Canadian police clear border crossing with US blocked by anti-vaccine and anti-control critics

On Sunday, February 13, 2022, Canadian police officers evacuated protesters who had blocked access to the Ambassador Bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Photo: Canadian Press.

Canadian police forces advanced this Sunday to remove the bridge that connects Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, and arrested protesters who blocked the road in protest of the vaccination order and other restrictions, making it the busiest crossing point between the country and the United States. Due to infection.

TV footage shows police arresting some protesters who were left at dawn on the Ambassador Bridge. Windsor police said 12 people were arrested and seven vehicles were towed away.

Only two trucks and less than twenty protesters blocked access to the bridge. Soon, police barricades were set up and it was unclear when the bridge would reopen.

Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.

The police reported that there were about 4,000 protesters in the capital city of Ottawa.

In recent days, discontent in the city has been on the rise as weeks of protests, music noise and people camping in the center of the capital. On Sunday, opposition erupted in Ottawa from a neighbor who tried to block trucks from entering the city center.

Protests in Bridge, Ottawa and other parts of the country have resonated abroad. Similar caravans have been developed in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. U.S. officials have warned that they could happen in that country as well.

The former minister in the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the extraordinary step of condemning his former cabinet colleagues for failing to take action to end the unrest.

“Incredibly, this is not just happening in Ottawa, the capital of our country. Yet neither the city, nor the province, nor the central government seems to have the capacity to put an end to this illegal occupation. Amazing … they have to arrange. Now, ”tweeted former minister Catherine McKenna.

So far, Trudeau has rejected calls for the deployment of the Armed Forces, declaring that “all options are on the table” and describing the protesters as “extremists” on the margins of Canadian society.

The Ottawa Police said in a statement late Saturday that a joint command center has been established in collaboration with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“Security concerns (arising from the aggression and illegal behavior of many protesters) will enhance limited enforcement capabilities by restricting police action capabilities, officials said.

The police published a statement earlier that the struggle was an illegal occupation and waiting for reinforcements before implementing the plan to end the demonstrations.

“We will continue to issue orders in the protest area and there will be zero tolerance for any illegal activity. Citizens should stay away from the area,” Windsor police said.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency in the capital last week, where hundreds of trucks lined up in front of parliament buildings and protesters set up small toilets outside the prime minister’s office, where Trudeau is usually parked.

It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.

“Today, the national economic crisis we experienced on the Ambassador Bridge is over,” Gicklens said.

“Border smuggling will start again when it is safe, and I leave it to the police and border agencies to make that decision,” he added.

These restrictions have caused great anger among the people.

“The whole city is angry that we have been abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect us. They have completely abandoned the application of the law. The Ottawa Police have failed,” Order Wilsinski, National Security Officer for the Department of Defense and Communications, tweeted.

Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, February 12, 2022, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Photo: AP.

Protests erupted in several countries over the weekend against restrictions reflecting the actions of Canadian trucks.

On Saturday, Paris police fired tear gas at a group of protesters on Avenue Champs-Elyses, violating police orders by participating in vehicle protests against restrictions caused by the Covit-19 epidemic.

In the Netherlands, dozens of trucks and other vehicles – ranging from tractors to a car towing a camper – arrived in The Hague on Saturday for a similar fight against the corona virus, blocking access to the historic Dutch Parliament complex.

The threat of siege of Paris failed to materialize on Saturday despite being organized online for several days.

The main entries of the French capital were set up by police checkpoints and announced that at least 500 vehicles went to the banned struggle, although approximately two dozen vehicles Avenida Combos. Broke and disrupted traffic at Elysees.

Authorities in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.

An Associated Press photographer was hit in the head by tear gas as police struggled to control a crowd. The police in the event was increasingly tense atmosphere in the event of many photographers and the police in the event of the opponent of police officers.

Police arrested 54 motorists involved in the protest and fined them 300. Authorities seized knives, hammers and other items in central Paris Square.

Protesters, who protested against the obligation to present the vaccination document to enter restaurants and other premises across the country, marched towards Paris from the north, south, east and west, waving and yelling at passers-by from their car windows. .

Some caravans traveled on local roads instead of the city’s main access highways on Friday in an attempt to avoid authorities.

Protesters waved French flags and chanted “Freedom” and organized online, partly inspired by truckers’ protest against the border crossing with the Canadian capital and the United States.

Most caravans in France seemed small, and it is not known how many people participated. Protests against the government’s vaccination rules have been steaming for months, with protests erupting as authorities relax controls due to Govt-19.

Almost all French adults have been vaccinated against the corona virus and the protests represent a minority.

(With information from the AP)