Pro-Palestinian supporters occupy McGill University administration building

Pro-Palestinian protesters at McGill university said they are barricading themselves in a building as part of a “global call to action.”

The Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill said that they entered the McGill James Administration Building “demanding McGill cut ties with genocide.”

Montreal police respond to a protest at McGill University on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (Kelly Greig/CTV News)

Montreal police officers in riot gear have arrived on scene. 

The group leading the occupation said that the university has “repressed every institutional channel through which they expressed the student will for a policy against genocide.”

The protesters at McGill have called for the university to divest of financial holdings in companies linked to Israel’s war with Hamas.

The SPHR listed Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, and Thales as examples of companies they want McGill to divest from and boycott.

SPHR McGill spokesperson Rama Al-Malah told CTV News that the group is not preventing anyone from leaving the building and that there has been no confrontation with security.

She said there were around 50 to 60 protesters taking part and they have called for more to join them. 

Pro-Palestinian supporters gather at McGill University on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (Kelly Greig/CTV News)

In a brief statement, McGill said police and security are on site as the situation unfolds. 

“Protesters have set up a barricade outside the building,” the statement reads. 

More to come.