Police interrupt love-in

This article is a review of the same event mentioned by several interviewees on the related story page: The love-in on Mount Royal on May 7, 1967. Here is the full transcription of the article headlined above.

Transcription:

The Montreal Star
Monday, May 8, 1967

(Image 1 caption) A bewildered woman talks to the police. One mother was among those arrested.

(Image 2 caption) A mounted policeman makes a spirited approach on a group of “human be-in” participants at Fletcher’s Field yesterday.

Youths ‘Be-In’

17 Arrested In City Melee

What started out as a youthful “happening” on the eastern slope — Fletcher’s Field — of Mount Royal yesterday ended up with the arrest of 16 youths and a middle-aged woman who was chaperoning her daughter. 

Several scuffles broke out as police tried to disperse the rally and one person was slightly injured in the melee. 

Those arrested were charged with refusing to move on and resisting arrest. As for the mother rounded up with the youths, she was charged with assaulting a constable.

To the strumming of guitars, the smell of incense, and music and chants, some 250 young people were copying a recent mammoth “human be-in” held in New York’s Central Park. 

Hippies Join In

The crowd grew as “hippies” dressed in every conceivable type of outfit joined the festivities. Some wore outlandish costumes, such as a Chinese robe and an Arab headress. 

But most wore the standard beatnik uniform of jeans, dark sweater and long hair. Many of the older boys sported beards. Several wore lapel buttons bearing such slogans as “If it moves, fondle it,” “Send Joe Pyne to college,” and “Burn grass, not babies.” The heavy odor of incense from hundreds of burning rods hung over the gathering. 

The chanting was accompanied by the beat of a Tibetan talking drum, miniature hand cymbals from India, and assorted other instruments. 

Then, police, their numbers swelled to about 50 by reinforcements, made their first move. 

Sitting at the base of the nearby Georges Etienne Cartier monument was a bearded youth playing a guitar. Above him. cradled in the arms of a mother and children statue forming part of the monument, was a huge “love” sign. The police took down the sign and arrested the guitar player. 

Police Warning

The police gave the participants 15 minutes to leave, explaining that demonstrations were not allowed in Montreal. 

“This is an unlawful assembly aimed at disturbing the peace. We don’t want them, especially during the Expo period,” they were told. “As long as you keep moving, we have no objections.” 

When the gathering learned that they had to “keep moving,” they formed conga lines and circles and began to dance about the park. 

The mounted policemen charged the students, knocking over several and scattering the rest. They were followed by police on foot, who forced the youths to disperse into small groups and leave the park. 

One youth, grabbed around the neck and dragged away by a policeman, fell to the ground, gasping “they choked me.” As policemen dragged him away, he plaintively asked “Why? We came here to love you and you do something like this.”