{"id":663986,"date":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663986\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","slug":"pro-palestinian-activists-launch-lawsuit-over-violent-arrests-at-calgary-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663986\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Palestinian activists launch lawsuit over \u2018violent\u2019 arrests at Calgary protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nine protesters who were involved in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Calgary in May 2024 have launched a lawsuit over damages they claim to have suffered when riot police moved in to forcibly break up the event.<\/p>\n

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The University of Calgary, members of the Calgary Police Service, including former police chief Mark Neufeld, and the City of Calgary are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The protest began around 6:30 a.m. on May 9, 2024, when demonstrators set up a tent encampment on the south lawn at MacEwan Hall, objecting to what they claimed were the university\u2019s ties to Israeli companies and institutions that were directly or indirectly involved in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAt the height of the protest there were an estimated 150 people taking part.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News File Photo\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The protest, led by a group called the Calgary Student Movement, was one of dozens of similar events held on campuses across Canada and the United States. During its peak it involved up to 150 people, including students, alumni and community supporters.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3:07
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalgary police remove pro-Palestinian encampment on University of Calgary\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

While the university maintained it supported the protesters\u2019 right to free speech and right to protest, it said that for safety and operational reasons they were not allowed to set up an encampment on campus.<\/p>\n

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According to police, about 60 of the protesters eventually agreed to leave, but late on the second day of the event, officers moved in to arrest the remaining protesters with video posted on social media showing officers tearing down makeshift fencing and tents.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe demonstrators accused police of using pepper spray, batons and flash bangs to break up the encampment, while police defended their actions saying some of the protestors were throwing water bottles and other items at officers.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFile Photo\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The demonstrators accused police of using pepper spray, batons and flash bangs on them during the arrests, but police defended their actions, saying some of the protesters were throwing water bottles and other items at the officers.<\/p>\n

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According to the court documents, the lawsuit was filed on May 4, 2026 at the Court of King\u2019s Bench in Edmonton and the nine plaintiffs include three University of Calgary students and four alumni, a Palestinian woman, and advocates for peace from Calgary\u2019s diverse communities.<\/p>\n

They claim to have suffered a variety of injuries, including:<\/p>\n

concussions, headaches and dizziness,rib, jaw, hand, neck, face and back injuries,cuts, bruises, and scrapes,psychological trauma\u00a0including fear, mental anguish, distress, public humiliation, and hypervigilance of police.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit says, even though all charges against the demonstrators were eventually withdrawn, several of them also claim to have incurred costs and suffered mental distress related to defending themselves against charges by police.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:36
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUse of force to remove pro-Palestinian encampment at U of C scrutinized\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs say the university\u2019s main quadrangle has been a regular site of civic demonstration for decades, including encampment protests, and they maintain they were just exercising their Charter-protected right to peaceful protest before they were \u201csubjected to a violent removal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tProtestors are asking for $330,000 in damages, court costs and a declaration that their Charter rights were violated.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News File Photo\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The lawsuit calls the defendant\u2019s actions malicious, high-handed and oppressive and seeks more than $330,000 in damages, as well as court costs and a declaration that protesters\u2019 Charter rights were breached.<\/p>\n

Asked by Global News for its response to the lawsuit, the University of Calgary responded with an email that said it will \u201creview any statement of claim received through the courts and respond as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Calgary Police Service said it has not been formally served so is unable to comment on any pending litigation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nine protesters who were involved in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Calgary in May 2024 have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,245191,245192,48,2169,245193,245190],"class_list":["post-663986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-gaza-protest","tag-calgary-palestinian-protest","tag-canada","tag-crime","tag-palestinian-lawsuit-calgary","tag-ucalgary-gaza-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}