A leftist May Day protest Tuesday in Montreal became violent very quickly.
As the Montreal Gazette reports, over 200 anti-capitalist protesters congregated at the city’s Lafontaine Park at 6 p.m., with most hiding their faces under masks. About a half hour later, they began marching to the downtown core as city police joined them. It wasn’t long before the police had to hide behind vehicles to avoid the firecrackers that some in the crowd hurled at them as others vandalized parked cars.
The peace officers broke up the protest with tear gas as the demonstrators broke into two groups — both of which were pursued by police.
Those protesters who went back to the park taunted the police officers and at least one individual got into a shoving match with one officer. For the next hour, police tried to apprehend the most threatening of the protesters, arresting at least two.
There were two other protests in Montreal on the same night, but neither presented the same degree of violence and chaos.
By the end of the evening, police said they had arrested several protesters for assault.
In the park, police largely dispersed the crowd, though a couple people remained in front of the police line, yelling at the officers.
Police spokesman Sgt. Laurent Gingras said others could still be arrested for their May Day activities.
“Projectiles were thrown at police officers, which explains the multiple charges of assaulting a police officer with a weapon,” Gingras told the Gazette.
No particular left-wing group claimed responsibility for the protest marches. One participant described May Day as vehicle for general anti-establishment protest. “I think that our society fundamentally needs to change,” Aaron Lakoff told the Gazette.
“I think a lot about my ancestors who have been through this fight against unjust working conditions, immigrant rights struggles, feminist struggles, those are all a part of May Day.”