"Freedom Convoy" Protesters Shut Down Third Border Crossing

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/10/canada-freedom-convoy-alberta-ottawa-protests/

Police in Ottawa are warning that any protesters blocking streets for the self-described “Freedom Convoy” may be “arrested without a warrant,” as raucous protests against vaccine mandates and coronavirus restrictions blocked a third border crossing with the United States early Thursday.

The protests, which have led to at least 23 arrests and 80 criminal investigations in the capital, are sparking debate among officials over how best to de-escalate the situation there and at U.S.-Canada border crossings, where blockades have disrupted the flow of goods and people. Some are warning that mass arrests could prove counterproductive or even lead to violence.

Early Thursday, a convoy of trucks with passengers shouting “Freedom!” and “Fake news!” descended on Ottawa International Airport, causing traffic disruptions and delays.

Soon afterward, police in Manitoba province said the typically bustling Emerson crossing into North Dakota was “shut down” after a convoy of vehicles and farm equipment blocked traffic heading both north and south.

“It is a criminal offence to obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of property,” Ottawa police said in a news release issued Wednesday. “You must immediately cease further unlawful activity or you may face charges,” the police department told protesters.

Police said those found to be taking part in criminal activity — which could include blocking streets or “assisting others in the blocking of streets” — could be arrested. Police are also giving notice that vehicles could be seized and possibly forfeited if people are convicted.

Law enforcement officials are under pressure to use tougher measures to disperse demonstrations, including those that continue to clog traffic arteries between the United States and Canada. So far, two major ports of entry — the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, and the Coutts crossing linking Montana to Alberta — have been closed or partially blocked.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been widely targeted by protesters denouncing his response to the pandemic, called the obstruction of border crossings an economic crisis. He tweeted that the blockades in Windsor and the capital, Ottawa, where a state of emergency was declared over the weekend, “must stop” — but he didn’t elaborate on how this could be achieved.

The blockades, he said, “are endangering jobs, impeding trade, threatening the economy, and obstructing our communities.” Business groups and experts reported that the bridge blockades are hurting supply chains. Goods worth approximately $300 million cross the Ambassador Bridge every day.

Despite the warning from Ottawa police, some local law enforcement officers seemed to acknowledge the fraught implications of mass arrests.

“You can’t arrest your way out of the choices that people are making. … The best thing is for them to make the decision to leave,” a Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent in Alberta, Roberta McKale, told reporters Wednesday at one of the protest sites near Coutts. “And they’ve got to go.”

Still, McKale said, asking the protesters to leave has so far not worked: “We’re going to have to use our enforcement options in order to have that happen.”

Windsor’s mayor, Drew Dilkens, warned that arresting people could lead to violence, telling local outlets that Windsor police must be “calculated and appropriately balanced” in how they handle protesters. “At this time, our focus is on maintaining security and de-escalating the situation as much as possible,” he said during a news briefing.

Some protesters believe that “they are fighting for a cause that is worth dying for,” Dilkens said. “That type of sentiment translates into different behaviors than any normal protests.”

In Ottawa, where more than 1,000 tickets for offenses including excessive noise and red-light violations have been issued, municipal authorities are stepping up enforcement. They can now issue fines up to nearly $800 for setting fires or creating noise, a steep increase for those types of offenses, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The Ambassador Bridge is temporarily closed, while the delay at the Coutts land crossing is estimated at seven hours, according to Canada’s border service agency. Dilkens said in an interview Wednesday that local police have tried to keep at least one lane open in each direction on the Ambassador Bridge so that goods could be transported across the border while respecting people’s right to protest.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also monitoring a campaign in which truckers in the United States are potentially planning to block roads in major metropolitan areas in protest of vaccine mandates. The Super Bowl in Los Angeles on Sunday and President Biden’s State of the Union address March 1 could be affected.

In New Zealand, an anti-vaccine rally outside Parliament in Wellington led to mass arrests, after crowds gathered to protest myriad reasons, including lockdown restrictions and alleged media corruption.

“We stand with Ottawa,” read the message on the side of one truck at the scene, while others held signs attacking the media and calling the global health crisis “a plandemic.”

Canada’s capital is jammed, its border crossings are blockaded, and there’s no end in sight

The Wellington district commander, Superintendent Corrie Parnell, told reporters that 120 people were arrested Thursday as the protest there went into its third day.

Similar demonstrations — seemingly energized by Canada’s convoy — have also been held in Australia, France, Alaska and across Europe in recent days.

As the protests drag on, concerns are growing for the number of children who have been present.

About 25 percent of attendees inside some 400 trucks stationed at the scene are believed to be children, police say, which could complicate the ways in which officers respond to those protesting. Ottawa Police Deputy Steve Bell cited sanitation, noise levels and carbon monoxide fumes as some of the risks that children who are spending so much time inside the trucks could face.

“It’s something that greatly concerns us.” Bell told reporters Tuesday, adding that the children could be “at risk during a police operation.”

The Ottawa Police Service said Wednesday that it was aware of the welfare concerns and working with the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa to “ensure the safety” of the children present. The force said it would be sharing information with the CASO and that the organization “has a duty to investigate whenever there are allegations of abuse or neglect that suggest a child or youth may be in need of protection.”