Masked intruders burst into a classroom at l’Université du Québec à Montréal last night and demanded students leave because they were not respecting the boycott organized by anti-austerity protesters.
A second-year law student at UQAM, who does not want to be identified, said the masked intruders shut off the lights and turned off computers.
“They started screaming at us, saying, ‘You are not respecting the strike,’” the student told CTV Montreal.
Lecturer Daniel St-Pierre managed to take pictures of the intruders, and called their tactics intimidating.
“A few girls left because they were afraid and they did not want to have any problems,” he said.
Groups representing 100,000 Quebec students have voted in favour of boycotting classes to protest the provincial government’s spending cuts.
UQAM says students have a right to boycott classes, but not to prevent others from attending. It obtained a 10-day injunction against five student associations and 34 protesters.
The law student said “everyone in the class was really scared, we were shaking. There was even a student who had a panic attack.”
Some students have filed a complaint to the school and asking for more security at UQAM.
