Thieves dressed as Robin Hood stormed a food store in Canada on Tuesday night, carted away groceries and handed them out to the needy in a dramatic protest against rising food prices, just weeks after the same group carried out a similar stunt dressed as Santa and his elves.
An activist collective calling itself the “Robins des Ruelles” (Robins of the Alleys) said about 60 participants, some wearing feathered caps in the style of the legendary outlaw, entered a Rachelle Béry health food outlet in Montreal.
The group claimed they took food without paying and distributed it to “many community fridges in the city” as what it described as a “political act” against food inflation.
The incident came on the heels of another operation in December, when members of the same group reportedly descended on a Montreal grocery store dressed as Santa Claus and his elves, taking food and leaving some of it gift-wrapped beneath a nearby Christmas tree.
The rising cost of living has become a major issue in Canada, where food inflation climbed by 4.7% between November 2024 and November 2025—more than twice the overall inflation rate, according to CNN’s Canadian 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 shared on Instagram by the activist group Les Soulèvements du Fleuve showed the raid at the Rachelle Béry store, mixed with opening credits from the 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
In the footage, masked individuals walk through store aisles, collecting food, medicine, soap and other essentials. Others spray-painted over security cameras inside and outside the store. The video ends with a person painting “F**k Les Profits” on a brick wall.
Montreal Police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant told CNN that officers launched an investigation into both the theft and the graffiti on Wednesday. He said no injuries were reported and no arrests had been made.
“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 items at “thousands of dollars,” a figure similar to that provided by the Robins des Ruelles. He added that none of the goods had been recovered.
Regarding the December Christmas-themed raid, Brabant said it remains “still under investigation as we speak,” with no arrests so far.
