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One man hospitalized during Occupy march

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 09/18/2012 1:00 AM

One man was taken to hospital on Monday during a rally marking the one-year anniversary of the Occupy movement.

About 50 people were marching past Portage Place at about 5:45 p.m. on Monday when a police cruiser showed up. Video of the event, posted at Ustream.tv, shows several police officers wading into a small crowd of sign-bearing marchers. Police can be heard in the video asking who the leaders of the march are. "There are no leaders," one marcher replies.

The video shows an officer taking one man by the arm and pushing him onto the sidewalk, against a garbage can, before appearing to take him under arrest. The crowd then gathers around police, chanting "Shame on you" and "Let him go."

In the throng, police can be seen in the video leading a second man to the side of a police cruiser, evidently to place him under arrest. The man then goes limp as officers attempt to place him in the cruiser, according to the video.

About two minutes later, the video shows a woman screaming "Let him go," and the man can be seen convulsing on the ground, as police try to steady his legs and witnesses scream.

It is not clear from the video what precipitated the man’s convulsions.

The man was transported to hospital.

Winnipeg police could not be reached Monday night.

Video streaming by Ustream