Montreal police kettle protesters, fine hundreds
By Lynn Moore, The Gazette, Saturday, April 7, 2013
As many as 300 protesters were corralled by Montreal police Friday evening in central Montreal and each fined $637 for participating in an illegal assembly.
The detention of protesters and the handing out of fines came as no surprise to most participants. The protest had been organized by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, also known as CLAC, in a bid to “take back the streets” and contest a controversial bylaw. “Isn’t this why we are here?” one demonstrator was heard to say as police moved in on the protesters, kettling them in a circle on de Maisonneuve Blvd. between St-Hubert and Berri Sts.
No one was injured in the exercise, although one police officer twisted his ankle, Montreal police spokesman Sgt. Laurent Gingras said. All told, 279 people were fined for participating in an illegal assembly and three people were charged with assaulting a peace officer, police said.
In a statement issued before the protest, CLAC said it sought to “assert our opposition to bylaw P-6” in a year “marked by an escalation of police repression against political protesters in Montreal.” The bylaw requires groups to provide police with an itinerary before they set out on a march. If that isn’t done, police can declare the gathering illegal. P-6 also prohibits the wearing of masks.
A few hundred people had gathered at Place Émilie-Gamelin, at the intersection of Ste-Catherine and Berri Sts., by 6 p.m. Friday. In short order, a Montreal police officer announced, via loudspeakers, that the gathering was illegal as it violated bylaw P-6. A route had not been filed by protesters with police.
Around 6:30 p.m., the protesters took to the streets, circling the public square several times before police moved in. Synchronizing their moves, several lines of riot-equipped officers converged, encircling most of the protesters. One young woman outside of the circle was detained, her hands held behind her back by plastic manacles.
City buses were brought to the scene. Protesters who had identification were processed first. If the protester had no outstanding warrants or was not violating court orders, he or she was released, Gingras said.
Bylaw P-6, which carries a fine of $637, taxes included, for the first offence, was in place last year but was not normally a factor in the protests, as police enforced it selectively.m“We refuse to negotiate with the police our freedom of expression, our right to demonstrate and our right to disrupt the existing social, political and economic order that we consider profoundly unjust and illegitimate,” CLAC said.
[La Presse reports a statement by Alexandre Popovic of the Coalition Against Police Repression and Abuse that the group has learned from sources that Montreal police actions against street protests are being taken in response to demands of Montreal businesses who do not wish to see any repeat of the mass, student protest movement of 2012.]
Montreal cops behead Anarchopanda
By Lynn Moore, THE GAZETTE, April 6, 2013
MONTREAL — Montreal police have seized the head of panda mascot “Anarchopanda” and may use it against him in court, a police spokesperson said Saturday. Anarchopanda — or rather the person inside the panda costume — was among the 279 protesters corralled by Montreal police Friday evening and fined $637 each for participating in an illegal assembly.
They were in violation of Montreal bylaw P-6, which requires the filing of a route itinerary before protests, police said. P-6 also prohibits the wearing of masks, which is why Anarchopanda’s head was seized, police spokesperson Daniel Lacoursière said Saturday. “It was to avoid the continuation of the infraction (wearing a mask) and it’s going to be brought to court as proof” of the infraction, Lacoursière said.
The panda mascot gained popularity — and notoriety — during the student protests against tuition hikes in 2012. In an exclusive interview with The Gazette last June, the CEGEP philosophy professor behind the panda mask spoke about why he opposed Bill 78, and was followed by the controversial P-6 bylaw in Montreal.
The professor could not be reached for comment Saturday so it was not immediately clear if he was inside the panda suit when Anarchopanda was beheaded by police Friday. A Radio-Canada report Saturday said Anarchopanda received two $637 fines on Friday, one for participating in an illegal assembly and one for wearing a mask.
The report did not name Anarchopanda’s human form, but quoted Anarchopanda as saying: “It will take a lot more than removing Anarchopanda’s head to make him disappear from the landscape.”