Ottawa police warn convoy protesters as push to clear blockade enters 3rd day
For a third consecutive day, there is a heavy police presence in downtown Ottawa, as officers are pushing to clear out the so-called “Freedom Convoy” blockade that has paralyzed the nation’s capital for the past three weeks.
On Sunday morning, officers were back at the protest site near Parliament Hill, where a convoy of protesters, many of them truckers, have been demonstrating against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health measures.
At total of 170 people have been arrested since Saturday, while while dozens of vehicles, including many large trucks, either pulled out on their own or were towed away.
In a series of Tweets on Sunday, Ottawa police warned protesters they “will actively look to identify” them and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges.
It urged residents to avoid the downtown area, saying a police operation was still under way.
Police on Sunday installed fencing around the demonstration site to prevent protesters from reclaiming territory.
“We continue to maintain a police presence in and around the area of the unlawful protest occupied,” Ottawa police said in a Tweet.
“We are using fences to ensure the ground gained back is not lost.”
Things had been very quiet here downtown. Now, vans and bus loads of police and the Toronto police mounted unit—horses in trailers—-have arrived back near parliament. Day 3. #ottawa pic.twitter.com/OpOPNoAPqV
— 𝚂𝚎á𝚗 𝙾’𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚊 Global News (@ConsumerSOS) February 20, 2022
On Saturday, hundreds of officers, some in full riot gear and deploying pepper spray, moved more aggressively to clear the area in front of Parliament Hill of people and vehicles illegally protesting COVID-19 public health measures.
Steve Bell, Ottawa’s interim police chief, said officers had little choice but to use greater force in the face of demonstrators who ignored their repeated warnings to clear the area they had occupied for just over three weeks.
They also said they deployed mid-range impact weapons last night after protesters allegedly assaulted officers with weapons, though no serious injuries on either side were reported.
The second, more acrimonious day of police enforcement action, came as members of parliament resumed debating the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to help end the demonstrations, which still persisted in cities across Canada.
Peaceful protests in solidarity with the Ottawa demonstration were staged yesterday in Surrey, B.C., near a busy Canada-U.S. border crossing, as well as in Quebec City, and Fredericton.
— with files from the Canadian Press
by Global News
