Middle East protests: Police chief defends force while admitting to limitations

Montreal police chief Fady Dagher makes a speech after being sworn in during a ceremony, in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Montreal's police chief said there have been as many as 109 arrests in connection with protests in the last 14 months.

In a radio interview with Aaron Rand on CJAD 800, Fady Dagher said the arrests concern "demonstrations or the conflict in the Middle-East."

Montreal drew international attention after images of protesters smashing windows of the Palais des Congrès during anti-NATO and pro-Palestinian protests last Friday went viral. Dagher stressed that those images "are not Montreal," were "one evening in one place," and the chaos  only lasted about five minutes.

The police force has been heavily criticized for a perceived delay in the response to the protest violence, which Dagher addressed on air.

When asked why there weren't more arrests during the protests, Dagher said police need to be strategic. Because the protesters marched near an emergency room and a highway, it would not have made sense to disperse them there. He said it would have been chaos if protesters rushed into the hospital, and he didn't "want anyone throwing themselves onto the highway."

Dagher added that arrests can be made days after the fact, or even months, without public attention. As an example, Dagher cited the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of a Jewish school. The arrest came six months after the incident happened.

In explaining the limitations police face when dealing with protesters, Dagher pointed to court rulings that protect them.

In 2015, a court struck down a law banning protesters from covering their faces. During the 2012 student protests, police would use a tactic called "kettling" to surround protesters, preventing them from leaving, and arrest them en-masse, which has also been banned.

Acknowledging public frustration, the police chief said he has to respect the right to protest and specified that even if protesters are angry and yelling, it is still a peaceful demonstration.

"I know it’s been frustrating for the neighbourhood to repeatedly see demonstrations coming back, but we cannot arrest or stop a demonstration that is not being violent because of the human right [to protest]," he said.

Once there is a "clear threat," like a threat against a specific person or violence, police can intervene, he said. However, officers might choose not to arrest the person in the middle of the crowd.

He said the SPVM's hate crime division is on high alert as instances of antisemitism in the city are worrying.

"It should be remembered that nearly 500 demonstrations have taken place in Montreal over the last 14 months, and that events of a criminal nature have been reported in only around 10 of them," an SPVM spokesperson told CTV News in an email.