Pepper spray and tear gas used as police ordered the crowd to disperse and declared the protest unlawful. One person was arrested.
Author of the article:
Harry North • Special to Montreal Gazette
Published Jul 11, 2024 • Last updated Jul 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
Demonstrators took to the streets of downtown Montreal Thursday night in protest of the McGill University encampment’s dismantling.
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What began as a pro-Palestinian gathering at Phillips Square around 9 p.m. quickly consumed central downtown. Chanting protesters, many of them masked, moved down Ste-Catherine St., with police in riot gear containing them on either side.
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A message blared over police loudspeakers, ordering the crowd to disperse and declaring the protest unlawful.
Physical clashes broke out between officers and protesters, with police firing chemical irritants on multiple occasions.
A 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly obstructing police work and assaulting a peace officer. He was released by on a promise to appear in court.
“Some of the protesters were masked and showed hostile behaviour,” according to Montreal police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc, who also said projectiles were thrown toward police.
Police said the window of bank at the corner of Peel St. and de Maisonneuve Blvd. was smashed and that “two armed attacks” were levelled at police. Police did not provide more details on the alleged attacks.
Police appear to fire tear gas pic.twitter.com/QxZeAN9rx6
— Harry North (@hsnorth_) July 12, 2024
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Pro-Palestine protest in #Montreal tonight.
— ProtestMTL (@MtlProtest) July 12, 2024
Heavy use of pepper spray and tear gas fired point blank into crowd during clashes. #Gaza #Palestine_Genocide #manifencours #polcan #polqc pic.twitter.com/h3nrAxlywb
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The protesters continued to march through downtown Montreal as passersby filmed them on their phones and as people in cars, blocked by the protest, watched through their windows.
Some demonstrators began to disperse as the night progressed, with many leaving via the métro, while others continued to protest, resulting in more clashes with the police. Police said the march ended about 10:30 p.m.
Riot police chase protesters. Crowd appears to have dispersed pic.twitter.com/iHEv4zOfmw
— Harry North (@hsnorth_) July 12, 2024
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The events followed the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at McGill, which stood on the university’s downtown campus for more than two months before it was taken apart by heavy machinery Wednesday morning.
In addition to the police, a private security firm hired by McGill assisted in the takedown.
McGill stated on Thursday that escalating health, safety and security concernsforced the decision to remove the camp, citing evidence of drug use and an alleged rat infestation. It also claimed that most of the people staying in the encampment were non-students, including unhoused people.
Encampment representatives labelled these claims as “baseless.”
Recommended from Editorial
- McGill says security concerns forced the dismantling of encampment
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- Photos: Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill dismantled
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