Mayor Plante and PM Trudeau condemn violence at anti-NATO protest in Montreal

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante spoke out on Monday against the violence that took place during a pro-Palestinian and anti-NATO protest last Friday.

Plante also thanked the Montreal police (SPVM) for their ongoing efforts to keep the area safe.

According to the police, windows were smashed, and cars were burned in downtown Montreal nearby the Palais des congres where NATO delegates were meeting.

“This does not have its place here in Montreal. The right to protest is within our society, it is protected, fine, but not to have such hatred speeches or to break things just for the sake of it,” Plante said.

The mayor noted that the protests were “not antisemitic” but were taken over “by professional vandals.”

She called them “agitators,” and explained how its common for them to show up and vandalize the city.

“That’s why we call them professional vandals, right? I don’t even know if it’s getting their voice heard. I think it’s just using a cause to break things. And again, I want to say, even to put people’s security at risk and to me, this is not what protesting is. It’s a sign of a great democracy. It’s a good thing. But those people, those vandals to me, are just thinking of them. They’re not thinking of the entire cause and the effect it will have on other people as well,” said Plante.

Montreal’s mayor and police chief both say it will take time to arrest everyone since most of them had their faces covered. 

Police have so far arrested three people in connection with Friday’s protest, and police Chief Fady Dagher says there will be more arrests. 

In a radio interview on Monday, Dagher said police used to be able to intercept masked protesters before they could do any damage, thanks to a bylaw that prohibited the use of masks during demonstrations.

But that bylaw was repealed in 2019 after a Quebec Superior Court found the ban was unconstitutional, and Dagher says police now have to wait to intervene until a person commits a crime.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, whose administration repealed the bylaw, says she sympathizes with police officers who are having trouble identifying the protesters.

But Benoît Allard, a spokesperson for one of the groups that organized Friday’s demonstration, says peaceful protesters often wear masks to protect themselves from being targeted by police. 

Police say that 800 people took part in the anti-NATO demonstration but around 20 to 40 people are allegedly responsible the violence.

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condemned the violence at the 70th annual NATO parliamentary assembly in Montreal.

“I need to begin by once again reiterating that what we saw in the violence and the riots on Friday night are absolutely unacceptable,” said Trudeau. “As a democracy, as a country that will always defend the freedom of speech, it’s important for people to be able to go out and protest and express their anger, their disagreements in free and comfortable ways, but there is never any room for anti-Semitism, for hatred, for discrimination, for violence. We expect all those responsible to be pursued and punished under the full extent of the law, and we expect the authorities to do their work.”

Additionally, Plante said that Second Cup made the right decision by removing one woman from the franchise who was filmed making antisemitic gestures at a pro-Palestinian protest last Thursday.

Mayor Planted concluded that everyone needs to be protected amid the ongoing conflicts.

“Anti-Semitism or Islamophobia or anything like that, this combination with me is totally unacceptable, but at the same time, protesting is part of a healthy democracy.”

-With files from The Canadian Press