from sabotagemedia (see their site for more regular updates on the unrest in Montreal), heres an update on May 23rd and 24th from Montreal:
May 23 – Hostage of the smoke bombs case released under conditions
The last accused still held in the case of the smoke bombs in the subway, on May 10th, has been released on parole.
In all, he must comply with as many as 15 conditions, including; a ban from demonstrations, to not approach within 300 meters of a subway or an educational institution, not to speak with the other three women accused in the case of (released on bail May 18 under similar conditions). He is also imposed a curfew and required to pay a deposit of $ 5000 and a third party will commit to $ 10 000.
With three other women, he is charged with mischief, conspiracy and incitement to fear terrorism.
He also faces charges of mischief concerning the occupation of the CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal, at the beginning of the strike.
Another hostage of the State, this one for the riot of April 20th was also released, but provided he no longer finds himself on the island of Montreal, or in an illegal demonstration (which are all protests at this point, police declaring every protest illegal since the 18th of May). Another arrested the night of Saturday, May 19, has been denied his release. He is charged with possession and use of explosives, possession of incendiary material, assault with a weapon and conspiracy.
May 23 – 506 people in a mass arrest because of imaginary rioters
before the mass arrest of 506 people on May 23rd, the media has said in unison that the “rioters*” had launched “flaming projectiles, stones and bottles” to the well deserving SPVM, but unfortunately it is not the case. We would be glad to say that there was much fighting in the street that night, but the reality is that the mass arrest of 506 people which took place was done on a crowd that remained peaceful for hours despite repeated provocations from the cops through arbitrary arrests, blocking streets and flanking the demo with the riotsquad. There were only a handful of hooded people among the thousands who marched in the streets that night in a festive atmosphere. There were many slogans against anti-protest bill 78, against the government, and police, but that’s the level of hostility it was pretty much limited to. Just a matter of minutes before the riotsquad charged on the protest, one of the many crowds, including children, banging on pots and pans throughout the city, joined the demo (the cops themselves confirmed that there were 30 minors in the mass arrest). The SPVM also said, and the media have repeated, that there was a dispersal order given before they kettled the crowd. Once again, this was not the case, no dispersal order was given until after the crowd was kettled, as is usually the case when the SPVM charges on the lot. It was only a matter of seconds: the crowd arrived at the intersection of Sherbrooke and St-Denis, cops blocking the road on St-Denis and the riotsquad that flanked the demo drove into the crowd. Besides, those who are reporting projectiles thrown at the cops were definitely present, but there is no projectile or debris on the ground on any of their pictures or videos.
A video of the arrest here and here
In fact this mass arrest is rather due to the desire for revenge of the SPVM which saw its street blockades broken by excited crowds, several times during the evening. The cops wanted to reimpose their control of the streets in a show of force to intimidate people experiencing the strenght provided by confronting Power in the street.
176 people were also in mass arrested the same evening in Quebec City in similar circumstances.
On April 20th during the Plan Nord Job Fair riots where intense street battles with the cops broke out, there were 17 arrests. The next day, for the same event, an entirely peaceful crowd gathered: there were a hundred arrests. Also to be noted that after months that the government said it would not negotiate with students “representatives” nor allow itself to be intimidated by “violence”, on April 23rd, three days after one of the most combative riots in Montreal’s history, the government began negotiations in a bid to demobilize the masses becoming increasingly radical.
We always hear that the “thugs*” never get caught. It is true that a group of people willing to fight their oppressor with all means available are rarely treated to what the entirely pacifist crowds are. It’s because the cops, who are really cowards needing to be armed to fulfill their sense of security, will react as any abuser when confronting someone willing to defend themselves, they are reluctant to tackle those who do not accept the role of the victim.
May 24 – Ninjas vs. Pirates
Defying the new municipal bilaw P-6 which makes it illegal to wear masks in a protest, several hundred people demonstrated downtown dressed in black and masked, as “ninjas”. They marched behind a black banner that read “a masked ninja will never be filed.”
We finish the update with a few juicy quotes taken from a recent cop interview by one of Peladeau’s** propaganda rags, and a protest trajectory given to the cops as required by bill 78:
“We hold back by telling ourselves that our boss will give us the go soon to charge. This is our candy.”…”When an event is declared illegal, the people have no business being there. No matter how much they raise their hands making peace signs, they’ll get picked up”…”The guys call it National Geographic because when we charge, the youths run like gazelles!”
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*The media, politicians and dogmatic pacifists, use the word “casseur” which is literally “breaker”, essentially meaning rioter, protester destroying property and/or confronting the cops, looter, thug, etc.
**Pierre Carl Peladeau CEO of the Quebecor media empire
