One person was arrested Friday night during a pro-Palestinian protest at McGill University after Montreal police and city workers dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment in downtown Victoria Square earlier in the day.
The Montreal Police Department (SPVM) said protesters gathered around 8 p.m. at Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle and marched about a kilometre north toward McGill University’s downtown campus, where a separate encampment has been in place since late April. Protesters on campus are demanding the university cut ties with Israel as the war against Hamas continues to rage.
Véronique Dubuc, a spokesperson for the SPVM, said a 66-year-old man was arrested for breaking windows in a McGill administrative building and assaulting a campus security officer. She said police used tear gas to disperse the protesters and two officers were slightly injured during the police operation, which ended around 11 p.m.
Ahead of the McGill protest Friday night, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the Victoria Square encampment differed from the one at the university because it was located in public space. She said the decision to disperse the protesters was made because demonstrators could not “permanently occupy a public site, for whatever reason.”
McGill University President Deep Saini has asked the city to dismantle the encampment on the university’s lower grounds, but Mr.me Plante criticized the institution for trying to use the courts to forcibly evict the protesters instead of peacefully negotiating with them like the administration of the University of Quebec in Montreal.