Irony in Canada: 300 Arrested at Protest Against Police BrutalityAmanda Warren The official reason for the arrests was that the protesters did not alert the proper authorities in regards to their location and intentions their itinerary, police said. Arrests were made although the organization responsible for leading the protests, the Collective Opposing Police Brutality (COPB), has organized protests in the same location for the past 18 years. Police still claim they require prior notification for a demonstration. Police spokesman Ian Lafrenire said: In addition, police claim that crowds were unruly and that they were refusing to stay out of the street and were blocking traffic against police commands. Protesters, however, disagree and accused police of lying about the sequence of events. What is clear, however, is that the police swooped in and began making arrests before the protest largely got off the ground according to RT. After only a few minutes, riot police arrived on Jean-Talon street, surrounded the protesters and initiated a mass arrest. Protesters claim an extremely heavy police presence with not only riot police, but officers on horses and even helicopters. COPBs protest this year was focused on drawing attention to the issue of social cleansing where they claim authorities try to get rid of people they deem unwanted. For instance, the group cites an Perhaps most ironic, one person was reported by officers as having sustained injuries to his face during police intervention and was aided by paramedics on site. This writer couldnt help notice some of the language used to describe the protest. One report called the protest an annual stand-off and RT said that the protesters were brandishing banners. Recent other articles by Amanda Warren 