Here is a communique from the Revolutionary Student Movement (MER-RSM) relayed in full solidarity by the PCR-RCP Canada:

The RSM Montreal was present at the “Fucking Big Night Demo” on December 18th. This anticapitalist demonstration was called by the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal Student Association for Free Tuition, a student group at Old Montreal Cégep, in a context of ruthless cuts to public services by our parliamentary bourgeoisie. The dogs of capital had also severly repressed two night demonstrations in the preceding weeks, sending one comrade demonstrator to the hospital by hitting her with their batons.

Pumped up, Montreal’s police was determined to brutally suppress this third demonstration. Their tactics: undercovers and agents provocateurs, who wholeheartedly attacked demonstrators and bystanders. Examples of police brutality include the case of a comrade who suffered a concussion and several other injuries at the hands of undercover cops she had recognized. Another demonstrator suffered a similar fate, beaten up and robbed by the police after the demo. His crime? Taking pictures of police infiltrators. Somebody else, a passerby, was threatened and assaulted by undercovers. An underage comrade was shot at point-blank with a rubber bullet, breaking his hand. The infiltrators also had weapons, one of them pointing his firearm toward a group of protestors while threatening to shoot.

Despite all this, the protest was able to make its way for a remarkably long time considering the circumstances, under tear gases and a helicopter’s watchful eye. However, a combination of the riot squad attacks, undercovers’ perturbations and the absence of a banner at the head of the demo ended up undermining the cohesion of the protest, allowing the cops to make targeted arrest of those deemed “dangerous,” meaning the more politically organised or clearly anticapitalist. The violent arrests were made during a long period in isolated contexts. The police followed demonstrators out of the demo and on the sidewalks.

The RSM contingent, after having been separated from the crowd, was pursued by bike police, eventually crossing the path of several “comrades” with suspicious behaviors. At least two of them had earpieces and we have strong reasons to believe that they were all agents provocateurs. The arrest of our group was made on the sidewalk of a secondary street, and came with violent blows with batons and bikes (strangely, our new “comrades” had mysteriously disappeared by that time…). It was brutal: verbal abuse, racist, sexist and homophobic slurs, comrades injured at varying degrees of severity. Some of our arrested are part of the 11 that suffered criminal accusations during this demo and had to spend the night in dirty, full of piss cells, getting interrogated by pigs. These 11 are now having to cope with the stress of court dates, release conditions, lawyer fees and a possible incarceration.

The MER-RSM declares its solidarity with all the arrested and injured of December 18th and all victims of bourgeois political repression. The police seems to have changed tactics: unhappy with the results of 2012 style mass arrests, it now infiltrates itself in demonstrations to destroy them from the inside. But despite police numbers and their dishonest tactics, the masses inventivity will always be able to rout them. All that is left is to want to win. Even if we suffer repression, we must not fear the police: if it always tries to divide us, it is because it knows that it can do nothing against a numerous, united and combative mass. We must not forget that masked riot squads are nothing but the weapons of a bourgeoisie nervous of the anger of the masses. The escalating repression is the proof that we are scaring them. Their nightmares are our dreams and it is up to us to organise so they can become reality.

Dare to struggle, dare to win!

Drop the political accusations!

United and armed, we shall overcome!