Middle East protests: Montreal Police chief defends force while admitting to limitations [Video]

Montreal’s police chief said there have been as many as 109 arrests in connection with protests in the last 14 months.

In a radio interview with Aaron Rand on CJAD 800, Fady Dagher said the arrests concern “demonstrations or the conflict in the Middle-East.”

Montreal drew international attention after images of protesters smashing windows of the Palais des Congrès during anti-NATO and pro-Palestinian protests last Friday went viral. Dagher stressed that those images “are not Montreal,” were “one evening in one place,” and the chaos  only lasted about five minutes.

The police force has been heavily criticized for a perceived delay in the response to the protest violence, which Dagher addressed on air.

When asked why there weren’t more arrests during the protests, Dagher said police need to be strategic. Because the protesters marched near an emergency room and a highway, it would not have made sense to disperse them …