Seven months later, Euan Thomson is still fighting to get records under Alberta’s freedom of information law and has questions about why the university called the police and why he sustained injuries.
Thomson, a writer for Drug Data Decoded and director at Each and Every, said the pro-Palestine protests on May 9 didn’t feel like a protest until it took on a new form once the police showed up.
Hours before, Thomson noticed a group of police officers outside McMahon Stadium. The protest was meant to educate the public, he said.
“I took part in some of the activities,” said Thomson. “Painting signs and educating folks on campus about what was going on in Gaza–none of that amounted to something that required a violent police response.”
Protesters across the country set up encampments on university grounds last spring in hopes of drawing attention to the humanitarian crises in Gaza, calling on the administration to divest from companies with ties to Israel and adopt a definition of anti-Palestinian racism on campus.
From peaceful protest to police standoff
Protestors experienced different responses from administrations and police across Canada.
At the University of Calgary, Thomson recounts how shocking it was to hear that the school and the Calgary Police Service claim that no injuries were reported despite sustaining a concussion, trauma to the face and a sprained finger.
“The weird part about this is that I had visible trauma to my face. No medical assistance was offered. Nobody really asked if I was okay. You know, this is an example of gaslighting by the university and the police,” Thomson said.
Aiden Keeler, a fourth-year student taking political science with a minor in Greek and Roman studies at the U of C, also took part in the protest where he was arrested and taken to hospital that evening.
“It was unnerving to see how police showed up in their riot gear,” said Keeler.
The situation quickly changed from a peaceful gathering to protesters worried of what they might face next.
“When the police started marching on us, neither of us fell back; we both stood our ground, and I think that’s what pissed the cops off,” Keeler said. “They were taking their batons and shoving them forward and up to try to hit people’s ribs and their internal organs.”
In a letter focused on reviewing police action sent to the Calgary Police Commission, Chief Mark Neufeld recounts that between 11 p.m. and 11:35 p.m., police say bottles were thrown at them, protesters linked arms and pushed towards the police as well as grabbing the officers’ shields to attempt to push them to the ground aggressively.
Thomson recalls being separated from the protest line and pulled behind the police line. “There’s footage of me being beaten on the ground while I’m facedown by two police officers,” Thomson said.
Neufeld stated that the protest group prevented the police Public Safety Unit from physically controlling the arrested subjects. They continued to throw projectiles and attempted to pull the arrested subjects back into the crowd. Those who were arrested did not comply with arrest.
‘Everything that I’ve received back has been withheld, refused, redacted or severely delayed’
Thomson’s efforts to obtain internal university records using Alberta’s freedom of information laws began immediately, hoping to stand up to large institutions with the power to control the narrative about the protest.
“It’s just that sort of infuriating feeling that you know what you experienced, and somebody’s telling you that you didn’t experience it, or that it’s not going to be recognized, and it’s hard,” Thomson said.
He submitted requests to university, the Calgary Police Service, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the government of Alberta, the executive council, and the premier’s office to get internal records about the protest and why the police were called to dismantle the encampment.
“Everything that I’ve received back has been withheld, refused, redacted or severely delayed,” Thomson said.
Neufeld has insisted that incident commanders respond to changing circumstances and protest/counter behaviour in real time where the team is often privy to information the public does not have. CPS makes its own independent decisions about its response in a risk-based manner that is dictated by protestor behaviour.
Jennifer Koshan, a professor in the faculty of law and research excellence chair at the University of Calgary, took part in an open letter to the U of C, the University of Alberta, and Edmonton and Calgary’s chiefs of police, questioning the need for the police to end the protest.
From what I understand the protest was peaceful until the police arrived,” said Koshan. “My concern is, what were the university’s reasons for believing that it needed to invoke a trespass notice and call in the police to enforce it.”
In terms of policies and procedures, the university and police are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and need to consider the charter in its decision-making.
“Their ability to use those procedures under the trespass act is subject to the Charter Rights of the protestors—the Charter is the supreme law of Canada—meaning trespass law is secondary—it’s not enough for the university to simply say we were relying on trespass law,” Koshan said.
Questions remain
Weeks after the protest, the U of C began a third-party review of its decision-making process on May 30, 2024.
In an emailed statement to the Calgary Journal, the University of Calgary said it is aware of several freedom of information requests, which have caused delays in gathering the necessary documents.
The post-secondary institution is unclear on when a third-party review will be completed.
“We understand some faculty members have been critical of our approach–we respectfully disagree,” the statement said. “The University of Calgary is a place of free expression. Students, faculty and staff have the right to protest on our campus but, per our policies and procedures, they may not establish an encampment.”
However, Koshan questions a directive that was passed and modified in May. The legal scholar questions how well-known it was, whether it even carried the status of a policy, and whether people knew about it.
“We have a whole procedure in place that dictates how policies are to be adopted by the university. And it appears that that particular directive that was changed on May 3rd did not go through that process. So the status of that directive, I think, is somewhat unclear.”
Update
The University of Calgary made its third-party review public in mid-December. The report written by the professional services firm MNP found “gaps” and “strengths with communications and stakeholder engagement” surrounding the May protest.