The COBP denounces the police brutality and the arrests that took place on March 15th, which were neither justified nor necessary. The tactic used by the SPVM to end the 10th demonstration against police brutality was once again a mass arrest, done without a warning to disperse. We encourage those who were arrested to contest their tickets before April 15 2006, and to contact us. We also invite anyone who experienced or witnessed police brutality during the march to get in contact with us. The struggle continues against police brutality every day and the COBP will continue to do work, informing people of their rights, denouncing the crimes committed by police, and supporting victims of police abuse.

Account of the 10th Demonstration Against Police Brutality in Montreal

Around March 15, 2006 a number of events were organized in commemoration of the 10th International day Against Police Brutality. In Kitchener, Ontario there was a demonstration against police brutality March 6th. In Toronto, there was a vigil March 15th in memory of Jefferey Reodica, a Philippino youth of 17 years who was killed by police in 2004. In Mexico, the Other Campaign and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) launched a call to participate in the day’s events, with a demonstration planned for the 15th in Oaxaca against police brutality and for the liberation of all political prisoners.
On the streets of Montreal, an estimated 400 people participated in the 10th demonstration for the International Day Against Police Brutality. The group assembled March 15th at 5pm at Berri Square. The goals of this march, as described by a speaker from the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP), were to express solidarity with victims of police violence (as well as with their loved ones); demand an end of harassment of street people, especially those people who experience the street as their home and/or their workplace; shame the police for their repeated acts of political repression; denounce murder committed by police. The speaker also denounced the officer Benoît Guay of the Montreal Police (SPVM), who has been charged with a series of rapes. Finally, he demanded the liberation of Gary Gabriel, a Mohawk political prisoner condemned to 15 months in jail for his participation in events that went down January 12, 2004 in Kanehsatake
A member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement (IPSM) followed this with a call for solidarity in the face of an imminent threat of attack by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the Mohawk community of Tyendinega. Following this, a member of Solidarity Across Borders (SAB/SSF) also announced the acquittal of a group of non-status Algerians and their allies this past February 24th. They had been arrested in the office of ex-minister of immigration Denis Coderre in Ottawa in June of 2003 while they occupied the office in protest. Some of them had been attacked with electric shocks administered by tasers while in handcuffs. A couple of more people took the megaphone to denounce police abuse and the march took to the street.
The march took the direction of Berri towards the North, and turned left on Ontario, while the crowd chanted “Policiers assassins!‿ (police = assassin), “La police au service des riches et des fascists!‿ (The police in service of the rich and of fascists), and “No justice, No Peace; Fuck the Police!‿ The first stop was in front of the Presse Cafe at the corner of Ontario and St. Denis, where Michel Morin was killed September 4th 2002 at the hands of SPVM officers. The death had been described as a “violent, accidental death,‿ by the coroner.
Afterwards, the march stopped in front of the CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal for a fire spinning and fire juggling performance, as people were reminded of the police force used against people during the massive student strike in 2005. They were also reminded of the brutality of the private security of the CEGEP to end a feminist bed-in November 18th 2004. The demonstration then continued west, and turned right on St. Laurent. On the hill north of Ontario Street, people were reminded of Martin Suazo, killed by cops for having stolen a pair of pants May 31st, 1995. The march then passed in front of the Shed Café, north of Sherbrooke, where we remembered Jean-Pierre Lizotte, killed in 1999 by Officer Giovanni Stante, who was later acquitted.
The march then reversed and returned south towards Sherbrooke. A line of police with caps who were just behind the march formed a line along a restaurant on the corner of St Laurent and Milton, where they received some projectiles. One cop emerged from a car and sprayed the crowd with pepper spray, sending everyone in a flurry down the street. Several dozen cops then emerged, armed with helmets, shields and night sticks, and charged the crowd that had taken off running east on Sherbrooke.
Subsequently, the people descended St Hubert and found themselves face-to-face with a line of riot cops who had blocked access to Ontario Street. People then rushed into an alleyway and poured onto St Christophe, where the riot cops had again blocked access to Ontario. The group then returned towards Sherbrooke up a flight of stairs, and continued once again to march East on Sherbrooke. The group headed South on Amherst, where a police car charged through the crowd. Finally, people returned to Berri Square via De Maisonneuve. Here, at the corner of Berri and St Catherine, some dozen riot police encircled a group of about fifteen demonstrators, releasing those who were not dressed like punks, except for one student journalist from McGill University.
At the end of the day, 33 people were arrested and received tickets under the famous anti-demonstration law –the same one that 191 arrestees had been charged with November 19 2004. The people were handcuffed and placed on an STM (‘Public’ Transportation Service of Montreal) bus, where they were let off at different Metro stations around the city, including Metro Crémazie. Many demonstrators had been whacked by nightsticks, and many suffered from pepper spray.
The police declared to the media that one police officer was injured by a bottle, and that 5 other agents were sent to Emergency because of pepper spray. The Public Relations for the SPVM, Ian Laffrénière, lied through his teeth by claiming that protesters had pepper sprayed the police (try the other way around!). The Metro newspaper repeated this lie without hesitation. In reality, the police officer who had used an abundance of this chemical weapon assaulted the bodies of not only demonstrators and journalists, but on his fellow cops too! These police officers should have left the area, knowing that there mere presence was provocation to the crowd.
It is important to remember in times like this that the actions of some do not justify the violent and legal punishments experienced by the many. The logic used by police and much of the mainstream media legitimizes the arrest of entire demonstrations when one protestor commits a “criminal‿ act. Ironically, when a police officer commits abuse, they are the first to say that it is an exceptional event and that it is important not to generalize. For us, the real criminals are the murderous police and their colleagues who are complicit in their silence, the state that they work for, and the criminal justice system that guarantees them all impunity. As for the media, it is rare that one hears about the daily harassment that street people suffer at the hands of police, yet they denounce what they portray as the “violence‿ of participants in the March 15th demo. And when there is nothing broken, they don’t even talk about demonstrations.
The COBP denounces the police brutality and the arrests that took place on March 15th, which were neither justified nor necessary. The tactic used by the SPVM to end the 10th demonstration against police brutality was once again a mass arrest, done without a warning to disperse. We encourage those who were arrested to contest their tickets before April 15 2006, and to contact us. We also invite anyone who experienced or witnessed police brutality during the march to get in contact with us. The struggle continues against police brutality every day and the COBP will continue to do work, informing people of their rights, denouncing the crimes committed by police, and supporting victims of police abuse.

The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP)
(514) 859-9065 – c...@hotmail.com – cobp.ath.cx