Dozens arrested as police start clearing convoy demonstrators from downtown Ottawa after three-week protest

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This article was published 17/02/2022 (1045 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Defiant “Freedom Convoy” protesters taunted and clashed with riot police in tactical gear and officers on horseback Friday as police sought to clear an entrenched 22-day occupation of the nation’s capital.

As evening fell, tempers frayed and claims and counterclaims of provocations and assault flooded social media, where images had been livestreamed, tweeted and broadcast since dawn.

Ottawa police said a protester, who was later arrested, tossed a bicycle at the feet of a police horse in an attempt to injure it as officers tried to create a “safe distance” between protesters and the advancing line.

“Protesters are assaulting officers, have attempted to remove officer’s weapons. All means of de-escalation have been used,” the police said. Hours after darkness fell, the Ottawa police warned anyone in the secured zone “will be arrested.”

Safety concerns for members of Parliament, senators and their staff led to the closure of Parliament before the second day of a debate on the unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act had even begun.

In the daytime hours, however, the parliamentary precinct saw the same surreal scenes that it had for the past three weeks. Protesters danced, hugged, prayed on their knees, paraded Canadian flags, smoked cannabis and drank coffee, even as they denied what was clearly unfolding nearby.

Police put extraordinary emergency powers to use. They declared the area a secure zone, barred movements into and out of the downtown core, arrested more than 100 demonstrators — including at least four key organizers of the convoy protest — and had towed 21 vehicles by 7 p.m.

As the police line advanced through the day, more than a dozen truckers left voluntarily, faced with the threat that their rigs would be impounded, their commercial licenses revoked and their bank accounts frozen.

“I’m OK,” said one truck driver, who wouldn’t give his name but said he was remaining where he was, with the grillwork of his semi facing Parliament.

Another group of three protesters said convoy organizers told them that police had no right to arrest them so long as they remained peaceful. One clutched printed instructions for how to behave if detained.

Police claimed protesters were placing children at risk by putting them “between police operations,” but had not resorted to using Children’s Aid workers to remove any youngsters as of early Friday evening.

“It still shocks and surprises me that we are seeing children put in harm’s way in the middle of a demonstration where a police operation is unfolding,” said Ottawa’s interim police chief, Steve Bell.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau watched some of the events unfold from elsewhere in Ottawa, an official said, and later met with a special cabinet group.

Trudeau made no public statement on the extraordinary scenes unfolding outside the Prime Minister’s Office, where music blared and the crowd at one point sang “Amazing Grace.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government did not take “any satisfaction” in seeing convoy leaders arrested.

“It’s painful for me that this is happening in Canada,” Freeland told reporters. “I think that it is painful for a lot of Canadians.”

The police operation began overnight, with the closure of highways and more than 100 checkpoints set up before dawn.

While the sun shone on a bitterly cold day, police advanced from the east end of Rideau Street and north to the intersection with Sussex Drive, and gradually pushed lines of officers forward, some in helmets and riot gear, others in baseball hats and toques.

It was what Bell described as a “deliberate and methodical” operation that he said would continue “day and night until this is completed.”

Police arrested key protest organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber on Thursday night, and Pat King and former Mountie Daniel Bulford on Friday.

Before his arrest, King urged protesters to stay before reversing course and advising those who did not want to face the police crackdown to leave.

Moments later, King livestreamed a video of his own arrest as he sat at the wheel of his truck. “I’m being arrested. We’ll talk to you guys soon,” he said as he signed off.

Another protest organizer claimed on Twitter that police had smashed a trucker’s window and arrested him with guns drawn. “It’s time to leave,” BJ Dichter wrote.

But later Friday afternoon, protest organizers published a defiant statement online that promised others would fill in for the leaders who had been arrested.

“We will continue to hold the line. We refuse to bow to abuses of power. The world is watching,” the statement said.

The mixed messages started after Lich and Barber were arrested Thursday night.

Lich, 49, was charged with counselling to commit mischief, and was scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.

Barber, 46, was charged with counselling to commit mischief, counselling to disobey a court order and counselling to obstruct police. He was released on bail and a $100,000 bond. He also promised to leave Ottawa, to not publicly endorse the convoy or have contact with other major protest organizers, the Canadian Press reported.

Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen, who had posed for photos with protesters before later urging them to leave the city, wrote on Twitter that she was “disturbed & saddened by what we are seeing today in Ottawa.”

She again blamed Trudeau for the protest, and accused him of the “desire to divide Canadians.”

“It’s time for MPs to return to the House tomorrow to stop the overreach by this government & restore unity, wholeness & hope back to our nation,” Bergen wrote.

Throughout the day and into the evening, protesters hollered “freedom,” and shouted, “Stand with us,” at police officers in front of armoured vehicles.

After advancing from two directions around noon Friday, the lines of riot police slowed their march on the protesters in the afternoon.

One policing source said nobody was being ‘kettled” — a police tactic used to contain and control large crowds — on Wellington Street, meaning anyone in the zone was free to leave.

Earlier, police had warned journalists that they could be arrested, and warned them to “keep a distance and stay out of police operations for your safety.”

At times, protesters heckled and yelled at journalists. At others, police barked at reporters to move out of the way.

Friday marked 22 days since the protesters arrived in Ottawa after driving across Canada to park semi-trucks and other vehicles in what Premier Doug Ford called a “siege” of the streets around Parliament Hill.

Protesters built staging and logistics hubs away from the downtown, but also set up supply lines in the city centre, delivering fuel and other supplies to those camped out in their trucks.

Over the course of three weeks, protesters insisted they were peacefully calling for the end of all COVID-19 health restrictions, sparking copycat demonstrations that blockaded vital border crossings in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and southwestern Ontario.

Police have said they are investigating allegations of hate crimes, assaults and property damage that have been made during the protests.

Speaking Friday in Whitby, Ford praised the police for finally taking action in Ottawa, and endorsed Trudeau’s emergency declaration.

“Police have every tool they need and there are indications we’re now starting to see progress,” he said

Ford warned that while legal protests are allowed, his government will move with “permanent” measures to prevent actions like the recent Ambassador Bridge blockade.

With files from Robert Benzie

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc

Raisa Patel is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @R_SPatel