Montreal RIOTERS must be 'pursued and punished,' says Trudeau

After a tumultuous weekend partying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the violent Montreal riots Monday for a second time. He expects the perpetrators to face consequences, reporters learned.

“As a democracy, as a country that will always defend freedom of speech, it’s important for people to be able to go out and protest and express their anger, their disagreements in free and comfortable ways. But there is never any room for antisemitism, for hatred, discrimination, or violence,” Trudeau said, while addressing the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal.

“We expect all those responsible to be pursued and punished under the full extent of the law, and we expect the authorities to do their work.”

Trudeau says there's "never any room" for antisemitism in Canada despite an anti-Israel riot wreaking havoc in Montreal's downtown core Friday evening as he danced to Taylor Swift. https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/4NGnFuzUOk

On Friday, dozens of rioters, including anarchists and pro-Hamas agitators rampaged through the Liberal stronghold, wrecking storefronts and public property. 

Montreal police arrested three people for assaulting a police officer and obstructing police work. Additional arrests are expected to follow, reported the National Post.

Organizers hail from Divest for Palestine and the Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles, though police are yet unclear on who else committed alleged criminal acts. 

The violent demonstration was a call-to-action, targeting NATO for “complicity with Israel's military while conducting its genocide in Gaza.” 

While Canada and the United States are NATO members, Israel is not.

The rampage follows another demonstration, involving a Second Cup franchisee, who allegedly praised Nazis for killing millions of Jews. 

The company announced Saturday that Mai Abdulhadi, whose business resided at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital, was no longer a franchisee.

“This is what happens when a Prime Minister spends 9 years pushing toxic woke identity politics, dividing and subdividing people by race, gender … religion,” Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, said Saturday on social media.

“While you [Trudeau] were dancing, Montreal was burning,” he said.

Melissa Lantsman, the Deputy Conservative leader, followed up those remarks Monday, saying Trudeau only offered “the most basic platitudes, resembling some standard condemnation.”

“Acts of antisemitism, intimidation and violence must be condemned wherever we see them,” Trudeau wrote then.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also condemned the “agitators” Monday, but fell short of addressing acts of antisemitism during the riot.

A litany of social media posts showed masked participants chanting “free Palestine,” while setting off smoke bombs. One person even burned an effigy representing Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

Trudeau threatened to have the head of state arrested last week, in line with a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Montreal police received no reports of antisemitic acts during the riot, which lasted all but five minutes, according to a spokesperson. The rioters dispersed around 7 p.m., they added.

Plante said “agitators” frequently vandalize property, and that such instances are common occurrences for local police, who are used to dealing with them. Montreal police officers have attended nearly 500 protests since October 7, 2023, she claimed.

“Protesting is a sign of a healthy democracy, but the vandals are just thinking of themselves and not the cause or the effects it will have on everyone else,” Plante told reporters.

Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.