As protesters and journalists were mowed down across the campus by screaming police officers, several fiery explosions erupted, their shock prompting those to flee.
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City police quickly took down a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Calgary campus with a barrage of tear gas and flashbang grenades Thursday night.
Protesters had set up camp surrounded by wooden pallets on the south lawn of MacEwan Hall early Thursday morning and engaged in peaceful activism calling on the university to divest itself of any investments tied to Israel over the course of a day. warm and sunny.
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But activists spurred by the Israeli attacks on Gaza had been warned by both police and U of C officials that they were trespassing and that their camp would be removed. Participating students said they were also threatened with sanctions by the U of C.
“Members of the university community are free to protest, but not to camp,” the university said in a statement Thursday.
At around 8:30 p.m., police officers, including members of the tactical team and others equipped with riot gear, moved to the southern perimeter of the camp, knocked down some of the pallets and tore down some of the approximately 20 tents pitched by the protesters.
That started a standoff that lasted nearly three hours as activists and police argued over ending the encampment while activists chanted slogans and taunted the police, who turned up in significant numbers as a CPS helicopter circled overhead.
“This is not a negotiation,” one officer said.
The same officer who spoke to the activists to urge them to leave said that peaceful protests on campus were fine, but that their barricades would not be tolerated.
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By 10:30 p.m., the number of protesters, which had grown to about 150, had been greatly reduced and all their tents were removed, but a group of about 20 activists stood arm in arm as they faced a line of riot police. and riding bicycles, singing “we will not be moved.”
Then, around 11:10, after numerous warnings from police that arrests were imminent if protesters did not leave campus, officers began forcefully pushing back the line of activists with their shields before launching tear gas.
Some of the activists tried to resist being pushed back.
As protesters and journalists were stampeded across the campus by screaming police officers, several fiery explosions erupted, their shock prompting those to flee.
“It’s crazy, we were negotiating,” said a breathless Wesam Cooley, who had been trying to defuse the situation with police.
“An explosive explosion under my feet.”
But those protesting the war in Gaza and what they call Canadian complicity in it will not be deterred, said Cooley, who has been an organizer of months of protests downtown since October and was arrested during some of them.
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A woman in the back row of protesters confronting police said she was not afraid of what officers would do.
“I still have my life, compared to those in Gaza,” Ryn Laroux said.
Protests at the University of Calgary end with a series of arrests in Calgary on Thursday, May 9, 2024.
Over the course of nearly three hours, this journalist counted two to three water bottles thrown at police officers that bounced off their shields.
Cooley said it appears several of the protesters were arrested by police who took them down, including a man in a gas mask standing behind a sign that read “All eyes on Rafah.”
“We were peaceful and they showed up in riot gear,” said activist Salam Kafri, just before the final police push.
Many of the protesters blamed U of C administrators for the show of force.
“They are also complicit in this, they are a wing of the State,” said Deigo Loboguerroro.
Activists were stunned by the speed of police action, insisting that other encampments on Canadian and American university campuses had been allowed to remain much longer.
In a news release issued by CPS shortly after the standoff ended, police said the use of weapons was motivated by objects thrown at them.
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“The projectiles and aggressive behavior of the remaining protesters prompted the use of non-lethal munitions by officers. “No injuries have been reported,” they said.
“The number of arrests, fines and charges will be made public tomorrow.”
Numerous opportunities were provided for protesters to end their encampment and leave.”and many did so without further problems,” CPS said.
“If not followed, police were required to intervene to enforce the invasion order…police clearly communicated the consequences of staying.”
Some of the activists’ supporters tried throughout the night to convince all their colleagues to leave, but some remained defiant.
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“The police are not listening and the students are not listening,” Ryad Abusalim said, adding that he had been in contact with provincial government officials to find a way to end the standoff.
“We are trying to look for alternatives to protest, but it depends on (the activists)… if we leave, it will surely be a step backwards (for our cause).”
Before the tear gas and stun grenades, some of the protesters said they would return to resume their activism on campus even though the encampment had been dismantled.
Last December, Police Chief Mark Neufeld said there would be no tolerance or arrests against any protesters who break the law, which he predicted would be active in 2024 due to the ongoing violence in Gaza that has already been going on for seven months. .
X (Twitter) @BillKaufmann
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