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Authorities cracked down on thousands of protesters flooding downtown Montreal near the Berri-ÙQAM metro station after Molotov cocktails were thrown.
Police declared the protest march illegal at 9:54 p.m. after several fire devices were thrown from the crowd, near St-Laurent and René-Levesque Boulevards.
Riot police responded with tear gas and noise bombs, and ordered people to disperse.
Tens of thousands of students gathered at the site of the 1995 pre-referendum rally Thursday, beating drums and chanting slogans in the largest protest to date against tuition hikes.
They held banners that read "education, a collective right" and "Charest cuts access" during the demonstration at Place du Canada, a large park nestled amid downtown skyscrapers.
Students are upset about Premier Jean Charest's plan to add $1,625 to the annual cost of post-secondary education by 2016.
Police in armour blocked St-Laurent Boulevard to contain the crowd.
Some smaller groups splintered from the main march and made their way down side streets in Chinatown.
But the march's tail swelled with more protesters.
Thousands of people answered the call to march Friday night in a show of defiance against a legal crackdown on protests by the Quebec government.
Early on in the march, protesters said they were encouraged by the turnout and by the support from bystanders honking their car horns or clapping while they passed.
Opponents of the Charest government – including its political opposition – have begun attacking its approach to the protests, even more than the tuition hikes that originally sparked the unrest.
The Montreal march came hours after the government passed a law setting limits on the ability to protest.
Also Friday, a new municipal bylaw imposed stiff fines on people wearing masks while demonstrating.
A few people in the crowd were in fact wearing masks. However, the mask bylaw and the protest limits were not expected to be applied until Saturday.
Police said they were given the march route in advance — one ofthe many stipulations of the new provincial law. They were not commenting, however, on reports that their phone lines were flooded by people calling to report the route, in a unique gesture of civil disobedience.
The nighttime protests have been going on every night for nearly a month.
Originally posted by Ben81
reply to post by Magnum007
Hey Magnum long time no see
Im surprise you are not with the riot police at the moment
if you were still in Montreal .. would your boss call you for reinforcement ?
im asking you this .. since you are a police officer
My brother just had his first gun training to become a cop
currently is at Carleton Univesity
hope he will never beat up any protesters in the futur
except violent protesters (agent provocateur ?)
that want to create violence and anarchy .. those are dont support
but i support protesting for our rights and the government should for once listen
after 3 months of protesting .. its time the gov bow down but they are putting oil on fire with this new law 78
Originally posted by Ben81
funny thing is .. tonights protest are illegal
they just say on the news .. that police tolerate it after all
so even the police doesnt respect the signed new law 78
Originally posted by badgerman24
I am watching that live right now. I can't belive Canada is more intense then the U.S.A.