Fudd,
The charge is "Assault PC" or Assault of a Police Constable and it is more serious than simple assault of a citizen. There may be a possible obstruction of justice charge if you were impeding the police from doing their job or if you hit an officer with the sign if he or she was trying to apprehend another protestor and I guess only if they want to be jerks and you're not co-operating with them and being cocky with them.
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Assaulting a peace officer
270. (1) Every one commits an offence who
(a) assaults a public officer or peace officer engaged in the execution of his duty or a person acting in aid of such an officer;
(b) assaults a person with intent to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of himself or another person; or
(c) assaults a person
(i) who is engaged in the lawful execution of a process against lands or goods or in making a lawful distress or seizure, or
(ii) with intent to rescue anything taken under lawful process, distress or seizure.
Punishment
(2) Every one who commits an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 246; 1972, c. 13, s. 22; 1980-81-82-83, c. 125, s. 19.
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The obstruction may be already covered in this offence, and if you have no prior arrests and/or convictions, it will probably only be (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.
If you resited arrest the following is the statute that embodies this offence.
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Offences relating to public or peace officer
129. Every one who
(a) resists or wilfully obstructs a public officer or peace officer in the execution of his duty or any person lawfully acting in aid of such an officer,
(b) omits, without reasonable excuse, to assist a public officer or peace officer in the execution of his duty in arresting a person or in preserving the peace, after having reasonable notice that he is required to do so, or
(c) resists or wilfully obstructs any person in the lawful execution of a process against lands or goods or in making a lawful distress or seizure,
is guilty of
(d) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or
(e) an offence punishable on summary conviction.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 118; 1972, c. 13, s. 7
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It seems from your last post that they haven't charged you with anything specific yet. Did they detain you? Better question, what transpired? What do you mean by "bump up the charge?"
I think it's safe to say that you're on one or more of their databases. An arrest is always recorded, even though the charge was dismissed or dropped. It's on record for officer safety when they pull you over, so they take more precautions, ie call for another unit to be on the safe side. My guess is that if you are arrested and charged and succesfully convicted of assault PC, any future dealings with police will not be very pleasant because they now know you have a history of assaulting them. Expect to be handcuffed when detained for investigative detention, such as when searching your vehicle or person (if you give consent), or when they have strong reason to believe that an offence has been committed by you, all in the name of officer safety. Getting pulled over for traffic violations will also be handled with more precautions and you will not likely get a good reception. No cop likes guys who beat on their colleagues.
If I were you I wouldn't talk to the cops until you talk to a lawyer first...you should always do that anyway. And, as always, I would take my and other members' advice with a HUGE grain of salt as, I at least, am not a lawyer.
I just hope you get a break, because really, you just set out to do a good thing.
I would, however, avoid assaulting cops in the future if I were you. It's really not a nice nor a smart thing to do.
Peace bro,
Panther