Quebec City, midnight, April 22: Hundreds of riot police continue to make an effort to reoccupy the Ste. Jean Baptiste neighborhood, with mixed results. According to reports called into CMAQ shortly before midnight, several thousand protesters have remassed on Rue Saint Jean, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, and pulled down a portion of the perimeter wall on Rue Sainte Genevieve that had been reoccupied by police earlier in the evening.

Protesters had taken down the perimeter abutting Ste. Genevieve earlier in the day -- and police moved to push crowds back and retake the streets below early in the evening. The police maneuvering prompted a series of sitdowns through at least nine p.m., with cops using concussion grenades, plastic bullets and teargas to push back peaceful participants in the sitdowns.

Police are currently firing ordnance -- apparently primarily teargas -- down the Cote du Abraham and onto the streets below the steeply pitched road. The latest reports indicate that the Black Block has reformed a barricade on Cote du Abraham and is currently holding a line on the thoroughfare.

The term 'Black Bloc' has been an even more nebulous designation than usual this week, with many bloc members appearing to be older local residents who have trolled their closets for black attire -- including one middle-aged man wearing a women's black scarf and a Harley Davidson shirt, and armed -- as were his three companions -- with sturdy sticks. Many of the 'local bloc' are also toting 40 ounce beer bottles, and have been informally christened the '40 ounce crew' for their propensity to hurl both empty and full bottles at the police.

Local residents eagerly volunteered assistance to protesters throughout the day and into the night. Many came to their doorsteps with water and offered to help teargas victims decontaminate. One resident of Ste. Genevieve ran a hose from his second floor window to provide protesters with a steady water drip to refill bottles or flush out eyes.