1 arrest, McGill University windows smashed in pro-Palestinian protests

MONTREAL — One person was arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest at McGill University Friday night, after Montreal police and city workers dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment in Victoria Square in the financial district earlier in the day.

City police say protesters gathered around 8 p.m. in Place Jean-Riopelle and marched about a kilometer north to McGill’s downtown campus, where a separate encampment has existed since late April. Protesters on campus have called for the university to cut ties with Israel as its war with Hamas continues to rage.

Police spokeswoman Véronique Dubuc said a 66-year-old man was arrested for breaking windows at a McGill administration building and assaulting a campus security guard.

She says police used tear gas to disperse protesters and two officers suffered minor injuries during the police operation, which ended around 11 p.m.

Before Friday night’s protest at McGill, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the camp in Victoria Square was different from the one at the university because it was set up on public space.

She said the decision to remove the protesters was made because demonstrators cannot “permanently occupy a public place, regardless of the cause”.

McGill President Deep Saini called on the city to remove the encampment from the university’s lower grounds, but Plante accused the university of trying to use the courts to forcibly remove the protesters instead of negotiating peacefully with them, like the Université administration du Québec à Montréal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press