On Monday, October 7, the mostly peaceful student walkout ended in chaos and violence when police fired tear gas on pro-divestment protesters, as independent students shattered windows of McGill buildings along Pine Avenue.
CJLO News was on site and reports that the walkout began at 1:30pm, students peacefully left classes and McGill and Concordia. Students and faculty marched through the streets demanding their institutions break ties with companies tied to Israel and take a public stance on Israel’s actions in the Middle East.
The event took a turn in the final moments, around 4:00pm when a group of independent student actors began to pick up metal rods from a construction site along Pine Avenue and shatter windows of McGill buildings. Most students and protesters began to leave, but almost immediately police fired two tear gas cans into the crowd.
In contrast, earlier in the day, multiple Jewish student groups held a vigil for Israeli victims and hostages killed and kidnapped on October 7 2023. CJLO reports on both events and the response of McGill and police.
