Anarchists Seeking Confrontation With Police Joined Protest in Montreal

The students took to the streets on Tuesday evening to rally against the implementation of about $2 billion in budget cuts to education and health care programs. The government is presenting a new budget Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anna Liatsou — Anarchists that were looking for a confrontation with police took part in a peaceful student protest against austerity measures in Montreal on Tuesday, Commander Ian Lafreniere from Montreal Police told Sputnik Wednesday.

"Yesterday evening a lot of people who were there had nothing to do with this [student demonstration]. We are talking about the anarchists that have decided to join the protest because it was a good occasion to do a confrontation with the police," he said.

According to Lafreniere, there were about 6,000 people involved, four of them were detained.

"Two have been apprehended for assault on a police officer and two for armed aggression. There have been a few people injured on both sides," he said.

On Monday, a similar protest of nearly 150 students in downtown Montreal was dispersed by police. Both demonstrations were declared illegal, as the students had failed to provide authorities with a marching route.