Police are in force at anti-lockdown protests in Montreal on Saturday that have drawn large crowds. Footage from Marie Oakes, of Westphalian News, shows footage of police in gear running into the crowd and arresting protestors.
Montreal police are running into the crowd to arrest people. Police in riot gear, pointing non-lethal weapons at protesters.
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) March 20, 2021
Reporting for @WestphalianNews #Montreal #MontrealProtest #lockdown pic.twitter.com/8N8boFirRv
"Montreal police are running into the crowd to arrest people. Police in riot gear, pointing non-lethal weapons at protesters," Oakes reports.
The scene unfolds along downtown Montreal's East St. Catherine's Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares.
The video shows several riot police running up behind a man and surrounding him. Several officers of them put their hands on him and walk him away, presumably to arrest him.
The man was clearly not doing anything more than walking at the time. It would appear that he was simply targeted at random and made an example of as perhaps a warning to other protestors. What he has been charged with is unknown.
He does not resit as he is hauled away by several police in riot gear. The crowd can be heard angrily shouting and cursing at police.
Additional video was shot from a balcony, as Oakes is standing next to a cameraperson from the CBC. Five seconds into the 27-second clip, people spot the CBC logo on the camera as well, and start calling out "fake news, fake news" to the cameraperson.
Protesters calling the CBC “fake news” (I am standing next to the CBC camera man).
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) March 20, 2021
Reporting for @WestphalianNews #Montreal #MontrealProtest #lockdown pic.twitter.com/oaKECFuBmy
"Protesters calling the CBC 'fake news' (I am standing next to the CBC camera man)," mentions Oakes in the tweet.
People agreed wholeheartedly in the comments to Oakes video footage on Twitter.
When the shoe fits....
— Michael Thomlinson (@miket136) March 20, 2021
UPDATE: The number of protestors appears to have increased as more of them marched from the Plateau neighbourhood of Montreal to unite with the thousands already gathered downtown, just a couple of km away.
Wow. HUGE crowd marching down Parc Avenue to join the anti-lockdown demonstration downtown in Montreal. pic.twitter.com/U73DG5y7og
— Barrett Wilson (@BarrettWilson6) March 20, 2021
Another massive crowd marched down Parc Av., passing local landmark Mont Royal, headed towards the police.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.