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The Quebec government has offered to return to the bargainingtable, but it won't give in on the tuition hike or on anotherstudent demand that it scrap its controversial new emergency lawthat clamps down on protests. Protesters snaked through the streets for more than three hoursbefore police kettled them. Officers' 'physical integrity' in jeopardy Const. Daniel Lacoursiere of the Montreal police said officers werein danger and had to act. "Their physical integrity was in jeopardy," he told CBC News."That's why all these arrests were made at the corner of St-Denisand Sherbrooke." Riot squad officers had been marching on the sidewalk beside thefront of the protest all evening. An order to disperse was givenwhen protesters arrived at Sherbrooke Street, because police hadbeen pelted by projectiles and other criminal acts had beencommitted, Lacoursiere said. The group had also apparently resisted going in a direction orderedby police. Those arrested could face charges under municipal bylaws or theCriminal Code. Photographer pushed to ground The swift police action squeezed the mob together tighter andtighter as the officers advanced and some people begged to be letout, pleading they were bystanders. One photographer was seen to bepushed to the ground and a piece of equipment was heard breaking.Some protesters cursed and yelled at provincial police officers,who ignored the taunts. Riot officers stood impassively around the corralled demonstrators,feet planted and batons clutched in gloved hands. On a nearbystreet, a Quebec provincial police officer was seen snapping a rodtopped with the flag of the hardcore anti-capitalist Black Bloc andtossing it between two parked cars. Police on horseback also provided reinforcement as officers sortedout the crowd. The basics of a kettling operation: Police corral people in acentral area (panel 1) and surround the crowd (panel 2), allowingthose inside to leave only at police discretion (panel 3). (CBC) Emmanuel Hessler, an independent filmmaker who had been followingthe march for a few blocks, said in a telephone interview with TheCanadian Press from inside the police encirclement that he wassurprised by the action, saying, "Suddenly, there were police allaround us." Released from detention Some of those arrested in Montreal were taken to the police'seastern operation centre, where they were processed and releasedThursday morning. Several people who emerged bleary-eyed from the detention centresaid they were bewildered by what had happened to them. They said the march was unfolding peacefully when all of a suddenthey were cornered by police at the intersection of Saint-Denis andSherbrooke streets. They said they were made to wait for severalhours and read their rights en masse. One protester leaving the detention centre said he was issued a$600 ticket. He described the police action as heavy-handed as officers wereordering the demonstrators to leave, but were blocking the way out. With files from The Canadian Press. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China GPS Car Trackers , China GSM Mobile Tracker for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits GPRS Vehicle Tracker.
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