Montreal's annual anti-police brutality protest peaceful, no arrests

A Montreal march against perceived police brutality was peaceful Tuesday evening, with no police interventions and no arrests being made.

About 300 protesters gathered at Parc Lafontaine at around 5 p.m. People gathered and took turns beating a stuffed effigy of a police officer, dangling from a tree branch.

The march then kicked off at 8 p.m. at the corner of Garnier and Rachel streets, on the northwest side of the park.

Protesters marched along downtown streets, sometimes in the opposite direction of traffic.

Officers on bicycles and horses followed the crowd. The event remained peaceful.

The march wrapped up at around 9:30 p.m., when the crowd gathered in Cabot Square. Officers asked the crowd to disperse and protesters left the scene.

Violence, vandalism in the past

Last year's event was not as quiet. In 2015, the march led to one arrest while nearly 100 tickets were given out and several police cars were vandalized.

That march was declared illegal as soon as it began because organizers had not informed authorities of their route.

In 2014, five people were arrested, while 200 were detained a year earlier.

The protests have been held in Montreal for nearly 20 years, with some ending with smashed-in storefronts and damaged cop cars.