MONTREAL – Montreal police have launched an internal investigation after a video surfaced online showing an officer striking a student with a baton at a protest last month.
The video, which has been gaining traction on YouTube, shows an officer repeatedly hitting the protester holding a banner alongside a group of students.
Another officer is seen shoving a protester to the ground.
Police announced Saturday that officers working at the Jan. 27 protest would be questioned as part of an investigation into the matter.
“We want to make sure we do understand what happened,” said Sgt. Ian Lafreniere, a spokesman for the force.
“There are some questions that need to be answered and this is why the chief (of police) ordered a full investigation.”
There were several hundred people at the protest against tuition hikes, which was held outside a Quebec government building.
At one point, in a sign of heightened tensions over the planned increase, students created a human barricade outside the Montreal offices of the Education Department.
After an initial inquiry on Friday, Lafreniere said it was determined the confrontation between officers and students took place away from the main protest.
The officers were trying to clear a road so that police vehicles could safely leave the area, he said.
“This is not to justify (anything),” he said. “But I think it is important to understand from the beginning what happened, then conduct a full investigation to see whether or not it was following procedure or if it was legal.”
A Quebec student group denounced the actions of police on Saturday and questioned whether an internal investigation would amount to anything.
“It is unacceptable that Montreal police act with such violence,” Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a spokesman for the group CLASSE, said in a statement.
This isn’t the first time Montreal police have come under scrutiny for their actions.
Last month, a homeless man was fatally shot by police in a downtown subway station, prompting some to question the officers’ actions.
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The full video of the student protest can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWG0jjSq2Xk
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