Incident during violent street protest caught on video


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.

Celebrities outside Canada have also gotten behind the cause.

Activist and filmmaker Michael Moore weighed in on Twitter in support of the students and against the new legislation. In New York, Montreal's Arcade Fire wore the movement's iconic red squares during an appearance with Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live.

It remains unclear to what extent police will enforce the new law - or whether they even can.

On Saturday, Montreal police appeared to take a tougher stance than previously seen during the nightly marches.

The march was almost immediately declared illegal because, police said, there was no itinerary provided, protesters walked against traffic, and bottles and rocks were thrown at police.

Police presence was also larger than usual.

Yet the march was allowed to continue for hours, with protesters eventually getting broken up into smaller groups after being charged by riot police.

Montreal police spokesman Const. Yannick Ouimet said 69 arrests were made, including nine people who were charged with criminal offences - five with armed aggression against police, three with assaulting police, and one with arson.

Ouimet said the rest were charged with bylaw infractions punishable by fines.

He also noted that officers recovered a bag containing several Molotov cocktails before they could be used.

Two police officers suffered minor injuries from projectiles and Ouimet said that one protester also suffered a minor injury while being arrested.

He said the property damage included two police cruisers that had their windshields smashed.

Police had declared the protest illegal from the outset and Ouimet said the growing crowd ignored repeated warnings to disperse.

"I think it was told about 50 times to people to leave the protest since it was illegal and that we were going to get out there and disperse the people and make some arrests and people still remain on site," he said Sunday.