On June 6, 2024, Montreal city police (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal – SPVM) used force, including teargas, to disperse a group of pro-Palestinian students protesting outside of the the James Administration Building on McGill University’s campus.
Pro-Palestinian students initially established an encampment on one of McGill university’s fields in late April, demanding that the university divest from businesses associated with Israel’s military and cut ties with Israeli academic institutions. On June 6, a small group of students, unaffiliated with any particular student organization, escalated their tactics by entering the James Administration Building. The students used metal fencing and a shelving unit to barricade the entrance and hung banners from windows on the building’s third floor. Around 100 protesters remained outside of the building, chanting and banging drums.
The building occupation prompted SPVM to respond, and riot police gathered on either side of the building. Around 7pm, the police sprayed chemical irritants into the crowd and charged the group of protesters outside of the building. Photos from the scene show police spraying chemicals from close range, directly at some students, using batons and shields to force students away, and pushing against metal fences that the students had used to barricade themselves against the police. A police spokesperson noted that police officers had used shields and chemical irritants and stated that protesters had thrown objects and stones at the police.
Police arrested 15 protesters for breaking and entering the administration building and two outside of the building for obstructing the police.
Scholars at Risk is concerned with force, including chemical irritants, to disperse students exercising their peaceful rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly—conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from restricting the nonviolent exercise of such rights. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, the use of force to restrict or deter nonviolent student expression undermines academic freedom and democratic society more generally.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/mcgill-students-occupy-university-administration-building
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/updated-police-spray-tear-gas-break-up-pro-palestinian-occupation-of-mcgill-building
https://www.coastreporter.net/national-news/police-arrest-15-disperse-protesters-at-mcgill-administration-building-thursday-9012635
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2024/06/06/mcgill-barricade-pro-palestinian-protesters/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8riStEg1cw/?img_index=6
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8uWnQng0Ma/?img_index=1