American rapper Dave East pepper-sprayed by Montreal police outside his concert

Montreal police are defending the actions of officers who pepper-sprayed American rapper Dave East and some of his fans outside his concert Tuesday night.

A video showing part of the altercation that is circulating on social media has gone viral, with two million views and counting as of Wednesday evening.

Christcella Nicholas runs the 514onlinemix website that covers the entertainment scene in Montreal. She was there to film the concert at Le Rouge Bar on Prince Arthur Street and said “it was painful to watch” the police resort to pepper-spraying the crowd.

The 45-second clip shows East shouting at officers who were dealing with another group of people on the street when the officers deployed the pepper spray on him and others. The 35-year-old rapper can be seen heading toward the sidewalk before he crouches down on his knees as onlookers rush to his side.

Another video shows East pouring water from a bottle onto his face.

“It was tragic. It was really hard to see somebody who’s made such a name for themselves in the hip hop community, in his hip hop career and to see them down on their knees like that in agony from the pepper spray,” Nicholas said in an interview on Wednesday.

“It just happens too many times where police interrupt these shows, these events, and they don’t really end well and this one did not end well.”

Jean-Pierre Brabant, a Montreal police spokesperson, told CTV News that police showed up at the venue after receiving a tip that a man was armed with a gun “inside that bar.” Officers entered the bar at around 1 a.m. and eventually stopped the show, asking people to leave the building. Concertgoers were told they would be searched on their way out, he said.

Police officers found a 9 mm handgun and a bullet near the stage and arrested a 24-year-old man for possession of a firearm, according to Brabant.

A video shared with CTV News shows East on stage as someone else announces on the speakers: “All right ladies and gentleman, everyone has to step outside and get searched by the police.”

Brabant said the crowd started to get agitated outside and officers were forced to react.

“As you can see in the video, people were getting really close and really aggressive towards officers,” he said. “People [were] close to officers during the intervention … pepper spray was used to disperse them for safety measures to make sure that officers would work in a safe environment.”

Five other males between the ages of 16 and 38 were also arrested for various alleged offences, including assaulting an officer and obstructing police. No charges have been laid.

Nicholas said she was searched by a police officer but was left in the dark as to why, which made her feel unsafe.

“I do understand they have a job to do — their job is to protect and serve. There was a community there that they needed to serve as well with just letting us know that we were safe in their presence. I believe that’s the minimum of what everybody needed that night,” she said.

“I think people are upset, people are traumatized. I, too, was traumatized. I’ve never been frisked before. I’ve never been involved in a situation like that night and it’s still traumatic. It still bothers me to this very moment.”

Brabant said police had a plan going into the venue and followed proper procedure.

Le Bar Rouge did not respond to a request for comment from CTV News.