Montreal police arrested 21 people in a tense standoff at Université de Quebec à Montreal Wednesday afternoon.

Students then took over a building into Wednesday evening, staging a sit-in on campus.

Police were called in a 2 p.m. from UQAM administration for help dealing with a student protest inside the university’s Hubert-Aquin Pavilion.

Police say the incident began in the morning with fights inside the campus between students in disagreement over boycotting classes to protest the government’s budget cuts. Police say students shoved and attacked each other with fists and umbrellas.

A total of 21 masked protesters who were preventing classes from taking place were arrested shortly before 3 p.m. and were taken to a detention centre for questioning.

Police say some teachers tried to block police from leaving. No professors were arrested.

A police spokesperson confirmed officers stood outside during the incident to create a security perimeter. The situation appeared to return to normal by 4 p.m., when the police left the scene.

UQAM’s internal security GARDA took over security at the school.

Some students then decided to continue staging a protest at UQAM, sitting inside the building for several hours, blocking police and journalists from entering.

UQAM professor Jean-Hugues Roy told CTV about a dozen teachers and teachers’ assistants have been working all day to act as go-betweens in the conflict between the students, and the UQAM administration and police.

Roy said the conflict is unrelated to the union’s contract demands, and that they simply seek a peaceful school environment. The professor said he disagrees with students who block access to classes but sees no reason students can’t protest peacefully.

Professors entered police station 21 Wednesday afternoon to ask that the 21 arrested students be released. Their attempt was unsuccessful.

In a statement, UQAM rector Robert Proulx said acts of intimidation had no place at the university, and that violence and vandalism are unacceptable.

 

Wednesday's confrontation comes after several tense days at the university.

A judge granted UQAM a ten-day injunction last Wednesday to stop student protesters from blocking the entrances to buildings.

L'Université de Quebec à Montreal applied for the injunction last Monday after a small group of protesters refused to let people enter several buildings.

Students from UQAM's communication and languages association voted to end their protests Tuesday, by a 700 to 200 margin.

That morning, masked protesters interrupted classes at UQAM, shutting off lights and computers.

The disturbance was in response to a move by the university, which obtained an injunction to prevent protesters from barring access to the university last week.

About six classes were cancelled Tuesday.

These protests are part of a larger movement against the Quebec government's so-called austerity measures.