A group organizing pro-Palestinian protests claimed that Toronto police "selectively" enforced a ban on demonstrations on an overpass on the highway during the weekend.

The Eglinton Lawrence and Don Valley 4 Palestine group said the march that took place on Saturday afternoon was "selectively obstructed" by Toronto police officers.

The group alleged in a statement that people who appeared white and were not wearing the keffiyeh – the traditional head covering worn in some parts of the Middle East – were allowed to move freely in the area, while others were arrested or attacked.

Toronto police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police earlier said three people were arrested on Saturday for organizing a protest on the bridge, in violation of a newly enacted ban imposed in response to increasingly controversial demonstrations sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas.

Police alleged that the detainees – three men in their twenties and thirties – were given a chance to leave but refused, with one charged with assault and the others with obstructing police.

Mayor Myron Demkiw announced a ban on protests on Avenue Road and the Highway 401 overpass last Thursday, citing growing concerns about community safety.

He said many, especially members of Toronto’s Jewish community, feel increasingly unsafe amid ongoing protests and rising hate crimes targeting Jews and Muslims. He also said the highway is part of critical infrastructure and expressed concern for the safety of drivers underneath the overpass.

At the time, Demkiw said officers would "apply a criminal lens" increasingly when monitoring protests in the city.

Richard Moon, a law professor at the University of Windsor and an expert on freedom of expression, said some of the concerns raised by the mayor in imposing the ban, such as the danger of distracted driving, could also apply to other sites and protests.

He added, “If one wants to prove that this distraction and protests at such sites shouldn’t happen, it should be applied consistently and not selectively.”

“So there are different kinds of arguments being made, but they don’t seem to be applied consistently to other protests.”

He said when restrictions are applied inconsistently, it can “create a kind of irony about our commitment to protest and freedom of expression.”

It may seem that “if you say the right things, you have the right to do so; and if you… express messages that others or many people in the community disagree with, you don’t have the right to do so.”

Moon added that protests always involve some disruption, but absent actual threats, the fact that some in the community may feel concerned or uncomfortable “is not a sufficient basis to end the protest.”