Montreal police pepper spray bar patrons

A screengrab from RDI Radio-Canada news report appears to show Montreal police police pepper-spraying patrons at Montreal bar Saturday night.



The Canadian Press:

Montreal - A day after a violent protest ending in a series of street fires, police came under criticism Sunday over an altercation caught on video that shows patrons on a bar patio getting pepper sprayed.

Surveillance footage, played in a loop Sunday on one of Quebec’s all-news stations, shows several people sprayed by riot police at close range. Customers are seen scrambling to get inside the bar as a police officer knocks over tables and chairs.

Another video from a local TV station shows the officers took action after one was hit by a flying chair. The chair was then flung back toward the patio.

The bar owner said police went too far and he’s considering taking legal action.

“People were falling on each running inside to get away from the pepper spray, breaking things, and then people left by the back exit,” said Martin Guimond, who runs the Saint Bock brasserie in the city’s lively Latin Quarter.

“My waitress said, ‘we have to call 911.’ And then she said, ‘But wait, it’s the police that are doing this.’ That’s when you realize there’s a total loss of security.”

Police didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the incident, which occurred only steps from where the fires were earlier set.

Police were armed with Bill 78, which lays out regulations governing demonstrations of over 50 people. The bill passed last week includes requiring organizers to give eight hours’ notice for details such as the protest route, the duration and the time at which they’re being held.

The bill was intended to restore order and put an end to three months of student protests, but it appears only to have given the movement momentum.

A demonstration was held Sunday afternoon against Quebec’s new emergency law and another march was planned for later in the evening.

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