Police arrest protesters and tow trucks to ease Ottawa blockade

OTTAWA, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Tow trucks hauled away vehicles blockading central Ottawa on Friday and protesters barricaded behind snow mounds to slow the advance of police making arrests to end a trucker-led movement that has challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

Protesters have lined up trucks outside parliament and Trudeau’s office for three weeks. Fearing escalation or violence, Ottawa police had sought to disperse them with fines and threats of possible arrest. read more

But with dozens of trucks still occupying the downtown area, police on Thursday arrested two of the movement’s leaders and charged them with mischief. By Friday, police had arrested 21 more protesters, including Pat King, one of their top organizers.

Freedom Convoy 2022, the umbrella group representing the various groups participating in the protests, sent a tweet on Friday saying, “Three of our organizers have been arrested. In the sequence of their arrest, the police have detained: Chris Barber, Tamara Lich, and Daniel Bulford. This is a grass-roots movement and others will fill their roles. We will continue to hold the line. We refuse to bow to abuses of power. The world is watching, Canada.”

Officers set up 100 road blocks near the protest site to deny people access and starve them of food and fuel. Police said they had towed 21 vehicles on Friday, and at least two trucks were driven away voluntarily by their drivers.

“You must leave. You must cease further unlawful activity and immediately remove your vehicle and/or property from all unlawful protest sites. Anyone within the unlawful protest site may be arrested,” the Ottawa Police said.

After a night of heavy snow, protesters with shovels erected a chest-high snow bank on Wellington Street outside parliament and positioned themselves behind it as they waved Canadian flags and “Freedom Convoy” posters.

“If they want to arrest me, I’ll put my hands out, and they can twist-tie me up like everybody else here. We’re going peaceful,” said Mark, a protester from Nova Scotia who would not give his last name.

‘SHOW SOME SUPPORT’

The protesters initially wanted an end to cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers but the blockade gradually turned into an anti-government and anti-Trudeau demonstration. They have vowed to remain peaceful but say they will stand their ground until police physically remove them.

Police, who have deployed hundreds of officers to central Ottawa, say it will take days to clear the protests. At least one military-style armored vehicle was seen in downtown Ottawa. While most of the officers are not armed, some carried weapons including at least one equipped with a gun.

In one area near parliament, protesters inside a tent fried eggs on a portable stove, with no apparent plans to leave. In another, hundreds of police lined up in front of protesters, slowly advancing toward them and making arrests.

While there was virtually no violence on Friday as officers made arrests, protesters have occasionally scuffled with police. Video shared by Canadian media showed a young girl at the center of a tightly packed group of protesters facing off with dozens of police.

“Protesters have put children between police operations and the unlawful protest site,” Ottawa Police said on Twitter. “The children will be brought to a place of safety.”

One teenage girl who was at the protest with her father and 12-year-old twin siblings said she had come to “show some support” for the truckers.

“Thank all you guys for fighting for mine and my brother and sister’s freedom,” said Emily McAuley, who is from a town 30 hours away from Ottawa by car.

‘STAY AWAY’

Trudeau on Monday invoked emergency powers to give his government wider authority to stop the protests. Legislators had been due to debate those temporary powers on Friday but the House of Commons suspended its session, citing police activity.

“If you are not in the House of Commons precinct, stay away from the downtown core until further notice,” a House of Commons notice said.

Trudeau sought the special powers after protesters shut down U.S. border crossings including Ontario’s Ambassador Bridge to Detroit, a choke point for the region’s automakers. The shutdown of the bridge, which was cleared on Sunday, had damaged both countries’ economies and posed a major crisis for Trudeau.

As police accelerated work to clear the protesters’ last stronghold, at least a dozen tow trucks were working to remove trucks and other protest vehicles still parked downtown.

Many of the tow trucks had all identification marks removed. Before Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, police had said some tow truck drivers were afraid to cooperate with authorities, fearing they might be the target of retaliation.

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister, told reporters that the protesters could not be allowed to undermine the government’s authority.

“These illegal blockades and occupations will end, and they will end for good,” Freeland said.

Reporting by David Ljunggren, Steve Scherer and Julie Gordon; Writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter and Chris Reese

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