McGill dismantles pro-Palestinian encampment, ending months-long protest on campus

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.

A team of private security guards 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.

By mid-morning, the security team and contractors hired by the university began hauling down 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.

Workers in high-visibility vests used a front loader and a backhoe to clear the tents, signs and tarps left by the protesters. PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA / IVANOH DEMERS

A few persistent protesters remained inside the campus gates waving flags, but no tents remained standing.

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, 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, a representative for Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), a student group associated with the encampment.

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.

A group of several dozen protesters, which included some people who had left the encampment, were carrying Palestinian flags and faced off with a line of Montreal police officers near the campus Wednesday morning. They were chanting slogans as a form of protest. Both that protest and the operation to dismantle the encampment took place peacefully.

A spokesperson for the Montreal police said officers are only at the scene for support purposes. PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA / SIMON-MARC CHARRON

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 (new window). In a statement, McGill described the encampment as a magnet for violence and intimidation, said most of the people there were not students and that there had been overdoses and illegal drug use at the camp.

WATCH | Heavy police presence ahead of operation at McGill:

The university remains closed. All events, summer programs and activities are cancelled for the day.

The SPVM has established a perimeter on Sherbrooke Street.

Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said officers from the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) were present only for support purposes.

Since April 27, 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 among a large number of encampment protests that were set up across North America in response to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza.

McGill president Deep Saini said 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 long denied access.

Some police officers are wearing helmets. Others are on bicycles or on horseback. PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA / SIMON-MARC CHARRON

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.

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 (new window) have been taken down.

An adaptation of this news story is available in Tagalog and Punjabi