Montreal police say at least three people were arrested after protests turned violent Friday evening, with demonstrators throwing objects at police, lighting two vehicles on fire and breaking windows.
The protest was meant to denounce the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as the city hosts the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from Nov. 22 to 25.
The demonstration began in Émilie-Gamelin Place in the Ville-Marie borough at around 4:30 p.m., according to Montreal police spokesperson Const. Manuel Couture. The group started walking toward St-Urbain Street at around 5 p.m., meeting up with another demonstration near Place des Arts.
At around 6:10 p.m., protesters lit a mannequin on fire in the middle of the crowd and began marching together, throwing objects including smoke bombs and metal barriers into the street to obstruct police work, Couture said, noting protesters then threw fireworks and assaulted police officers.
The arrests were made for assaulting police officers and obstructing police work, according to Couture.
When the protest reached the intersection of St-Urbain and René-Lévesque Boulevard, some people began smashing business windows, he said, adding windows at the Palais des congrès were also smashed.
At around 6:40 p.m., police deployed chemical irritants and other techniques to disperse the crowd, according to Couture. That’s when two vehicles were lit on fire and other store windows were broken, he said. By 7 p.m., the demonstrators had left the site.