Heavily Armed Police Warn Canadian Truckers: ‘We Told You to Leave’
Armed police in tactical gear began to gain ground
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Canadian police took control of some trucks and advanced toward Parliament on Saturday following the arrest of over 100 people in Canada’s besieged capital.
Trucks left under pressure as authorities pushed for an end of the three-week protest against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Armed police in tactical gear began to gain ground amid one of Canada’s biggest police enforcement actions in history.
Authorities towed trucks from areas where they had taken control in Ottawa’s downtown core.
Police advanced to the front of Parliament Hill, which has been occupied by vehicles and protesters since late last month.
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Ottawa police addressed the protesters in a tweet:
"We told you to leave.
"We gave you time to leave.
"We were slow and methodical, yet you were assaultive and aggressive with officers and the horses.
"Based on your behavior, we are responding by including helmets and batons for our safety.”
PROTESTORS: We told you to leave. We gave you time to leave. We were slow and methodical, yet you were assaultive and aggressive with officers and the horses. Based on your behaviour, we are responding by including helmets and batons for our safety. pic.twitter.com/drxfhG9clP
— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) February 19, 2022
But convoy organizer B.J. Dichter claimed police were, in fact, "boxing in” protestors and “not allowing people to leave in peace,” accusing them of “escalating” the situation in order to guarantee mass arrests.
Police said one protester launched a gas canister and was arrested as they advanced.
As Breitbart reported:
By Friday evening, at least 100 people had been arrested, mostly on mischief charges, and nearly two dozen vehicles had been towed, including all of those blocking one of the city’s major streets, authorities said.
One officer had a minor injury, but no protesters were hurt, interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said.
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Those arrested included four protest leaders.
One received bail while the others remained jailed.
The crackdown on the Freedom Convoy began Friday morning, when hundreds of police, some in riot gear and some carrying automatic weapons, descended into the protest zone and began leading demonstrators away in handcuffs through the snowy streets as holdout truckers blared their horns.
The capital and its paralyzed streets represented the movement’s last stronghold after weeks of demonstrations and blockades that shut down border crossings into the U.S. and created one of the most serious tests yet for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
They also shook Canada’s reputation for civility, with some blaming America’s influence.
The news comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened to freeze assets and suspend insurance of the truckers involved in the Freedom Convoy protests.
As Neon Nettle reported:
Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said:
“This is about following the money.”
“This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades.”
“We are today serving notice if your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen.”
After threatening to freeze truckers’ corporate accounts, Freeland warned vehicle insurance would also be suspended.
