The university says encampment was “a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community.”
The university’s message to staff and students came as pro-Palestinian protesters took to social media Wednesday morning to call for support when appeared the dismantling was imminent.
Images from the scene also showed Montreal police on bicycles and on foot deployed by the Roddick Gates.
The university said it was proceeding with the dismantling because the encampment represented “profound health and safety risks that continue to grow in scope and severity” and contended that the university had been “subject to ongoing and escalating acts of violence and vandalism associated with the encampment, up to and including criminal acts on campus last weekend.”
In a message emailed to local newsrooms, university president Deep Saini said the dismantling of the encampment was taking place “in close collaboration with the City of Montreal and police…(and) the engagement of a qualified security firm.”
Saini repeated the university’s position that it supported “the right to free expression and assembly, within the bounds of the laws and policies that keep us all safe.
“However, recent events go far beyond peaceful protest, and have inhibited the respectful exchange of views and ideas that is so essential to the University’s mission and to our sense of community.”
Saini accused “people linked to the camp” of having “harassed our community members, engaged in antisemitic intimidation, damaged and destroyed McGill property, forcefully occupied a building, clashed with police, and committed acts of assault.
“They also hosted a “revolutionary youth summer program” advertised with images of masked individuals holding assault rifles. The risks emanating from the camp have been escalating, steadily and dangerously.”
Saini said the university was acting because city of Montreal fire inspectors “had long been denied access to the camp. Given the growing risks and the impossibility of knowing what was happening inside, the University engaged a firm to investigate the activities within the encampment. What they found led the University to determine that the need for the camp’s dismantlement was urgent.”
The university president also argued that “Few members of the McGill community are in the encampment: Most people are activists from external groups. One organizer of the encampment came to Montreal from outside the country shortly before tents were set up on April 27. Unhoused individuals now make up most of the few people who are sleeping in the camp overnight.”
Saini also maintained that “Two drug overdoses occurred in the camp since July 6. Syringes are visible, and illegal narcotics have been sold there. The camp is infested with rats. There are fire risks, including a propane canister and flammable materials next to the tents.
The encampment was set up April 27 as protesters called upon the university to end its investments in businesses that profited from Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip as well as end all affiliations with Israeli universities.
Two attempts to obtain injunctions forcing the dismantling of the encampment were rejected by Quebec Superior Court.
On June 6, protesters entered the James Administration building at the downtown campus and Montreal police made 15 arrests.
Other protest encampments in Quebec were dismantled after agreements were reached with the universities involved. Last week, a protest encampment erected on public property in Victoria Square was dismantled by Montreal police.
This story will be updated.