With funding and support from The Lawfare Project, a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Daniel Bercovici—a Jewish resident of Montreal—against the City of Montreal and four officers of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal over his arrest at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 14, 2025. The lawsuit, brought in the Superior Court of Québec, alleges that officers unlawfully arrested Bercovici, used excessive force, and filed materially false reports that led to his prosecution for obstructing a peace officer. Michael Hollander and Neil G. Oberman of Spiegel Ryan LLP are representing Bercovici.
According to the application (complaint), Bercovici attended the race as a peaceful spectator, holding an Israeli flag in support of the Israel Premier Tech cycling team while approximately 200 anti-Israel demonstrators protested its participation. Within seconds of approaching Bercovici, officers allegedly made physical contact, forced him along the barrier line, took him to the ground, handcuffed and searched him, and arrested him. He sustained open wounds, abrasions, bruising, and handcuff injuries.
“The right to stand peacefully in a public place with an Israeli flag cannot depend on whether a hostile crowd approves of the message.” — Benjamin Ryberg, Attorney and Chief Operating Officer, The Lawfare Project
The application alleges that police officers filed materially false reports claiming that Bercovici taunted demonstrators, waved his flag aggressively, ignored warnings and orders, and resisted police. It further alleges that those reports were written from memory hours later, without contemporaneous notes, and are contradicted by video evidence, police photographs, and inconsistencies among the reports themselves.
The lawsuit also alleges that demonstrators converged on Bercovici and attempted to strike him with flagpoles as officers moved him along the barrier. Although the officers’ own report recorded those attempts, the application asserts that no arrest was made and no investigation was opened concerning the assault on him. Bercovici’s Israeli flag was never returned, and his flagpole was seized and marked for destruction.
Bercovici spent more than ten months defending the obstruction charge. On July 28, 2026, the prosecution withdrew it, expressly because of video evidence provided by the defense, according to the application.
“This case is about the right to express support for a participating team peacefully and safely in a public place, without being removed because others respond with hostility. It raises the question of who the police protect.” — Michael Hollander, Spiegel Ryan LLP, Counsel for Daniel Bercovici
The lawsuit seeks CAD $86,301.50 in compensatory and punitive damages, plus interest and legal costs, for alleged unlawful removal and arrest, excessive force, unlawful searches and seizures, failure to protect Bercovici, interference with his protected rights, and materially false police reports that caused his prosecution. Punitive damages are sought against each officer individually.
The Lawfare Project is supporting this action to defend the right to peaceful Jewish expression and equal protection under the law. |
