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The 19th annual march against police brutality ended Sunday afternoon with one person arrested and just under 100 tickets given out.
The march was declared illegal as soon as it began because organizers had not informed authorities of their route.
As protesters split into different directions, police quickly surrounded a group of about 30 people, who were boarded onto waiting city buses without incident.
The vast majority of tickets were handed out for highway code violations because of protesters blocking the street. No injuries were reported.
[fwdevp preset_id=”8″ video_path=”GehemraZr30″]Eight police cars were vandalized during the demonstration.
Police officers outnumbered protesters by far at an annual demonstration that often turns confrontational.
The demonstrators, who waved flags and shouted anti-police slogans, gathered at the street corner where a homeless man was fatally shot by a Montreal police officer in February 2014.
The protest against police brutality has been held in Montreal for nearly 20 years, with some ending with smashed-in storefronts and damaged cop cars.
Last year’s protest resulted in 288 fines and five arrests. In 2013, 200 people were arrested.
The organizers of Sunday’s march, the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality, were planning to hold a second anti-brutality protest to coincide with Montreal’s St-Patrick’s Day Parade next Sunday.
Montreal’s mayor has promised there will be no tolerance for anyone planning to disrupt the family-friendly event, which has been running for 192 years.
Agencies/Canadajournal
