A video of a man being pepper sprayed by Montreal police has gone viral, as bystanders can be heard saying he had done nothing other than honking his car horn.

As of Sunday afternoon, the video had been viewed over 170,000 on Facebook after being posted at around noon. The video shows police approaching a man in his car on Ste. Catherine St., apparently during Grand Prix weekend to reprimand him for honking his horn.

Police said the man tried to drive away from the scene and in doing so hit the officer's bicycle. At that point an officer sprayed the man who was then detained.

He faces charges of resisting arrest and interfering with police work.

CTV Montreal reached out to the person who posted the video asking about the circumstances leading up to the event, but has not received a response.

Following the man being sprayed, bystanders can be heard yelling at the officers. A second police officer then turns to the crowd and discharges their pepper spray canister.

Montreal police Inspector Ian Lafreniere said the man in the video did not co-operate with officers.

"He refused to identify himself, he forced his way out, and that's the reason why he's got some criminal accusations. But again I want to be extremely careful. On the other end we're not sure what happened exactly so we're don't know if the officers in the use of force, in the use of pepper spray that was appropriate," said Lafreniere.

He said once the video had been reviewed the force would then determine if the event needed to be the subject of an internal investigation.

"When use of force is done police have got to fill out a report and we do an evaluation and a feedback on each time. So for us, it's too early to judge that," said Lafreniere.

Meanwhile Mayor Valerie Plante did not wait.

On Monday morning she said that after seeing the video she called the chief of police and said an investigation must take place.

If the man who was arrested files a complaint for excessive force, that would prompt a second investigation by the police ethics committee.

In the meantime, police are asking witnesses to call 514-280-2045 with any information that might be useful in the investigation.