Man arrested, McGill windows smashed during pro-Palestinian protest
Riot police used chemical irritants to disperse a crowd reacting to the dismantling of the Victoria Square encampment.
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Montreal riot police used chemical irritants to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters at McGill University on Friday night after some demonstrators smashed windows, police said.
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One person was arrested and two officers suffered minor injuries, said Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils.
The protest was organized by groups supporting the ongoing pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill, in response to the dismantling of a similar camp at Victoria Square earlier Friday.
“F— the dismantling, globalize the intifada,” the groups, including the McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, said in a social media post ahead of the march that began near Victoria Square at 8 p.m.
The protesters walked to McGill and at one point placed obstructions in the street to block police, Chèvrefils said.
“At around 9:15 p.m., a demonstrator smashed a shop window, and the protesters then moved on to smash windows in a McGill administration building,” she said.
“Following the demonstrators’ hostile attitude toward the police, (officers) began dispersal manoeuvres, using chemical irritants.”
Videos posted on social media show Montreal police on foot, bike and horseback outside McGill’s Roddick Gates.
The protest ended at about 11 p.m.
Chèvrefils said a 66-year-old man was arrested for allegedly assaulting a McGill security guard and mischief for smashing windows. He was released and will appear in court later.
In their social media post, protest organizers said the dismantling of the Victoria Square encampment “does not mean the end of our mobilization. Let’s show the accomplices of the genocide that we will not be intimidated.”
Palestine Action Montréal, one of the groups behind the protest, posted on social media after the event.
“F— you McGill, f— you Valérie Plante, and f— your police,” the group wrote over a video showing a confrontation with police.
Over a video that appears to show people breaking windows, the group said: “This is what you get McGill. You will pay for silencing the students.”
On Saturday, a McGill spokesperson told The Gazette that the university was “assessing the situation” and did not have an immediate comment on Friday’s events.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have been camped out at McGill since April 27.
They want the university to withdraw investments from companies linked to what they describe as the genocide of Palestinians and sever relationships with Israeli universities.
Before dawn on Friday, police and city workers dismantled a pro-Palestinian camp at Victoria Square in downtown Montreal.
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Hours later, McGill president Deep Saini said he expected the city and police to also remove the encampment on his campus.
But Mayor Valérie Plante said the city can’t intervene at McGill because it’s private property, unlike Victoria Square.
She also lashed out at the university, accusing it of lacking leadership and failing to “find a way out other than going to court.”
McGill says police have refused to intervene and negotiations with protesters have proved fruitless. Two Quebec judges have rejected requests to order protesters to clear out. Another court date is pending.
