Students who were supposed to occupy the Guy-Metro building today on Concordia’s downtown campus changed their plans and ended up merging with a protest in support of a student who was allegedly hit by a Concordia security guard yesterday.
The protest was called yesterday evening on Facebook, after a video showing a security guard seemingly hitting a student in the face attracted quite the attention on the Internet. The video, that had less than 400 viewers yesterday evening, now shows that almost 7,000 people have watched it. The Facebook event was calling for the support of all Montreal schools to join Concordia students against the “repressive” methods used by the university against students who choose to block access to classrooms.
Amber Gross, the philosophy student at McGill who was allegedly hit by the security guard, was walking by the protest today, surprised to see people recognized her in the street.
Gross explained that she and a group of students were met with violence by Concordia security when they were not actually picketing.
“We were supposed to [block access to the classroom] but no one actually showed up to class,” she said. “ We were kicked out by security for just sitting on a bench. I’m on my way to file a complaint right now.”
At several occasions, the protesters stopped their march to sit in the middle of the street, once completely blocking the intersection between Guy Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard. The police had to intervene to regulate traffic and redirect the visibly angry motorists.
The 100 protesters were quickly joined by thousands of other students around 2 p.m., kicking off another march against tuition hikes.
Amber Gross, the philosophy student at McGill who was allegedly hit by the security guard, was walking by the protest today, surprised to see people recognized her in the street.
Gross explained that she and a group of students were met with violence by Concordia security when they were not actually picketing.
“We were supposed to [block access to the classroom] but no one actually showed up to class,” she said. “ We were kicked out by security for just sitting on a bench. I’m on my way to file a complaint right now.”
At several occasions, the protesters stopped their march to sit in the middle of the street, once completely blocking the intersection between Guy Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard. The police had to intervene to regulate traffic and redirect the visibly angry motorists.
The 100 protesters were quickly joined by thousands of other students around 2 p.m., kicking off another march against tuition hikes.
They left Concordia through the main streets of downtown Montreal, heading towards Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s office on McGill College Avenue. At least 2,000 protesters ended the march in front of Loto-Quebec’s offices on Sherbrooke Street around 4.30 p.m., chanting and establishing a relaxed atmosphere by chatting with police officers.
This protest came one day after the Concordia Student Union was forced to adjourn their general strike for failing to meet quorum for a second general assembly.
This protest came one day after the Concordia Student Union was forced to adjourn their general strike for failing to meet quorum for a second general assembly.
-Photos by Joel Ashak
