‘Projectiles’ thrown at police at McGill, UQAM pro-Palestinian protests: chief

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Montreal police were attacked with projectiles twice in the past month and were justified in using force to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters at McGill University and the Université du Québec à Montréal, police chief Fady Dagher said Monday.

“Police were attacked. It’s unacceptable,” Dagher said at a Montreal city hall committee hearing.

He was responding to a member of the public who accused Montreal police of using “disproportional force” against “peaceful protesters.”

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Dagher said in both cases — at UQAM on May 20 and at McGill on June 6 — projectiles were thrown at police.

In the McGill incident, protesters occupied an administration building. Outside, riot police used tear gas and shields against protesters carrying sections of scaffolding as a barricade. Windows were smashed and graffiti was sprayed on university property.

Fifteen people were arrested late Thursday following an occupation of about six hours.

Dagher stressed that the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) did not intervene at pro-Palestinian encampments at the two universities.

He noted the police interventions occurred outside the camps, which were set up to demand that the universities divest from companies linked to Israel. The UQAM protesters have since dismantled their encampment.

Dagher said, “It wasn’t the SPVM that started the event. On the contrary, there were provocations — and projectiles were even thrown at police. From the moment that projectiles are thrown or misdeeds or criminal acts occur … the SPVM will intervene.”

He said pieces of asphalt were thrown at police during the McGill protest.

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The police intervened “in a gradual manner” under strict rules of engagement, Dagher said.

“The use of force is never elegant,” he said. However, “we do it in a very technical, very gradual way. And the main thing is to protect the life of the person, that of police officers and that of the environment.”

A McGill student group denounced police for intervening on campus.

“The events of that afternoon were horrifying, further exacerbating divisions between police and administration,” the Student Society of McGill University said in a statement Saturday.

“While the occupation of the James Administration Building was unsettling for some staff in the building, McGill administration is unwilling to recognize the harm their inaction on divestment is causing our community.”

The protesters are demanding McGill divest from investments in Israel and break academic ties with Israeli institutions.

The student group said it is against “police on campus and police brutality.”

ariga@postmedia.com\

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