Windows of banks and several stores were shattered while cars were vandalized and bricks were also reportedly thrown at mounted police. The windows at Police Station 21, on Ste. Elizabeth St. and René Lévesque Blvd. were also smashed.
Montreal is waking up to a morning of smashed windows, vandalized cars and questions about how a protest degenerated into yet another violent clash between police and demonstrators.
Anger over a short-lived effort to put an end to the tuition crisis through negotiations bubbled over Wednesday night when a hastily-organized demonstration turned ugly and police used batons, pepper spray and percussion bombs to disperse the crowd.
After two hours of peaceful protest, police declared the march illegal and the situation unravelled quickly.
Percussion bombs and pepper spray exploded at the corner of Peel and Ste. Catherine Sts., a car was set on fire at the corner of Stanley and Ste. Catherine Sts. and chaos ensued as the police started to push the crowd back using whatever tools they had in their arsenal.
Onlookers blamed a small group of protesters for instigating the trouble.
A standoff between mounted police and taunting protesters brought the crowd, estimated at about 5,000, to a dead halt at Drummond and Ste. Catherine Sts. and then the police intervention squad moved in banging their shields.
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