Montreal police remove protesters from pro-Palestinian encampment at Victoria Square
CBC
Montreal police in riot gear kicked protesters out of a pro-Palestinian encampment in Victoria Square early Friday morning.
The police operation began around 5 a.m., when police wearing helmets, carrying shields and some on horseback moved into the square.
The 15 protesters who were in the camp emerged from their tents, some of them carrying sleeping bags. The operation appeared to take place peacefully and in relative calm. Police said one 18-year-old man was arrested for allegedly pointing a laser-pointer at police on June 25.
Montreal police called the encampment illegal and said they were enforcing city bylaws. A city of Montreal spokesperson confirmed that the encampment was being dismantled and, by 8:30 a.m., city workers arrived to remove the tents, tarps and signs.
The city invoked a Ville-Marie borough bylaw that bans unauthorized use of public space. The bylaw is also used to authorize the dismantlement of homeless encampments.
The Victoria Square encampment appeared on June 22. Protesters there wanted Quebec's public pension fund manager, the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) to divest from 87 companies with ties to Israel.
After the police raid, Emma Jaubert, 20, a protester who said she had spent every night at the camp since it was established, stood on the street nearby. She and the other protesters had been kicked out of the camp, but most had not been arrested. Police told them they could "just leave," she said.
"It was not extremely violent but it was still pretty violent," she said. "They were very aggressive with us, with how they dismantled us."
Jaubert's morning began when a police officer used a megaphone to warn the protesters of the imminent operation, followed shortly by the arrival of riot police shouting "leave," Jaubert said.
"I think it's because it's in a public place instead of a university campus so its a lot easier for them to do it without an injunction. It's a lot more in the eye of the public," she said.
"I think we're putting a lot of pressure on the government right now and they probably really don't like that."
Police later escorted the protesters back into the encampment to retrieve their personal items.
Earlier this week, after protesters tied to the Square Victoria camp vandalized the CDPQ offices, François Bonnardel, Quebec's public security minister, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to criticize the city's inaction toward the encampment.
"I'm surprised the city of Montreal hasn't said more about the encampment issue," he said. "On our side, we have made our position clear. We are starting to see the consequences of this passive approach."
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