Premier François Legault says he’s concerned about violent protests such as the one last weekend in Montreal, and has offered extra police officers if the city wants them.
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“I spoke with Mayor Valérie Plante earlier and I told her it is urgent that in the coming days we have more arrests of the thugs and the vandals who were violent Friday,” Legault said Tuesday, “and until we re-establish order in Montreal, I offered to send the Sûreté du Québec to Montreal.”
It was the first time Legault addressed the media since the violence that broke out in downtown Montreal on Friday, during one in a series of protests while a NATO summit was being held at the Palais des congrès. Protesters clashed with police and some threw paint at riot officers, while others smashed windows and torched two cars. Three people were arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers and obstructing police work. The SPVM says more arrests are pending as they review footage of the events and attempt to locate suspects.
Legault was not specific about how SQ officers would help out in Montreal, and he acknowledged that the investigation into violent acts at Friday’s protest is under the jurisdiction of the Montreal police force.
When asked if he believes Montreal police have control of the situation, Legault said he does “until proven otherwise, but I expect for there to be some action in the coming days.”
“We only had three people who were arrested (on Friday),” Legault said. “If you saw the images, we saw there were a lot more than three who were violent, so we expect the SPVM will arrest many more people in the coming days, and that’s what I said to Valérie Plante.”
Reached for comment, Plante said she has confidence in the city’s police force.
“There has been collaboration between the SQ and the SPVM for a long time, and numerous SQ officers were on the ground Friday and Saturday acting in a support role,” Plante wrote in a statement sent by text message. “The SPVM has all the expertise and latitude to proceed with arrests and ensure the security of the city of Montreal.”
Police have been criticized on all fronts regarding recent protests.
Protesters denounced the use of chemical irritants to disperse the crowd that gathered at Friday’s rally. A leader of the Jewish community has also spoken out about how he says he was treated when pro-Palestinian protesters were marching in his vicinity downtown on Sunday.
Adam Scheier, the rabbi at the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue in Westmount, said he was asked to leave the area where he was standing while the protest rolled through.
“The policeman explained to me that he was fearful of a ‘fire starting between the two sides,’” he wrote on Facebook. “Apparently, my presence is deemed a sufficient provocation for removal, while their hateful chants are allowed to continue.”
Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather denounced the incident as “absurd policing.”
“I am deeply concerned that policing in Montreal has turned from enforcing the law and making people feel safe to ensuring that we just don’t escalate situations,” he wrote in an email. “This is sending the wrong message.”
City hall opposition leader Aref Salem called on Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher to instruct his officers to enforce the law, saying it’s unacceptable to ask citizens who are respecting the law to leave an area for their safety.
Montreal police have not returned a request for comment about the incident involving Scheier.