City Under Seige: QC Update

At 10:00 pm tonight, hundreds of people were still congregated at the top of Cote de Abraham, as police continued to lob tear gas cannisters from behind the perimeter. A unit of officers maintained tight formation on the other side of the fence, their plastic sheilds gleaming in the streetlights. Over the next two hours, tear gas from similar skirmishes wafted throughout the city, affecting demonstrators and non-participating residents alike, as police indiscriminately launched their silver cannisters.

At Rene Levesque, where protesters had toppled the perimeter earlier in the day, dozens of black clad, gas masked officers slowly advanced upon a scattered crowd. Using police dogs for maximum intimidation, the authorites repeatedly launched tear gas projectiles, which the angry onlookers retrieved and returned with equal fervor.

Around 12:00 am, the police moved along the Cote d`Abraham towards the Independent Media Center (CMAQ building), again rifling relentless tear gas attacks upon the remaining protestors. After pushing the crowd down the street, the police retracted and remained stationary, continuing to gas those at the front.

The demonstrators were engaged in no forceful movements towards police; most people simply waited for the next launch. A couple of small fires were lit outside CMAQ, which firefighters extinguished a short time later. A small dumpster and a wooden chair were amonst the items ignited. Police simultaneously pushed their way towards the highway overpass above the Art Zone, forcing protesters onto the bridge.

At 2:00 am, about twenty-five people conducted a peaceful sit-in outside the Indymedia Center building. Police responded with the expected barrage of tear gas. An hour later, as a fire again blazed in the middle of the street, authorities arrived with a water cannon.