Police beat activists, make arrests

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Police in Montreal clubbed protesters late Sunday and arrested dozens of them as students rallying for months over tuition hikes used the Formula One Grand Prix to highlight their plight.

Police spokeswoman Annie Lemieux said about 30 arrests made on Sunday morning were pre-emptive in nature, and another six people were charged with criminal offenses including "intimidation and threats made to police."

Shield-wielding riot police had also pushed back and chased hundreds of protesters amassed in the downtown shopping district late Saturday, making 28 arrests and shoving several demonstrators, some in masks, to the ground.

Protesters -- mixed in with thousands of race fans and passers-by -- booed and cursed before confronting police, who shouted and unleashed pepper spray. Sirens blared and people occasionally screamed from the panic of being crushed.

Later, demonstrators broke windows at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Banque Nationale. Authorities quickly declared the protest illegal, and used clubs to beat back and put down a crowd of more than 1,000 protestors, as the Grand Prix took place under tight security.

"We are in a real social crisis in Quebec. And at the moment we are witnessing police brutality, for no purpose, really," University of Montreal student Zac Daoust Lefebvre told AFP.