Anti-NATO, Pro-Palestinian Protests Turn Violent in Montreal

Anti-NATO, pro-Palestinian protests in Montreal, Quebec turned violent Friday night as NATO delegates gathered in the city for the alliance’s annual assembly.

The Details: Police said windows of businesses were smashed and cars were set on fire. Three arrests were reportedly made. Four were reportedly taken to the hospital from injuries caused by police.

Key Quotes: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on X, “What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them.” Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said, “I can't make the correlation with yesterday's acts, whether they were antisemitic or not.” Paraphrased by CBC (Lean Left bias), Dagher, who is Lebanese-Canadian, also said rioters “had other objectives than those of the protesters.”

Protest Details: Most U.S. outlets did not include ample context on why protesters were protesting, beyond that they were “anti-NATO” and “pro-Palestinian.” Canadian outlets CBC and The Globe and Mail (Center bias) included the perspective of Benoît Allard, a spokesperson for the Divest for Palestine collective, which organized the protest. He said protesters are against NATO’s “complicity with Israel's military while it's conducting its genocide in Gaza.”

How the Media Covered It: The story was covered by several large mainstream outlets from the right and center like Reuters (Center bias), Newsweek (Center bias), and Fox News (Right bias), though aside from CBC, AllSides did not find notable coverage from outlets on the left. Some outlets from the right framed the story through Trudeau’s attendance of a Taylor Swift concert as the protests-turned-riots occurred.