MONTREAL – The 19th annual march against police brutality ended Sunday afternoon with one person arrested and just under 100 tickets given out.
The rally began at 3 p.m. at the corners of Ontario and Berri Streets the spot where Alain Magloire, a homeless man, was shot and killed by Montreal police just over a year ago in February 2014.
READ MORE: Why should we care about Alain Magloire?
Police declared the march illegal, stating on Saturday, that organizers had failed to provide an itinerary.
The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) which coordinates the event, countered on its website that it had the right to free assembly and didn’t need to provide an itinerary.
In a tip of the hat to events in Ferguson Missouri this year, demonstrators chanted “hands up, don’t shoot.”
An initial group of protestors headed North on Berri, but police stopped and cornered them before they could cross Sherbrooke Street.
Another small group splintered off and headed up St-Laurent and into the Plateau, down streets like Rachel and Montreal, but eventually dispersed.
At 4:30 p.m. police tweeted that all demonstrations were over.
Police said most of the tickets were given out Sunday for highway code violations because of protesters blocking the street and two people were stopped for covering their faces.
The protest against police brutality has been held for almost 20 years in Montreal, with some previous years ending with smashed storefronts and damaged cop cars.
Last year’s protest resulted in 288 fines and five arrests. In 2013, 200 people were arrested.
The organizers of Sunday’s march were planning to hold a second anti-brutality protest to coincide with Montreal’s St-Patrick’s day parade.
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