Artefact 8: Paul Rose of the FLQ leaving Court during his trial for the kidnaping and murder of Pierre LaPorte

Citation:

Church, Ted. Paul Rose, a member of the Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ), defiantly raising his fist while leaving court during his trial for the murder of provincial minister Pierre Laporte. Mr. Rose and other members of the FLQ kidnapped Mr. Laporte after Canada refused to meet the group’s demands to release FLQ prisoners after an earlier kidnapping. Mr. Rose was found guilty in March 1971 and served 13 years of a life sentence. History Collection. Montreal Gazette, 2017. https://cdn.historycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1-7.jpg.

Label:

The Leader of the FLQ’s Chenier Cell Paul Rose, is the man held responsible for the abduction and murder of Pierre Laporte. Rose (center) with his fist raised in defiance and solidarity for the FLQ’s cause to liberate Quebec, shows his nationalist attitude. However, the inexcusable acts that himself along with his fellow FLQ members committed cast a dark shadow over their cause. He was ultimately sentenced to serve two life terms for the kidnapping-murder of Laporte but was released on parole in 1982. However, the crimes he was convicted of were not all that he has done. In order to fund the FLQ and make sure his Chenier Cell was kept hidden he organized multiple credit card frauds and bank robberies to be pulled off by other FLQ members. Further proving his dedication to a criminal career which went beyond protest, becoming domestic terrorism. Though the Canadian government faced widespread backlash for its use of the War Measures Act, they did so in order to protect Canadians from men like Paul Rose.

Bibliography:

Crelinsten, R.D. 1987. “The Internal Dynamics of the Flq during the October Crisis of 1970.” Journal of Strategic Studies 10 (4): 59-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402398708437315.

Munroe, H.D. 2009. “The October Crisis Revisited: Counterterrorism as Strategic Choice, Political Result, and Organizational Practice.” Terrorism and Political Violence 21 (2): 288-305. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550902765623.