The Calgary Police Service said five people were arrested in connection with protests that happened downtown on Sunday and four have been charged.
According to the CPS, over 1,000 people attended a Justice for Palestinians rally in front of City Hall, while over 200 people attended a pro-Israel rally in Olympic Plaza across the street at Macleod Trail.
CPS officials say several people deployed smoke devices during the protests and a large faction began marching throughout the downtown core.
Police say a group of roughly 100 people who had been marched gathered at the intersection of Macleod Trail and Fourth Avenue Southeast and block traffic. Five people were arrested and, according to police, three were subsequently charged with assaulting a peace officer. Another of the arrestees has been charged with obstruction of a peace officer. The fifth person was released without charges.
On Monday, CPS said three Calgarians were pushing against police officers to break through the police line and Wassime Taha, 30, Wafik Kassem, 25, and Mohamed Hamdanie, 25, have been each charged with one count of assaulting a police officer.
Police said Mervat Hamdanie, 27, also of Calgary was charged with one count of obstruction of a peace officer.
The four people who were charged from Sunday’s protests are due to appear in court on Jan. 12, 2024.
Police also said a youth was briefly taken into custody as he was trying to break through the police line. His parents were allowed behind the police line to de-escalate the situation, and police said he was released without charges.
CPS Supt. Joe Brar said despite four people being charged, there were hundreds of other people who demonstrated in a peaceful and law-abiding manner.
“Managing a crowd of this size for a prolonged period is extremely dynamic and cannot be reduced to short video clips that you might see on social media,” Brar said in a statement. “Public safety is paramount in these situations and our officers did an incredible job ensuring the demonstrations remained safe for all, despite escalating behaviours, and with minimal impact to traffic and neighbouring Calgarians.”
Northbound lanes at Macleod Trail and Fourth Avenue Southeast were closed for the majority of the day but police said traffic was restored at 6:11 p.m.
–with files from Adam Toy, Global News
Comments