This video was taken at a protest over proposed austerity measures in Montreal, Canada, where I guess things got out of control to the point where one cop decided it was time to bring out the tear gas.

I’m not sure what the exact protocol is for safely firing tear gas into a crowd, but I’m pretty sure you’re not meant to fire it point blank into someone’s face. Check it out 20 seconds in:

Ouch… The girl suffered a few cuts to the face but was otherwise OK which is good news, but it was such a dumb move by the cop that public security minister Lise Theriault has got involved:

As a mother, when you see something like that, if it’s my son, or my girl, when people go to demonstrations, they have the right to protest, but safely.

Indeed. Just a shame she wasn’t as badass as this protestor who caught the tear gas canister and threw it right back at police.