Eighty-four protesters arrested, Montreal police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators and bystanders
Police arrested 84 people, including 27 on criminal charges, and used tear gas to disperse demonstrators at a night-time protest in downtown Montreal organized by a local anti-capitalist group called CLAC.
Hundreds of people gathered at at least three different locations around the city, well before the protests officially got underway at 7 p.m. ET.
The group called on protesters to cause the “maximum disruption possible” to businesses downtown.
However, the majority of the crowd were people carrying anti-austerity messages with no intention of vandalism or violence.
By 7:10 p.m., police had already declared the demonstrations illegal and began ordering protesters to disperse.
As demonstrators moved up McGill College Avenue from de Maisonneuve Boulevard, police began launching rounds of tear gas.
Children gassed by police
Families and bystanders were among those gassed early in the demonstration. One woman said she brought her family to the protest thinking it would be peaceful.
“Suddenly, there was tear gas all around us,” the woman, who did not give her name, said, as one of her children cried in the background.
“We have a baby with us.”
Montreal police Sgt. Laurent Gingras said it’s regrettable that families were caught in the fray, but he said police warned people to leave the area before firing rounds of tear gas.
Montreal police confirmed there were arrests, but did not have a final tally.
Police kettled protesters
Gingras said one of the challenges police face was splinter groups that appeared across the city, making it difficult to disperse protesters.
Bystander Sarah Campbell was walking home from eating dinner near Sherbrooke Street and Hutchison Street when she saw police approach one of the splinter groups, comprised of around 15 protesters.
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