What I saw at the demo: police violence
As a bystander caught out in the thick of last Thursday’s anti-brutality and student protests, I am dismayed by the press’s lack of coverage of its violent climax at BERRI-UQÀM.
Trapped near the Grande Bibliothèque and barred by guards from nearly every métro access, I narrowly escaped into an unblocked entrance seconds before police rushed bystanders and protesters alike. Through a window I saw what reporters did not: police shoved fleeing protesters to the ground and beat them. When they attempted to get up, they were knocked down and beaten again. Meanwhile, non-protesters too slow to find shelter beat on the locked doors and pleaded to security to let them in, moments before they were hassled and attacked by police. Finally, it should be noted that the majority of those cornered at the library were not part of the raucous main body of the protest, but were actually quiet participants trying in vain to keep a safe distance from the police response.
The public must never turn a blind eye to police violence. Placing all blame on the protesters only ratifies the idea that assault and battery are fine, provided you are in uniform.
Alexei Pardiak
Côte St. Luc I turned the TV on friday to see the mayor of Montreal condemning the behaviour that erupted during the anti-brutality protest. I believe that he referred to the ensuing violence as “disgusting.” I also heard him say something like “This cannot continue in our city.”
I am not in any way condoning such violence. But when an innocent citizen is shot dead by police, or innocent people are victims of aggression by overzealous métro security agents, is our mayor ever to be found condemning that behaviour?
It would appear that our leaders are so insulated and naive that they cannot discern the symptoms of citizen unrest from its true causes.
Robert Miller
Montreal