On November 1, members of the Concordia Student Union (CSU) held a press conference outside the Hall Building, calling for Concordia to remove police presence on campus, especially as a response to on-campus protests. Less than 24 hours before the press conference, two Concordia students were arrested while participating in a non-violent protest against police brutality and academic tribunals punishing students for engaging in pro-Palestine demonstrations.
“In the last few weeks, our students have been arrested, detained, and even physically brutalized, all while conducting non-violent political demonstrations,” said Danna Ballantyne, the CSU’s External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator. “We deserve to come to campus to learn and to have open dialogue without fearing for our safety.”
In the past semester, Concordia students protesting their university’s involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza have faced repression from both the police and the Concordia administration. The CSU reported that the university has charged at least 25 students with academic tribunals and suspensions for Palestine solidarity actions. On September 25, three students were violently arrested and detained in the Guy-Concordia metro station following a protest on campus. On October 31, students held a demonstration to protest the aforementioned arrests and disciplinary measures. Concordia responded by arresting two more students.
In addition to brutality by the Montreal police (SPVM), speakers at the press conference denounced the response of Concordia Security and Prevention Services (CSPS) to student protests. They specifically demanded that CSPS abolish five practices: following students off-campus, conducting citizens’ arrests, physical apprehension and detainment, preemptively coordinating responses to demonstrations with police, and facilitating police brutality and arrest instead of de-escalation.
Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci told the Daily that “SPVM officers are only called by Campus Safety and Prevention Services agents and other community members when necessary and in accordance with Concordia’s policies. CSPS agents are trained in de-escalation, and that is always the primary objective of their response.”
She described the events of October 31 as “a sad example of circumstances deemed to warrant SPVM intervention as an agent was assaulted and others were blocked as they attempted to assist their colleague.”
In a follow-up email, Ballantyne described the CSPS’s actions on October 31 as “extremely escalatory. […] Student testimonies from October 31 allege that certain CSPS agents were seen restraining one of their fellow colleagues from accosting student protestors,” she wrote. “While I can’t speak directly to any claims of assault against these agents, footage of the events that took place on that day only show violence directed towards students.”
Vanessa Massot, Academic and Advocacy Coordinator at the CSU, argued that CSPS’s practices are particularly harmful to racialized students. They referenced the 1969 occupation of the computer labs, where the SPVM brutalized Black students protesting anti-Black racism, leading to the death of a student. President Graham Carr only apologized on Concordia’s behalf for their actions in 1969 in 2022. Massot called on Carr to honour that apology by preventing future police brutality on campus.
Massot’s comments were corroborated by Adam, a Black student and former student association executive, who “experienced firsthand the racial profiling and targeted surveillance that persists at [Concordia].” He described being followed, questioned, and threatened by CSPS for participating in peaceful gatherings.
“The administration continues to champion its commitment to diversity and so-called inclusion,” he said. “But how can those words hold any meaning when students face the same regulatory practices that were echoed all the way back in 1969?”
Abe Berglas, SSMU Vice President University Affairs, told the Daily that criminalizing student protests against the genocide in Palestine “is a really dangerous precedent.” They expressed concern about SPVM presence on Concordia’s campus, given that the Quebec Superior Court recently found racial profiling to be a “systemic problem” within the force. While security guards are different from cops, Berglas also argued that “they often end up perpetuating the same systems of oppression that cops do.”
When asked about the situation at McGill, Berglas confirmed that students have also faced disciplinary charges and physical aggression from security when protesting the genocide in Palestine. Over the summer, McGill frequently collaborated with the SPVM to respond to student protests, including the dismantlement of the Palestine solidarity encampment in July. Most recently, McGill security and the SPVM used tear gas to shut down a pro-Palestine protest on October 7.
However, Berglas believes that McGill students may have some advantages over their counterparts at Concordia.
“I feel as though McGill gets a lot of public attention because it’s seen as a prestigious school, and that also means that protestors get more sympathy,” they explained. “We are more protected knowing that if we go to the press, they’re more likely to take on our story.”
Concordia students are also looking to the press to share their outrage and demand change from their administration.
“This press conference is a plea to the Concordia administration to take seriously the issue of police brutality on their campus and to instill an accountability mechanism for the administration who has been abusing their institutional power instead of acting responsibly and in the interest of their own students’ safety,” said Massot.