Talk:Murray-Hill riot

this seems to be incomplete
Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, p. 331: https://fistfulofscience.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/why-steven-pinker-gave-up-on-anarchism/ http://www.kropfpolisci.com/human.nature.pinker.pdf


 * When law enforcement vanishes, all manner of violence breaks out: looting, settling old scores, ethnic cleansing, and petty warfare among gangs, warlords and mafias. This was obvious in the remnants of Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and parts of Africa in the 1990s, but can also happen in countries with a long tradition of civility. As a young teenager in proudly peaceable Canada during the romantic 1960s, I was a true believer in Bakunin’s anarchism. I laughed off my parents’ argument that if the government ever laid down its arms all hell would break loose. Our competing predictions were put to the test at 8:00 A.M. on October 17, 1969, when the Montreal police went on strike. By 11:20 A.M. the first bank was robbed. By noon most downtown stores had closed because of looting. Within a few more hours, taxi drivers burned down the garage of a limousine service that had competed with them for airport customers, a rooftop sniper killed a provincial police officer, rioters broke into several hotels and restaurants, and a doctor slew a burglar in his suburban home. By the end of the day, six banks had been robbed, a hundred shops had been looted, twelve fires had been set, forty carloads of storefront glass had been broken, and three million dollars in property damage had been inflicted, before city authorities had to call ni the army and, of course, the Mounties to restore order. This decisive empirical test left my politics in tatters (and offered a foretaste of life as a scientist).

Time Magazine, Friday, Oct. 17, 1969:

https://fistfulofscience.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/why-steven-pinker-gave-up-on-anarchism/ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840236,00.html


 * Separatists advocating an independent Quebee have ignited a series of violent demonstrations and bomb explosions. A continuing fiscal crisis…has alienated Montrealers from their political leaders. The city’s police were particularly angry because their Toronto counterparts receive more pay for less dangerous work. [Between June 1968 and October 1969, two police officers were killed and more than 250 were injured.] When the city offered the police an increase that still left them $800 short of Toronto’s basic $9,200-a-year scale, the cops struck. As an Ottawa official put it: “The people who had been kicking them and stoning them and bashing them over the head weren’t paying them enough for it.”

And regarding the taxi drivers:


 * Early in the evening, a group of taxi drivers added to the confusion. Protesting the fact that they are prohibited from serving Montreal’s airport, they led a crowd of several hundred to storm the garage of the Murray Hill Limousine Service Ltd., which has the lucrative franchise.

Illinois Law Enforcement Executive Forum, Managing Diverse Population P. 113:


 * Montrealers discovered last week what it is like to live in a city without police and firemen. The lesson was costly: six banks were robbed, more than 100 shops were looted, and there were twelve fires. Property damage came close to $3,000,000; at least 40 carloads of glass will be needed to replace shattered storefronts. Two men were shot dead. At that, Montreal was probably lucky to escape as lightly as it did. The immediate cause of the outburst was a strike for more pay staged by the city’s cops and firemen . . . . Off the Beat. One morning last week, the 8 a.m. police shift went off to the Paul Sauvé Arena to argue strike tactics instead of reporting to their beats. Suddenly the city was left unguarded. By 11:20 a.m., the first bank robbery had occurred. By noon shops began to close, and banks shut their doors to all except old customers. Early in the evening, a group of taxi drivers added to the confusion. Protesting the fact that they are prohibited from serving Montreal’s airport, they led a crowd of several hundred to storm the garage of the Murray Hill Limousine Service Ltd., which has the lucrative franchise. Buses were overturned and set ablaze. From nearby rooftops, snipers’ shots rang out. A handful of frightened Quebec provincial police, called in to help maintain order, stood by helplessly. One was shot in the back by a sniper and died. The crowd, augmented by other opportunists, moved through downtown Montreal, burning and looting. Rioters stormed into the swanky Queen Elizabeth Hotel, then moved on to the nearby Windsor Hotel and nearly wrecked Mayor Jean Drapeau’s newly opened restaurant. Expensive shops along St. Catherine’s Street were hit by looters. On the city’s outskirts, burglars went to work; one was shot dead by a doctor in his suburban home. Running Amok. Belatedly, the Quebec provincial government called out 600 infantrymen and 300 Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It also rammed through an emergency law ordering police and firemen back to duty by midnight under threat of heavy penalties, including fines of up to $100 a day per striker. Soon after midnight, the cops began reappearing, [making] more than 60 arrests . . . . Ordinary citizens amused themselves chiefly by running red lights—but nothing more. (“Canada: City Without Cops,” 1969) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.165.153 (talk) 08:13, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Shortening 'background' section
I don't think the paragraphs beginning with 'To many, the monopoly held' and 'In the first six months of 1969' are relevant to the topic - they discuss FLQ activity before the riots, but if the article is about a police riot, the backround section should focus on police activity and sentiment, and only mention FLQ activity very briefly. Thoughts? QueensanditsCrazy (talk) 02:13, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
 * The article is about a riot that ensued due to a police riot police strike. If the intent is to give a portrait of the involved beligerent groups in this event then the paragraph is relevant. Robert Dumas from the provincial police died due to escalation of the situation between two factions composed of different taxi companies. The fact that one group was enraged enough to show up to their competitor's garage with Molotov cocktails was due to what they perceived as an injustice due to the monopolistic situation regarding the airport taxi route. Maybe the FLQ did fan the flame in this situation but the main actors in the death of that police officer are the taxi companies and explaining their perspective to clarify the root sentiment in this event appears to be relevant. --ThrowAway235 (talk) 13:51, 9 March 2021 (UTC)