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Police are clamping down on self-described “Freedom Convoy” anti-vaccine-mandate demonstrations in Canada’s capital, making multiple arrests, issuing hundreds of tickets, and seizing vehicles and fuel as Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency.
The emergency declaration was designed to give officers more “flexibility” to respond to the hundreds and sometimes thousands of truckers and their supporters who are gathered in the streets to denounce coronavirus measures, Mayor Jim Watson said Sunday. And, he said, the declaration reflects the “serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents.”
Fireworks were shot off, drivers blared their horns and streets remained blocked for the second weekend in a row, and Watson admitted Sunday that authorities were “outnumbered” and “losing this battle” against groups who were “calling the shots.”
Ottawa Police Service said in a statement Sunday it had launched over 60 criminal investigations amid the ongoing protests - including thefts, hate crimes and property damage. At least seven arrests had been made as of 9 p.m. Sunday local time in relation to property damage and other acts of “mischief,” police said. “Multiple vehicles and fuel have been seized,” the statement said.
Among the more than 500 tickets issued this weekend were notices of “excessive honking” and seat belt violations.
On Sunday morning, police said officers had issued more than 450 tickets since the day before, including to trucks with no insurance and obstructed license plates. Another 100 tickets were announced Sunday evening, including to people who were driving the wrong way or had alcohol readily available.
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Police also said that it had issued a warning to the public that they could be subject to charges if they were found to be supplying demonstration trucks in the red zone with fuel.
Photo and videos shared to social media over the weekend showed protesters chanting “shame” at officers and confronting them.
“How dare you do something like this when we are fighting for you?” shouted one protester in footage shared by Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News journalist Judy Trinh on Sunday evening.
Protests began in the city in late January, when people gathered to demonstrate against rules implemented by the U.S. and Canadian governments that require foreign truck drivers to be fully vaccinated to enter their countries. Demonstrators have also denounced broader coronavirus measures such as lockdowns and mask-wearing and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign.
Trudeau said last week that sending in the army to end the protests was “not in the cards.” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, under criticism for his response to the protests, had said that “there may not be a policing solution to this demonstration” and that he and other commanders were “looking at every single option, including military aid to civil power” to end it.
National monuments were defaced and protesters danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in some Ottawa protests. A Canadian flag featuring a swastika was spotted during television coverage of the protest and Shepherds of Good Hope, a soup kitchen, said staff members were “harassed” and verbally assaulted with racial slurs. Trudeau has condemned those gathered in the streets who had displayed “symbols of hatred and division.”
Protesters also disrupted the flow of goods and services through a blockade last weekend at a U.S.-Canada border crossing; Canadian officials had denounced the blockade as “unlawful.”
Police have repeatedly called on demonstrators not to enter the capital and “to go home,” while also advising locals to steer clear of the downtown area and to work from home when possible.
Meanwhile, after being denied several million dollars raised on GoFundMe, organizers of the Freedom Convoy protests are turning to a Christian crowdfunding site where they raised more than $3.5 million in two days.