Pro-Palestine Rioters in Montreal Set Cars Ablaze, Smash Windows as NATO Meeting Underway

Police watch as people march near McGill University campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Montreal on Oct. 7, 2024. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi

Montreal police say that at least three arrests were made after cars were burned and windows smashed during a pro-Palestinian protest on the first night of a NATO meeting in the city.

Police said the individuals were arrested on Nov. 22 after a demonstration that began in the afternoon and resulted in two car fires and smashed windows at some businesses.

Smoke bombs were deployed and metal barriers were tossed into the street during the march, police said. Windows of the convention centre were also smashed by protesters.

The riot happened on the first day of the three-day NATO summit, which 300 delegates are expected to attend.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, whose riding is in Montreal, told reporters on Nov. 23 that the protesters’ actions are unacceptable.

“What we saw was not peaceful protest. What we saw was actually violence, hate, and anti-Semitism, and this has no place on our streets,” Joly said during a news conference at the International Security Forum in Halifax.

“Of course, we believe in the freedom of speech, we believe in the freedom to demonstrate, but where we draw the line is when there’s violence.”

Defence Minister Bill Blair who was with Joly at the forum called the vandalism an act of anarchy by a mob.

“It was engagement in violence and hatred on display in the City of Montreal,” Blair said.

“Those behaviours are unacceptable and we can condemn them, and in particular the hatred and anti-Semitism that was on display, in the strongest possible terms.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also condemned the protest.

“Violent mobs riot and rampage through beautiful Montreal, typifying the chaos that is engulfing our once-peaceful country after 9 years of Trudeau’s radical, divisive agenda,” he wrote in a Nov. 22 post on X. “Trudeau fiddles while Montreal burns.”

Anthony Housefather, the Liberal MP for Mount Royal in Montreal, said the protesters veered into lawlessness.

“I have consistently asked Mayors to advise police that criminal law & municipal bylaws need to be applied,” he wrote on X. “Tolerating behaviour like this to avoid escalation emboldens those breaking the law & scares others.”

Other political leaders also raised concerns, including Conservative MP and deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, who called the riot a display of complete lawlessness.

“Rioters on a violent rampage and not a single word from our government,” Lantsman wrote in a Nov. 22 post on X. “Bring back law and order, safe streets and communities in the Canada we once knew and loved.”

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said the riots had no place in her city.

“The excesses of the demonstration last night are shocking and have no place in a peaceful metropolis like Montreal. Neither chaos, violence nor trouble towards merchants are tolerated and I thank the [Montreal Police] who made several arrests yesterday,” she said in a Nov. 23 post on X.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.