Demonstration degenerated in Montreal - Eric THOMAS / AFP

Rampaged store windows, clashes with the police, clashes ... A demonstration organized following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who succumbed during an arrest by a white policeman degenerated on Sunday at the end of the day in Montreal, Canada. For about three hours, around 10,000 people, unofficial estimates estimated, crisscrossed the city center but soon after the order to disperse in the early evening, violence erupted in the city center when a group of protesters launched projectiles against the police. The police responded with tear gas.

Several shop windows were ransacked by thugs, one of which was filmed by televisions fleeing with an electric guitar stolen from a music store. Calm seemed to return to central Montreal late in the evening, according to media reports. The police did not indicate how many people had been arrested.

Shops with storefronts were only allowed to reopen at the beginning of last week in Montreal, while the Quebec metropolis is the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in Canada. Most of the Montreal demonstrators wore a mask, but during the parade through the streets of the city or the rally in Canada Place, few respected the physical distance of two meters recommended by the authorities.

"Black lives matter"

Numerous signs, often in English, proclaimed "Black lives matter", "No justice no peace" or "I can't breathe" ( "I can't breathe"), referring to the last words spoken by George Floyd when he was tackled to the ground by a police officer. "I came in solidarity with the protesters in the United States," said Danielle, a 28-year-old student from the United States. “Justice must be done. When a man says "I can't breathe", you have to listen to him ".

The Montreal police had even taken care, in a tweet, to denounce the circumstances of the death of George Floyd, which "go against the values ​​of our organization". "We respect the rights and the need of everyone to speak out against this violence and will be with you to ensure your safety," the police said on Twitter.

World

Death of George Floyd: New protests in the United States, Trump attacks "anarchists"

George FLoyd

  • Demonstration
  • Canada
  • Minneapolis
  • Montreal
  • World