Hasidic community near Montreal under lockdown demonstrates against police

Some 200 residents of a Hasidic community near Montreal left their homes to demonstrate after a delivery driver was prevented from entering their locked down community.

Boisbriand, a Hasidic enclave of 4,000 just north of Montreal, was ordered into a 14-day lockdown on March 29 after a coronavirus outbreak. Police have been controlling the entrance to and exit from the neighborhood.

On Monday night police prevented a delivery driver from entering the community because his service did not appear on the list of essential services provided to the community, the Montreal Gazette reported. It did not say what he was delivering.

The demonstrators left their homes to converge on the police checkpoint. Police spoke to local leaders to defuse the situation, according to the report.

The community is home to the Tosh sect. Last month, Tosh leaders asked Quebec authorities to help them stop the spread of disease in their community. News reports suggested at the time that the virus might have been brought to the community by members who traveled to New York for the Purim holiday.