Trudeau, political leaders denounce 'violence and hatred' at anti-NATO demonstration in Montreal

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined federal cabinet ministers and other politicians in condemning Friday night's anti-NATO demonstration in Montreal, calling the protesters' actions "appalling." 

Montreal police say at least three people were arrested after protests by pro-Palestinian and anti-NATO demonstrators turned violent, with protesters throwing objects at police, lighting two vehicles on fire and breaking windows.

Police say they arrested a 22-year-old woman for obstructing police work and assaulting a police officer, as well as two men, 22 and 28, both for obstructing police work. All three were released and will appear in court at a later date. 

Trudeau took to X Saturday afternoon to denounce the events that unfolded. 

"What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling," he wrote. "Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them."

He said the RCMP is in touch with local police, adding "there must be consequences and rioters held accountable."

As of Saturday afternoon, Montreal police said they have not received any reports of antisemitic acts or other hate crimes related to the demonstration.

"I can't make the correlation with yesterday's acts, whether they were antisemitic or not," Montreal police chief Fady Dagher told reporters Saturday afternoon, adding that he's not ready to make any conclusions yet.

He explained the people who caused the chaos had other objectives than those of the protesters.

"I find it totally intolerable, absolutely intolerable, to attack law enforcement officers who are there to keep the peace. All the demonstrations we've had so far have, generally, gone very well," he said.

Dagher pointed out that impromptu events are extremely difficult to anticipate and that, without police intervention, things would've been worse.

He says he is confident other arrests will be made in connection with the protest.

The protest, organized by the Divest for Palestine collective and anti-capitalist group CLAC, was meant to denounce the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as the city hosts the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from Nov. 22 to 25. 

Benoît Allard, a spokesperson for the Divest for Palestine collective, told The Canadian Press he and several other protesters were injured by police and at least four protesters had to go to hospital.

He said the purpose of the protest was to demonstrate against what he called NATO's "complicity with Israel's military while it's conducting its genocide in Gaza, ... war crimes in Lebanon, Syria," among other injustices in the region.

Canada is one of NATO's 32 member states.

"It's not okay to use money from our pension funds to invest in companies that are providing weapons to the state of Israel, that are being used to kill Palestinians," he told CBC.

CBC has reached out to NATO for comment. 

Allard said he and other demonstrators were assaulted by police. 

"If we don't want the anger, we have to address the root cause, and the root cause of this anger is injustice. Without justice, there won't be peace," he said. "That anger is rooted in solidarity with all people that are struggling with oppression."

The protest also coincided with the second day of student-held pro-Palestinian strikes and protests across Quebec. 

Protesters reject accusations of antisemitism

Speaking to reporters at the Halifax International Security Forum earlier Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Defence Minister Bill Blair said the actions of the protesters were unacceptable.

"This was nothing like lawful, peaceful protests," Blair said. "This was anarchy. It was engagement in violence and hatred on display in the city of Montreal."

Joly added that what was seen was "violence, hate and antisemitism, and this has no place on our streets."

However, Allard rejected accusations of antisemitism. He said the protests were against the actions of the state of Israel and not Jewish people and added the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant earlier this week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Thursday, the court said in a news release there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu committed "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts."

A breakdown of events

The demonstration began in Place Émilie-Gamelin in the Ville-Marie borough at around 4:30 p.m., according to Montreal police spokesperson Const. Manuel Couture. The group started walking toward St-Urbain Street at around 5 p.m., meeting up with another demonstration near Place des Arts.

Things started to go awry around 6:10 p.m., when protesters lit a mannequin on fire in the middle of the crowd and began marching together, throwing objects including smoke bombs and metal barriers into the street to obstruct police work, Couture said, noting protesters then threw fireworks and assaulted police officers. 

The arrests were made for assaulting police officers and obstructing police work, he said. 

When the protest reached the intersection of St-Urbain Street and René-Lévesque Boulevard, some people began smashing business windows, he said, adding windows at the Palais des congrès were also smashed.

At around 6:40 p.m., police deployed chemical irritants and other techniques to disperse the crowd, according to Couture. That's when two vehicles were lit on fire and other store windows were broken, he said. By 7 p.m., the demonstrators had left the site.

Legault, Poilievre react

Quebec Premier François Legault is one of several politicians who took to X Saturday morning to criticize the protest.

"The violent and hateful scenes we witnessed last night in the streets of Montreal, with attacks specifically targeting the Jewish community, are unacceptable," he wrote. 

"Burning cars and smashing windows is not about sending a message, it's about causing chaos."

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also condemned the "shocking" actions from demonstrators, saying they have no place in a peaceful city like Montreal. 

She thanked police for making arrests, adding that chaos and violence toward merchants is unacceptable.

Late Friday night, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the protest and Trudeau on X.

"Violent mobs riot and rampage through beautiful Montreal, typifying the chaos that is engulfing our once-peaceful country after nine years of Trudeau's radical, divisive agenda," he wrote.