Professor Takes Montreal Police to Court for Alleged Assault During Student Strikes

NewsMichelle Pucci — Published November 26, 2014 | Updated November 26, 2014 at 8:54pm

The lawsuit filed by philosophy professor Gregory Mikkelson is demanding $24,000 in damages from Montreal’s police force. That day, thousands of protesters had marched through downtown Montreal, while less than 15 students occupied McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum’s office.

“No one’s really arguing that he was clubbed and pepper sprayed,” said Mikkelson’s lawyer, Debbie Mankovitch. “What’s called into question is the perception. We’re defending that it was out of the blue, the defense is saying he deliberately defied orders.”

After the protest, roughly 50 demonstrators entered McGill’s downtown campus through the Milton Gates to support the occupation by blocking the entrance to the James Administration Building, according to the McGill Daily. Others stood on a grassy area across the road.

The trial, which began on Nov. 17 at the Palais de Justice in Montreal, three years after the initial incident, was presided over by Quebec Court Judge Brigitte Gouin and was scheduled to end Thursday, but was extended to run two more days in February.

On Nov. 18, the second day of the trial, student Jonathan Mooney and officer Jeremie Dufort were called to testify.

Mooney, 28, was a PhD Chemistry student at the time and participated in the march on Nov. 10 that began at Place Émilie-Gamelin. He says he was around McGill, where protesters had their final stop in front of the Guy Favreau complex that holds the Quebec premier’s office, when he received a text message that many protesters were occupying Monroe-Blum’s office.

He says in the text message from his friend that there was worry that police would interfere and occupiers wanted to bring others onto the campus to witness any situation that might occur between themselves and the SPVM. Mooney and his friend Sheldon Grant went over to the James building to observe. He says he stood 20 metres away from the protesters, who were linking arms, before less than 15 police officers on bikes arrived on the site.

When the police found the building blocked by about 50 people, Mooney says he watched as they lifted their bikes and tried to push through. He saw one protester throw the back of a picket sign at the officers, but that the others denounced the action immediately by shouting “Pas de violence, pas de violence” (“No violence, No violence”).

According to the defense’s witness—Dufort, 31, who was one of the officers on bikes—the group was throwing sticks, rocks and bottles before police retreated to safety. He says protesters were shouting obscene slogans, grabbing the police bikes and jabbing them with their picket signs. As they left, Dufort says protesters chased them out of the gates.

However, by this time another 20 protesters had gathered, and Mooney says he thought the police retreated because they felt outnumbered.

It was at this moment that Mikkelson was walking past Mooney, and the two started speaking casually about the situation. Mikkelson mentioned to Mooney that he was just on his way to pick up his daughter from daycare. As they continued to observe, riot police appeared and a group stood by the Milton Gates to block people from leaving. Dufort says the number of protesters was closer to 300.

—November 10-Riot Squads at McGill by Pierre Chauvin

As the riot police began to pressure the group in front of the James building, Mooney says chaos ensued and an officer struck Mikkelson with a truncheon in the ribs and sprayed him with pepper spray as he fell to the ground.

“He never addressed the police or made any other aggression,” Mooney said. He says the area they were in was clear, safe and separate from the barricade.

Dufort testified otherwise. According to the officer, Mikkelson appeared to want to talk to him. When he was told to leave, Dufort remembers Mikkelson saying, “It’s not for me to leave, it’s you that has no business here.”

Dufort says it was his first intervention on a campus and he was surprised by the professor’s reaction.

In his testimony, Mooney also said that he was kneeling and writing down his email address in Mikkelson’s notebook a few moments after the attack. His friend pulled him back from being pepper sprayed, but he told defense lawyer Myrtho Adrien he did not look around for the officer that did it.

The court used several videos taken by student journalists that day as evidence of the assault. The key video evidence was produced by Pierre Chauvin, a Concordia student at the time, who worked for The Link, and shows Mikkelson on the ground being pepper sprayed.

“I didn’t hear any warning, I didn’t see any police,” said Mooney.

Mooney also pointed to a tradition of occupying administrative offices at McGill, as in 1995, when students occupied Principal Bernard Shapiro’s office, and the university responded by serving tea and ordering pizza for the occupiers.

“It’s not unusual,” he said.