

“They show a desire to keep these protests legal and peaceful, which is exactly what we’d expect,” he said.

Typically observed on the last Friday of Ramadan, the International Day of al-Quids rally takes place on the steps of City Hall at 5 p.m.

A rally of Palestinian solidarity, previous events have attracted counter-protesters — notably the Calgary chapter of the Jewish Defense League.

On Saturday, Antifa Calgary will hold an anti-racism rally at City Hall at 11 a.m., a demonstration that spokesman Jason Devine said was meant to coincide with a recently rescheduled anti-Islam event.

“Originally, we had said we were going to organize at City Hall as a counter protest,” he said, referring to recent date and venue changes of the Patriotic Unity Mega Festival, organized by Worldwide Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) Canada.

“But since it’s so late in the day, we think it’s more important to continue to stand at City Hall to reach out.”

Originally scheduled for Saturday, issues with city permits forced WCAI organizers to move the event one day later.

“We plan on having a peaceful rally at Olympic plaza Sunday at 1 p.m.,” said a WCAI spokesperson via Facebook.

“People who are saying it’s going to be dangerous are stupid and don’t know what they’re talking about. We work with our police to ensure we’re within the law at all times. “We have faith in our police.” The WCAI were behind an antiIslam rally at City Hall on June 3, the site of vocal but largely nonviolent confrontations between supporters and members of Calgary’s anti-racism community.

Meanwhile, O’Brien said police have a duty to protect peaceful free speech while ensuring lines of criminality aren’t crossed.

“That is one of the great things about this country, is that we have the fundamental freedom of speech, and one of our jobs is to make sure we protect that right,” he said.

“However, there is a fine line — with criminal hate speech, there are some things that have to be in place for that charge.”

That criteria, he said, includes the declaration being made in public, targeted toward an identifiable group and likely to lead to harm.