Officers not wearing 'riot gear,' used 15 pepper balls at U of C protest: Calgary police chief

Members of a Calgary police unit were wearing approved equipment, including protective armour, helmets and round shields — but it wasn't "riot gear," and deploying that gear at a recent pro-Palestinian protest wasn't outside the norm, says Calgary's police chief.

That was one of multiple points Chief Mark Neufeld wrote in a letter sent to the Calgary Police Commission in advance of a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, focused on reviewing police action tied to the protest.

Earlier this month, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at the University of Calgary campus, with a stated goal of pressuring the university to disclose and divest its financial ties with Israel. It followed similar demonstrations at other Canadian and U.S. campuses.

But the response to the U of C encampment was notable given the speed with which officers forcibly cleared it, removing members of the protest on the same day it began.

Other such protests have stretched on for much longer — for instance, an encampment at the University of Toronto has been in place since May 2.

The response from police led to an ASIRT investigation of police actions. The province's public safety minister said the government was aware "that allegations have been made by campus protest participants related to potential injuries sustained while police were enforcing trespass laws."

The action also prompted an open letter signed by more than a dozen professors in the U of C faculty of law, who said the actions of the university and police likely contravened protesters' rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The University of Calgary released a statement on May 9, the day of the protest, writing that the university's position was that students are free to protest but not free to set up encampments. 

The U of C students' union, on the other hand, wrote in a statement the same day that students were exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly guaranteed by the Charter.

In his letter, Neufeld stated that police were in regular communication with protesters from the start of the protest. He wrote that tents were set up at approximately 5:30 a.m. near MacEwan Hall.

"Protesters were advised by university staff that they were permitted to protest but not to camp. They were also verbally advised that the camp was a trespass on university property," Neufeld wrote.

More tents were set up throughout the day and communication continued, according to Neufeld.

Near 11 p.m., Neufeld said police moved in to clear the camp, claiming bottles were thrown at police by protesters. 

"Protesters continued to link arms, pushed towards police and refused to leave. Protesters grabbed officers' shields and attempted to aggressively push them to the ground. It appeared to the CPS that a group of protesters were deliberately attempting to make physical contact with police," the letter states.