My daughter was at the peaceful demonstration in Montreal It was a civil, respectful event. The demonstration ended as per the time dictated on the city permit, and people started to leave the area. But all the metro stations near the event were closed and the side streets were blocked, forcing protestors to funnel down René Lévesque blvd. This caused the dispersement of the crowd to slow to a crawl. Within minutes of the official end of the protest, with everyone trying to leave, the police mobilized with added reinforcements, and announced that everyone present was now a part of an illegal protest, and mere minutes later, the police started advancing on the exiting crowd, pepper spraying them and making arrests.
A few of my daughters friends were hurt, and I assure you that all of them, after spending several hours being respectful allies and supporters, just wanted to go home. My daughter was not hurt.
Not everyone arrested is a “violent protestor”.
This assumption is as naive as it is unexamined, as is the assumption that the chaos and violence that ignited at the end of this legal protest was lit solely by the protestors, with the police acting only in reaction to a threat. There is plenty of literature and analysis out there on the history of resistence, protests and oppression. It has been a sobering experience to read the cogent writings of these historians, cultural commentators and public intellectuals.
~Anonymous FRIEND OF BDR
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