About 20 law students and a professor were shocked by what they described as a particularly aggressive invasion by about eight masked protesters who forced the cancellation of a law class at UQAM Thursday evening.
Professor Daniel St-Pierre said that the students rushed in at about 7 p.m. demanded that the 20 students leave, turned off lights, a projector and a computer in a demonstration that lasted about 15 minutes.
One student in attendance described it as a harrowing experience.
"They started screaming at us, saying: ‘you’re not respecting the strike. You don’t have to be in class, you have to get out. We won’t get out until you do!’ it was really aggressive," the student, who asked not to be named, told CTV Montreal.
"I was not happy at all," she said. "I stood up and started screaming that they had no right to be there. Everybody was really scared, shaking, one student even had a panic attack and someone had to escort her out."
The protesters left after receiving a text message, possibly warning them of the impending arrival of security. They were not apprehended.
One day earlier Justice Robert Mongeon granted UQAM a 10-day injunction that forbids five student associations and 34 protesters from blocking doors or preventing others from attending class.
School officials said that they are evaluating the events before deciding on what steps to take.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
