When you see a SWAT team arrive in an armored vehicle with its members armed to the teeth, you know that serious stuff is about to go down. Even if you’re not the one in trouble, chances are that you’ll at least get apprehensive about the situation. Not Montreal citizens, though. They’re built differently.
This is evidenced by a TikTok video posted on May 8, which is now going viral on the platform. In it, we can see a team of SWAT officers make their way through a street, seemingly prepared to use any means to accomplish their mission. Instead of being met with nervousness or even fear from civilians, though, they behave as if nothing at all is happening. People just go about their day, unfazed by the heavily armed officers tiptoeing their way into a house.
The video gets funnier the longer it goes on, as the people recording it go from being shocked at the fact that they’re witnessing a raid, to bewilderment at the passersby’s nonchalant attitude. “They’re just kind of chilling over there,” someone says between laughs, moving the camera between folks lounging on their lawn chairs, a man walking out of the scene while on a call, and a woman leaving home with a shopping bag. Either these people are far too used to seeing raids, or they have more important things going on in their lives.
Naturally, the situation has been met with amusement online, as most TikTok users cannot believe what they’re seeing. “This is the most chill raid in the history of raids lmaooo,” one person wrote, while many others commented on how hilarious the clip is, not only because of the civilians’ behavior, but also the officers’ polite and orderly entry: “What is this, an invite for coffee?” One user, however, decided to put the jokes aside and provide some context to the video: “Living [in] Montreal, you learn to mind your own business and go about your day even when SWAT’s there.”
In all seriousness, it’s great that bystanders were able to remain calm when confronted with such a situation. According to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union, SWAT teams often (and unnecessarily) use violent tactics and equipment, which results in a tendency to “escalate rather than ameliorate potential violence.” This means that situations like the one in this video are truly one of a kind.
Thankfully, this time the police got something right. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.