Montreal police presence ramps up at pro-palestinian encampment

As the pro-palestinian encampment at Mcgill University’s downtown campus entered its sixth day Thursday, there was a visible police presence ahead of a planned counter-protest by pro-israel groups.

More than a dozen officers were on the Mcgill campus shortly after 8:30 a.m., along with other police vehicles parked nearby.

Police have generally kept a low profile around the camp, usually with a single vehicle parked across the street.

Montreal Police spokesman Const. Jeanpierre Brabant said officers are there to ensure the safety of encampment participants, counter-protesters and the public.

“We’re here for safety purposes,” he said in an interview. “We have intervention groups that will be ready if there’s any confrontation, but that’s not what we want at this point, we want a protest that’s going to be calm and done pacifically.”

Police are continuing to analyze the situation, but have no plans to use force to dismantle the encampment, he said.

“From the beginning, it’s been peaceful,” Brabant said of the encampment, adding that police have not conducted any interventions on the site since the camp was set up Saturday.

Communications between police and encampment organizers are going very well, Brabant said, adding that police are also in “constant communication with Mcgill University.”

A few encampment participants came and went Thursday morning, while some were seen speaking with police, but the chats and drumming often heard during the day in front of the fenced camp had not yet begun. Postmedia News