Demonstrators sue UCalgary, police over handling of 2024 encampment

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are suing several individuals, including University of Calgary governors and former police chief Mark Neufeld, for allegedly breaching their constitutional right to protest during the 2024 encampment.

The group is seeking $330,000 in damages for the May 9, 2024 on the green space in front of the MacEwan Student Centre at the school’s campus in northwest Calgary.

Several students, including the nine plaintiffs in the filing, set up an encampment to protest what they say is UCalgary’s complicity in Israel’s military involvement in Gaza, a conflict that has left more than 73,000 Palestinians dead. The continued battery of the region was in response to an attack on Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023.

During the demonstration in question, protesters set up camp around 6 a.m. and received trespassing notices from UCalgary officials an hour later. They say a Calgary Police Service (CPS) officer arrived around midday and told them they were fine and “had a right to be there.”

However, police officers arrived in riot gear around 8 p.m., requesting them to leave. The legal filing claims police involvement escalated beyond previous attempts to remove protesters and requests to leave at around 11 p.m.

Oleoresin capsicum grenades and pepper balls were launched against the demonstrators who remained, along with police striking them with their shields and batons. All nine plaintiffs suffered injuries as a result, and some officers made “malicious remarks” while making arrests, the filing reads. The demonstrators range from a fourth-year student to a 66-year-old alumnus.

Around 150 people were estimated to have been at the encampment at the protest’s peak, but many left, except for a few dozen and news media.

Several officers are named as defendants, including some only referred to as “John Doe,” alongside former chief Neufeld and the governors of the University of Calgary.

The lawyer for the case, Chris Wiebe, says university officials and Calgary police “breached” the constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly of the demonstrators without consideration.

“The university immediately trespassed the student protesters, including my nine clients, and asked for the CPS to help, which they did the very same day, showed up with great force, with shields and helmets and chemical ammunitions, batons, and that evening advanced violently on my clients,” he told 660 NewsRadio.

“There was no reason for the CPS to use the force that they did, given that my clients were packing to leave and they knew that they were packing to leave.”

But that isn’t the main harm they experienced, Wiebe says.

“My clients have told me repeatedly that the biggest problem for them has been the psychological toll of being treated like this by the university, some of my clients were students of which, and the ongoing fear of police.”

CPS claims remaining protesters threw projectiles at officers, who responded by using flash bangs and pepper balls.

“While unknown students threw two plastic water bottles at CPS officers, they did so after CPS officers advanced and hit tents with batons,” reads the filing from the protesters.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith requested that the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigate the incident, though she applauded the efforts of police at the time.

“Using the definition of ‘serious’ that is regularly employed by ASIRT when conducting investigations into harm caused by police, ASIRT has found that the allegation of ‘serious’ injuries cannot be verified,” read a release from CPS.

In a statement to CityNews, the University of Calgary says it will review any statement of claim received through the courts and respond as appropriate.

With files from Cutis Geroux