© Reuters. A person walks with a Canada flag in entrance of a truck as protests in opposition to coronavirus illness (COVID-19) vaccine mandates proceed, alongside Wellington road close to the Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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By Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Police started towing vehicles from central Ottawa on Friday and stepped up arrests of protesters in a bid to finish a trucker-led motion that has blockaded Canada’s capital for 3 weeks and embarrassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities.
The protesters have lined up heavy vehicles exterior parliament and Trudeau’s workplace, and Ottawa police, fearing escalation or violence, had sought to disperse them with fines and threats of doable arrest.
However with dozens of vehicles nonetheless occupying the downtown, police on Thursday arrested two of the motion’s leaders and charged them with mischief. By Friday, after an evening of heavy snow, officers had arrange 100 street blocks close to the protest web site to disclaim folks entry and starve it of latest provides, like meals and gasoline.
“It’s essential to go away. It’s essential to stop additional illegal exercise and instantly take away your car and/or property from all illegal protest websites. Anybody inside the illegal protest web site could also be arrested,” Ottawa Police wrote on Twitter (NYSE:).
Police mentioned they’d arrested 15 protesters and towed 4 autos, together with what a Reuters photographer mentioned was an 18-wheeler truck. A whole bunch of police lined up in entrance of protesters close to parliament, slowly advancing in the direction of them and making arrests.
Some protesters kneeled in entrance of police with their arms linked. Others pushed again at police as they superior, with the occasional scuffle breaking out. One man yelled “freedom” as police arrested him and led him away.
The protesters initially wished an finish to cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers however the blockade step by step become an anti-government and anti-Trudeau demonstration. They’ve vowed to stay peaceable however say they’ll stand their floor till police bodily take away them.
“In the event that they wish to arrest me, I am going to put my fingers out, they usually can twist-tie me up like all people else right here. We’re going peaceable,” mentioned Mark, a protester from Nova Scotia who wouldn’t give his final identify. Close by, protesters inside a tent had been frying eggs on a conveyable range, with no obvious plans to depart.
Police, who’ve deployed a whole bunch of officers to central Ottawa, say it’ll take days to clear the protests. At the very least one military-style armored car was seen in downtown Ottawa. Whereas a lot of the officers aren’t armed, some carried weapons together with at the least one outfitted with a gun.
Police mentioned protesters had “put youngsters between police operations and the illegal protest web site,” including: “The kids shall be delivered to a spot of security.” Reuters didn’t witness any protesters placing youngsters close to police websites.
“STAY AWAY”
Trudeau on Monday invoked emergency powers to present his authorities wider authority to cease the protests. Legislators had been attributable to debate these short-term powers on Friday however the Home of Commons suspended its session, citing police exercise.
“If you’re not within the Home of Commons precinct, keep away from the downtown core till additional discover,” a Home of Commons discover mentioned.
Trudeau sought the particular powers after protesters shut down U.S. border crossings together with Ontario’s Ambassador Bridge to Detroit, a choke level for the area’s automakers. The shutdown of the bridge, which was cleared on Sunday, had broken each nations’ economies and posed a significant disaster for Trudeau.
As police accelerated work to clear the protesters’ final stronghold, at the least a dozen tow vehicles had been seen getting ready to take away vehicles and different protest autos nonetheless parked downtown.
Most of the tow vehicles had all identification marks eliminated. Earlier than Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, police had mentioned some tow truck drivers had been afraid to cooperate with authorities, fearing they could be the goal of retaliation.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., citing safety sources, mentioned authorities had arrange a lot of short-term detention facilities across the metropolis, presumably to carry detained protesters.