By Max Saltman, CNN
(CNN) — Thieves dressed as Robin Hood raided a food store in Montreal on Tuesday night and gave away the stolen goods in a protest against rising food prices – just weeks after the same group targeted a grocery dressed as Santa and his elves.
An activist organization calling itself the “Robins des Ruelles” (Robins of the Alleys) said roughly 60 people, some dressed in Robin Hood-style feathered caps, had entered a Rachelle Béry health food store, taken food without paying and redistributed it to “many community fridges in the city” in what it claimed was a “political act” against food inflation.
The theft follows a similar incident in December, when members of the same group flooded into a Montreal grocery store dressed as Santa Clause and his elves, stealing food and leaving some of it gift-wrapped under a nearby Christmas tree.
The cost of living is a major topic in Canada, where inflation grew 4.7% between November 2024 and 2025 – more than double the rate of overall inflation, according to CNN’s Canadian broadcast partner CBC.
“Everyday, we are working relentlessly, only to be able to buy food in those profit-driven supermarkets,” the statement from the Robins des Ruelles quotes one group member, Francis, as saying. “When having two jobs is not enough to eat, have a roof over your head and take care of your family, every means become legitimate.”
An edited video published by activist organization Les Soulèvements du Fleuve on Instagram shows the raid on the Rachelle Béry store, interspersed with the title credits for the 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
In the video, people wearing masks amble through the aisles, grabbing food, medicine, soap and other items. Others use spray paint to block security cameras within the store and outside. At the end of the video, one person sprays “F**k Les Profits” on a brick wall.
CNN has reached out to Rachelle Béry’s parent company, Sobey’s, for comment.
Montreal Police media relations officer Jean-Pierre Brabant told CNN that the police opened an investigation into the theft and the graffiti on Wednesday. No one was hurt during the incident, Brabant said, and so far, no one has been arrested.
“Concerning the amount of money or the amount of the stolen goods, we don’t have it,” Brabant said. He estimated the value of the goods as “thousands of dollars,” the same rough figure published by the Robin des Ruelles on Wednesday. He added that the police had not recovered any of the items yet.
As for the Christmas-themed theft in December, Brabant said it was “still under investigation as we speak,” but there hadn’t been any arrests.
The-CNN-Wire
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