[Translated from French]

The president of the Montreal Police Brotherhood, Yves Francoeur, declared Friday on TVA Nouvelles that he is mandating his lawyers to find legal ways to force demonstrators to reveal their faces, describing the situation as unacceptable.

“Yes, citizens have the right to demonstrate, but why would someone need to cover their face, if it is not to do bad things?”, declared Mr. Francoeur. Moreover, his public comments come a week to the day after a demonstration against NATO that degenerated downtown.

Indeed, cars were set on fire, windows were smashed, and paint was thrown at police officers and journalists by demonstrators protesting the holding of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference in the city and who supported Palestine.

“The Brotherhood has decided to take the bull by the horns,” its president stated. “If it has to be a municipal regulation, a provincial law, or an amendment to the Criminal Code, we intend to introduce a draft, not only to defend the police officers, but also to defend citizens and our society.”