What happened at the Oshawa, Ont., council meeting that ended in arrests, assault charges?

Several bizarre and rare occurrences happened at an Oshawa, Ont., city council meeting this week: Citizens were arrested and dragged from council chambers, it was revealed that plainclothes police officers had been staking out the meeting, and council voted to shutter the doors of an oversight office.

Two men were arrested this week following a confrontation with security and plainclothes officers after an already-contentious council meeting was interrupted by heckles from the crowd.

The meeting descended into anarchy early, leading to several men being thrown out of council by security and plainclothes Durham Regional Police officers.

In one instance, a man was pulled from chambers with a bloodied face and ripped clothes after either refusing to leave chambers or agreeing to leave, but doing it slowly.

[ Related: Unemployment rate falls to 7.1 per cent in August ]

Several videos have been posted online. You be the judge:

Durham Regional Police announced the arrests of Bill Steele and Daniel Hammond, both charged with failing to leave the premises when directed and assault.

While video of the incident indicates it was a matter of democracy run amok, it also appears authorities were expecting the worst.

Durham police have confirmed that plainclothes officers were "proactively in the building due to the anticipation of possible problems at the meeting."

[ More Brew: SMU launches sexual violence task force after student chant ]

Mayor John Henry said he was not aware plainclothes officers were at the meeting, but he is glad they were. He told AM640 on Thursday that Oshawa has had rough meetings in the past, including the last time they met, in June, when two men had to be removed.

"Once we've told you your behaviour is unacceptable and it is time to go, the choice is entirely up to the person in the council chamber on what they do," Henry told the radio station. "They can get up and leave, and often they do... but if they don't want to leave that is another issue. It is a personal decision."

Perhaps it makes sense that police were expecting the worst.

Steele is a self-described council watchdog who has twice run for a council seat. He also has a history of making headlines, including demanding the audit of a councillor who appeared on a reality TV makeover show and calling out the mayor over his choice in automobiles.

Steele was among those registered to speak at the meeting to request council explain some concerning issues stemming from a recent Auditor General's Report claiming impropriety against the city manager.

Auditor General Ron Foster had submitted a report to council alleging City Manager Bob Duignan gave council "inaccurate and materially misleading information" regarding a controversial real estate purchase. A city-mandated investigation found nothing to support the auditor general's claims.

The legitimacy of that report may have been at the centre of the contentious city hall meeting, where a dozen people appeared in protest.

The Oshawa Express reports:

Friday was the last day of work for Foster and the role of auditor general will no longer exist in the City of Oshawa.

We are also left with a sneaking suspicion that this will not be the last undercover police appearance at an Oshawa city council meeting. And we are pretty sure that won't go over well with the city's vocal public opposition.