McGill dismantles pro-Palestinian encampment, ending months-long protest on campus
University used private security agency to clear out protesters
McGill University closed its campus on Wednesday and dismantled the pro-Palestinian encampment there.
Early Wednesday morning, a large force of local and provincial police officers, some wearing riot gear, and others on bicycles and on horseback, descended near the campus after the university served two eviction notices to protesters there.
A team of private security guards hired by McGill then escorted dozens of protesters from the encampment to make way for workers in high-visibility vests who used a front loader and a backhoe to clear the tents, signs and tarps left by the protesters.
The university issued a statement describing the encampment as a magnet for violence and intimidation. The statement said most of the people there were not students and that there had been overdoses and illegal drug use at the camp.
By mid-morning, the security team and contractors hired by the university had hauled down the tents and fences, which had been in place for more than 10 weeks, as dozens of police in riot gear stood at the ready.
By noon, the camp was all but gone. Piles of twisted tent poles and tarps lay on the lawn and workers stacked fencing and pallets which were carried away by dump trucks.
McGill said of the 35 people who were at the site, almost all chose to leave and were given the opportunity to remove their personal belongings.
Some protesters did not leave willingly. Police escorted them from the encampment and at least one person was arrested after an altercation with a security guard, according to Radio-Canada.
"I think it's absolutely shameful that the McGill administration has to go through a private company to rid the campus of its own students," said Zeyad Abisaab, who has been affiliated with the McGill encampment through Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).
McGill erected temporary fencing blocking access to the campus by students and staff. Sûreté du Québec officers wearing heavy green riot gear stood at entrances to the campus and turned people away.
The university remained closed all day.
A group of several dozen protesters, which included some people who had left the encampment, carried Palestinian flags and faced off with a line of Montreal police officers near the campus Wednesday morning. They chanted slogans and, as heavy rain began to fall Wednesday afternoon, they remained on site, waving flags and singing. Both that protest and the operation to dismantle the encampment took place peacefully and in relative calm.
The move to dismantle the encampment comes in the wake of months of conflict on campus, including the occupation of an administration building that led to riot police clashing with protesters.
Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said officers from the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) were present only to support the private security guards and workers hired by McGill.
Since April 27, the students have camped on the downtown campus's lower field in protest of the university's investments in weapons companies and other companies with ties to Israel.
It was one of a large number of encampment protests that were set up across North America in response to Israel's military operation and bombing campaign in Gaza.
McGill president Deep Saini said in a statement that McGill will always respect freedom of expression and assembly exercised within the limits of laws and policies that ensure safety.
"However, recent events go far beyond peaceful protest, and have inhibited the respectful exchange of views and ideas that is so essential to the university's mission and to our sense of community," he said.
Saini said the university hired a firm to investigate the activities taking place inside the encampment as police and university officials were denied access.
He said the firm found few members of the McGill community were part of the encampment and that most were activists from external groups or unhoused individuals residing there overnight.
"This camp was not a peaceful protest," Saini said in a statement to the McGill community. "It was a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence."
Scott Weinstein, a nurse and one of the protesters who remained on campus, said the private security firm hired by the university had told them to leave around 4 a.m. But he said the protesters who remained on site, a group of six people who sat on benches near the campus gates, were not being arrested.
He disputed the university's characterization of the encampment as violent and said the protesters were not responsible for the illegal drug use.
"If there's drug overdoses, it's because there's homeless people in downtown Montreal," he said.
Last camp standing in Quebec
Prior to Wednesday's operation, two Quebec Superior Court judges rejected provisional injunctions to have the McGill encampment removed and police had said they would not act against it until they received judicial authorization.
All other pro-Palestinian encampments set up at universities in Quebec, including Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Sherbrooke and Université Laval have been taken down.
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With files from Rowan Kennedy