Two arrested after Concordia University students protest police presence on campus

The Concordia Student Union and other student groups are accusing Concordia University of police brutality and racial discrimination.

“Concordia security has been laying hands on students, detaining students, getting physical, racially profiling students, following students off campus and generally harassing student activists,” said one student who did not want to be identified. They will be referred to as Bea for the purposes of this article.

Bea spoke about September 25th, 2024, when three people were ‘violently’ detained by police during a pro-Palestinian protest just outside the school’s downtown campus.

“There’s been tons of people in the streets, people will not stay out of the streets, demanding fair and moral goals around divestment from Israel and supporting liberation in Palestine,” said Bea. “And yet we’ve seen our government and our institutions such as Concordia University crack down on protesters and we are in the midst of a nationwide crackdown on student protesters.”

Concordia University’s Campus Safety and Prevention services issued a statement on Sept. 26 saying that, “As always, Campus Safety and Prevention Services were on site and the SPVM had been alerted in advance.

“One of our agents was assaulted by protesters while stopping an individual who was committing vandalism,” the statement continued. “Assault on security personnel and antisemitic graffiti are unacceptable. The SPVM arrested three of the protestors for criminal acts.”

Then, after CityNews left Thursday’s protest, Montreal police say two people were arrested at around 2:30 p.m. A man and woman, both in their 20s, were detained for assaulting a 35-year old security guard. Both were released with a promise to appear. 

All of those we interviewed wore masks and preferred to stay anonymous. 

“We want to be able to have political statements, which has not been happening recently,” said another student protestor. “The departments are being silenced, faculties being silenced, students are being silenced, and I don’t stand for that.”

Protesters allege that some faced academic repercussions. 

“The administration is using academic punishments against student protesters, such as tribunals and suspensions,” said Bea.

A Concordia University spokesperson responded when contacted by CityNews: 

“The Office of Student Tribunals (OST) is neutral with respect to all cases that it handles, whether the requesting party is a student, faculty member, staff member or the University itself. [It] organizes hearings in order to provide students with due process under various policies […].”

The students plan to hold a press conference on Nov. 1 at the corner of De Maisonneuve & rue Mackay. 

“I believe in like democracy and equitable democracy like everyone should be able to have their voices heard,” said a protestor.

Another saying, “We can’t let it stand. For a university that’s supposed to be a next generation university, we have to be doing better.”