2024 Montreal demonstration clip misleadingly shown as recent unrest linked to France riots
An X account posted a video on Oct. 21 purportedly showing masked demonstrators during a recent protest in Montreal, Canada. The Portuguese-language post claimed the video showed recent unrest in the city following protests in France.
In the footage, some demonstrators carried spray paint cans, and one appeared to vandalize a glass wall. The post blamed “left-wing extremists” and their “Islamo-jihadist allies” for vandalism. It said the police had been ordered not to intervene. As of this writing, it has nearly 8,900 likes and 4,500 shares.
However, this claim is misleading.
Annie Lab traced the footage to an anti-NATO, pro-Palestinian protest in Montreal on Nov. 22, 2024. Canada’s national daily, The Globe and Mail, published the same vido the next day, showing protesters setting off what appears to be red smoke bombs and smashing windows.
The protest took place during the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, held in downtown Montreal from Nov. 22 to 25, 2024. According to the NATO website, delegates discussed the war in Ukraine and global challenges to Euro-Atlantic security, among other issues.
Reuters reported that protesters set two cars on fire, threw smoke bombs and metal objects at police, and burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The news report said officers used tear gas and batons to break up the crowd, and three people were arrested on allegations of assaulting police officers and obstructing their work.
Recent protests in Montreal
Montreal did see demonstrations in October 2026, but Annie Lab found no evidence of violent protests on the scale shown in the video.
A rally supporting student protesters in France took place at Philip Square in Montreal on Oct. 17, according to CBC.
In another protest on Oct. 24, demonstrators responded to allegations that two police officers had mistreated unhoused and racialized people (homeless people and people of color), CBC reported.
Organizers called for greater police accountability and an end to what they described as impunity within the police force. CBC said some demonstrators were arrested.
AFP Canada recently fact-checked the same claim and added further information regarding the current situation in Canada.
