VANCOUVER -- A protest at Vancouver's Main and Hastings streets blocked the intersection to traffic overnight Sunday and into Monday morning.
A small group of protesters began gathering Sunday evening and by 7:30 a.m. Monday, about a dozen people were still gathered.
A handful of police moved in to the intersection at around 8 a.m. to try to convince the crowd to disperse. By 9 a.m., most had moved on and traffic resumed in the intersection.
It's believed the group gathered to protest police violence and that the gathering may be connected to one specific incident from the weekend.
George Rubin, 76, says he intervened in an incident Sunday between police and two men that he says was violent. During that altercation, Rubin says he was pushed down and broke his arm.
"This was the most ugliest thing that I have ever seen in police force," Rubin told CTV News Vancouver.
"Zero respect. Respect is supposed to be number one."
According to police, the initial call was about two men in a knife fight and when officers arrived, an aggressive crowd formed.
A video of the incident posted to Facebook shows several police officers making arrests in the middle of the street while a crowd of onlookers yells and some people throw objects at the police, including a suitcase.
Vancouver police say a total of seven people were arrested and face a variety of charges including uttering threats, causing a disturbance and assaulting an officer.
With traffic access blocked at the intersection, TransLink temporarily detoured several of its buses including the number 3, 8, 16 and 20.
