Police respond to 500 person Diwali celebration in Mississauga as 'street brawl'

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Last night in Mississauga, a very large crowd of people descended onto a mall parking lot complete with fireworks to celebrate Diwali — but police there originally responded to it as a large fight.

Around 10:30 p.m., Peel Police said they had responded to reports a fight involving 400 to 500 people in a parking lot at Malton's Goreway and Etude Drives, Westwood Mall.

FIGHT
- Goreway Dr / Etude Dr #Mississauga
- #PRP responded to reports of 400-500 people fighting in a parking lot
- #PRP located one person with injuries
- Male being assessed by @Peel_Paramedics
- #PRP remaining in the area as things have calmed down
- C/R 9:41pm
- 22-0357908
— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) October 25, 2022

The force tweeted that one person at the event was treated for injuries and that officers remained on scene as things calmed down.

Peel Police responded to large crowd in Mississauga last night reported as a 400-500 person fight - 📹 hurtedharry1 https://t.co/6U1biKnKkp #Mississauga pic.twitter.com/fXdKqAGMKv
— theGentries (@theGentries) October 25, 2022

Multiple videos shared from the parking lot show a somewhat happy occasion with fireworks and dancing.

It's no fight pic.twitter.com/Gezs02YV12
— Harsh Choudhary (@CanadianJaat) October 25, 2022

One video on TikTok showed police officers interacting with revelers and appeared to be trying to push the crowd back.

Peel Regional Police media officer Cst. Mandeep Khatra said that police were called to the parking lot for reports of a fight and that officers located the crowd on scene.

pic.twitter.com/i5OtrJEkck
— Tarun Seedhar (@TSeedhar) October 25, 2022

"People appeared to be celebrating Diwali by burning fireworks and cheering. Police remained in the area for peacekeeping until the crowd dispersed," he said.

Some footage on Twitter claim a "flag off" occurred between India and Khalistan supporters but they did not show any physical fighting.