Tear gas, smashed windows, and a burning trash can at Montreal Rad Pride march
Montreal police (SPVM) used tear gas on Rad Pride marchers as windows were smashed, and a garbage can was set on fire on Saturday night.
The third annual event, billed as an 'alternative pride event,' began at 9:30 p.m. at Place Émilie-Gamelin on the western edge of The Village in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough.
SPVM report that at around 9:50 p.m., participants started to walk towards Sainte-Catherine Street and were blocked by police. They then pushed against police and began throwing objects at officers, spokesperson Manuel Couture said.
Police then used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
A trash can was set on fire, and several windows of the National Bank on the corner of Saint-Hubert and Saint-Catherine streets were smashed.
Couture said the event ended around 10:30 p.m. and the investigation is ongoing.
No arrests were made on Saturday night.
Six organizations (the P!nk Bloc, TRAPS, FLIP, OPEN Maisonneuve, FAGS, and Brûlances) launched Rad Pride three years ago.
This year, organizers say 30 organizations co-signed a call for the alternative Pride event, which took place the day before Sunday's Fierté Montréal Pride parade.
'Unlike the official marches supported by sponsors and monitored by the police, Rad Pride advocates a direct, community-based, and unregulated approach," Rad Pride said in a news release. 'It follows in the tradition of the Stonewall riots and all radical queer resistance movements.'
The Rad Pride call to march rejects 'the corporate and state co-opting of queer struggles, wishing to celebrate a festive and radical pride rooted in revolt, memory, and solidarity.'
Rad Pride says the official Pride organization only serves 'the whitest, cis and most affluent' portion of the communities.
'More and more people are taking a stand against co-optation and for a return to the militant roots of our history,' said trans activist Camille in the news release. 'Plus, Rad Pride is really unique. It's a real carnival with music, beach balls, costumes of all kinds, papier-mâché effigies, and more.'
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