Protesters throw incendiary object at officer, damage windows at Concordia University: police

A screenshot of a video posted on social media shows police tape covering a damaged window at Concordia University following a protest Sunday evening. (Source: Instagram/@sphrconcordia)

Several windows were damaged and spray painted with "Free Gaza" during a protest at Concordia University Sunday night, Montreal police say.

Police said the "impromptu" protest started at around 9:15 p.m. as around 50 people gathered near Maisonneuve Boulevard and Guy Street.

Police got a 911 call about protesters smashing windows at the university. When officers arrived, they saw the group heading toward de la Montagne Street. Individuals also damaged the windows of "many businesses" downtown and then started to flee the scene toward the Peel metro, according to police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant.

There was a foot chase, during which a protester threw an incendiary object, possibly a Molotov cocktail, toward an officer, Brabant said. No officers or members of the public were injured after the object ignited, he added.

Police arrested four people in their 20s who were identified and then released without charges. Police say the investigation is ongoing and investigators are looking at surveillance footage as they gather more evidence. Charges could be laid at a later date.

The protest was under control by 11 p.m.

A video posted by the Students for Palestine's Honour and Resistance - Concordia group on social media showed several windows that were broken at the Henry F. Hall Building.

In their post, they said "autonomous students took action" at the building "as the university continues to ignore student calls for divestment, and takes full pride in its ties with institutions complicit with genocide."

'Unacceptable'

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante called the protesters' actions "unacceptable."

"We will not tolerate it," she wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Demonstrating is one thing, but damaging property, injuring others and harming the physical integrity of our peace officers is another."

Quebec's public security minister, François Bonnardel, also reacted on X, writing that "it is unacceptable to attack our police officers in this way."

"In Quebec, we are fortunate to be able to express our opinions freely. As a society, we cannot tolerate acts of violence or incitement to hatred. I call on all politicians to denounce them," he said, adding that he intends to have a meeting soon with ministry officials to discuss public safety ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas.