‘Freedom Convoy’: Ottawa Police With Riot Gear Gather To Clear Downtown ‘Secured Area’ - Forbes

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Topline

Ottawa police began arresting more Canadian protesters and enforcing checkpoints throughout downtown early Friday morning in an attempt to clear and secure the area from the “Freedom Convoy” protests that have gripped the city for weeks, a day after two leaders of the protest were arrested.

Key Facts

Police tweeted at 8:10 a.m. EST that “some protesters are surrendering and are being arrested,” and that there was a “large police presence” on one of the main streets in downtown Ottawa.

By 11 a.m., police had gathered with riot gear, according to the Ottawa Citizen, which described the “sign of imminent police action” to clear the zone.

CBC reported some 100 checkpoints were set up in downtown Ottawa Thursday night before police started making arrests to end the demonstration that has grown unpopular among Canadians; the city also published a map of the zone they intended to clear.

Police warned protesters that they must leave “unlawful protest sites” immediately and remove vehicles and property from the area, and warned media members to stay out of the way of the police operation.

One of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy, Pat King, told supporters “not to stop, hold the line,” on Facebook Live Friday, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

Police on Thursday detained two prominent organizers of the protest, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who were among “several” people arrested that day, CBC reported.

Key Background

The “Freedom Convoy” moved into downtown Ottawa in late January to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers, blaring horns, clogging up streets and bringing some local businesses to a halt. The demonstration against Covid-19 rules in downtown Ottawa quickly expanded to protests at three critical bridges at the U.S.-Canada border. It inspired copycat demonstrations in several other countries, including France, New Zealand and Belgium. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers earlier this week, for the first time using the Emergencies Act that became law in 1988 in order to clear the protests. Dozens of protesters at the border were arrested after refusing to leave. Protesters blockading the three key border crossings—the Ambassador Bridge and between Manitoba-North Dakota and Alberta-Montana—started leaving Saturday, a day after police moved in to remove them, after nearly a week of disrupting traffic and commerce.

Big Number

$51 million. That’s the estimated loss in wages among the Michigan auto industry last week, according to Anderson Economic Group, after the protests forced automakers including General Motors, Ford and Toyota to slash production or shutter factories on both sides of the border.

Tangent

The “Freedom Convoy” has drawn support in the U.S., including from former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the eccentric billionaire Elon Musk.

Surprising Fact

Protesters began raising money on a Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo to support the trucker convoy after GoFundMe froze $10 million in donations to the cause earlier this month. The names and contact information of the donors of two fundraising efforts to support the trucker protests—Freedom Convoy 2022 and Adopt-a-Trucker campaigns—through GiveSendGo were leaked after it was hacked Sunday evening by what it called “malicious actors.” According to a Washington Post analysis of the leaked fundraising data of the two campaigns that had amassed a combined total of around $9 million from around 100,000 donors, nearly 42% of the money came from the U.S. Donations from the U.S. accounted for the largest overall number of contributions. Almost 52% of the money came from those in Canada. Trudeau’s emergency order has given financial institutions the authority to freeze accounts they believe are tied to fund the “Freedom Convoy.” However, donations continued to flow into the cause. The Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign had raised $9.6 million, or 60% of its target amount, as of Friday morning, and the Adopt-a-Trucker campaign had amassed $590,463.