Police prevent demonstrators before Grand Prix

Shield-wielding riot police pushed back and chased hundreds of protesters amassed in the downtown shopping district on Saturday night, arresting at least 28 people and pushing several protesters, some in masks, to the ground.u00a0

"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. The crowd of protesters ran, booed and cursed, before engaging in more confrontation as police shouted and unleashed pepper spray. Sirens blared and people occasionally screamed from the panic of being crushed.