UBC Protesters Arrested, Allegations of Police Brutality

Students for a Democratic Society issued a press release yesterday, which is available on the Georgia Straight website, alleging incidents of police brutality at the April 4th, Knoll Aid 2.0 protest on UBC campus:

"Today a peaceful celebration in defence of public space at UBC was violently quashed by the RCMP. This press release was written on April 5th at 1 a.m. with limited available information. All the events discussed herein have been either captured by camera or can be corroborated by multiple eyewitness accounts."

The above video documents some of the allegations -- students are pushed, pulled and shoved to the ground amidst boos and chants of "Peace-ful, pro-test!"

According to RCMP Constable Annie Linteau, a total of 19 people were arrested and are currently facing charges, among which include assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

(More video of what lead to the incident after the jump)

Knoll Aid 2.0 was being held as "part of a larger campaign against the commercialization of campus, the demolition of the grassy knoll, and the development of a $40 [million] underground bus-loop." Later in the evening, a "small bonfire" was lit by students, which prompted a response by firefighters and the RCMP.

As you can see in the video below, students attempted to obstruct the firefighters from exterminating the bonfire. This led to an increasingly hostile environment in which students were arrested and, according to Constable Linteau, an additional 15-20 officers from Richmond RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department were called to assist the three officers already on the scene.
As of 7pm on Saturday, the 19 arrested students were still waiting to be released, charged or held under custody for a hearing on Monday.

(Update: The students involved in the protest have issued another press release, this time calling for a public inquiry into the actions of the RCMP. Again, you can read their statement over at the Georgia Straight website.)