“We’re not done with this operation yet,” interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell told journalists on Sunday, adding that police will track down protesters who had been filmed breaking the law, and determine “how we maintain a presence and make sure that nobody returns to occupy our streets again.”īell’s predecessor Peter Sloly resigned last Wednesday under criticism from Ottawa residents for not resolving the protests. In place of heavy trucks that once blocked the streets, police have set up concrete barricades and high metal fences to keep protesters from returning. When police returned to continue the operation the following day, they dressed in riot gear.īy Sunday, the majority of protesters and their vehicles had been cleared from Parliament Hill-the area surrounding Canada’s parliament building, which had become a central hub for the Freedom Convoy movement. Over 100 protesters were arrested as some left and others resisted. ![]() On Friday, hundreds of police moved in on protest camps in Ottawa city center and began forcing demonstrators to disperse. The next day, police began clearing out protesters still occupying the city. On Thursday, police arrested three of the Freedom Convoy’s most prominent leaders-Tamara Lich, Chris Barber and Pat King. Some protesters threw the notices in the trash and started a chorus of blaring truck horns, announcing their refusal to leave. On Wednesday, Ottawa police distributed fliers to protesters telling them to leave or face arrest. In Canada’s capital, protesters continued to hold out. Protesters who had occupied U.S.-Canada border crossings began to go home, fearing authorities might seize their assets. With funds hobbled, public sentiment turning against them, and the threat of arrest and financial sanctions looming, the protest movement began to lose momentum. The Emergencies Act also compelled financial institution to comply with police orders to freeze funds associated with “designated persons”-in this case, protesters. ![]() ![]() This is hurting workers who rely on these jobs to feed their families,” Trudeau said. Critical supply chains have been disrupted. “At the borders in different places in the country, the blockades are harming our economy and endangering public safety. Protesters had blocked the bridge for days, holding up $360 million of daily trade and drawing attention from the White House. Trudeau invoked the act a day after police cleared protesters from the Ambassador Bridge that connects Ontario to Detroit, Mich., and carries 23% of cross-border trade between the U.S. “We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue,” Trudeau said as he invoked the Emergencies Act, which granted police greater leeway to impose fines, imprison protesters, and tow vehicles blocking roads. Last Monday, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered the Freedom Convoy campaign its final death blow and invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history, empowering police to move against protesters. Canadian courts have never issued a Mareva injunction-which freezes a defendant’s assets-against cryptocurrency before. Then, last Friday, a group of Ottawa residents set a new precedent in Canadian law and won a class-action lawsuit to invoke a Mareva injunction and freeze 146 cryptocurrency wallets associated with the protesters. The protest began in opposition to the government’s introduction of a mandate requiring all cross-border truck drivers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 28, occupying various streets around the nation’s capital. The brigade of truck-driving protesters from across Canada first converged in Ottawa on Jan. In the capital city, police and barricades have replaced protesters and trucks and, across the country, politicians and citizens are confronting the divide in civil society left in the wake of the departing demonstrators. While quiet has returned to Ottawa streets after three weeks of horn blaring by truck-driving protesters, the fallout of the nearly month-long saga will likely take longer to address. The RCMP also flagged 253 Bitcoin addresses and forbid local crypto exchanges from facilitating transactions with the accounts. The clearing of the capital came days after the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) ordered a freeze on 206 bank and corporate accounts managing millions in funds related to the protests. Three of the protest’s key organizers were arrested and charged with “mischief,” and two of them are now out on bail. During a three-day operation, Ottawa police deployed pepper spray and stun grenades to disperse crowds, towed away over 70 vehicles, and arrested 191 people, bringing a total of 389 charges against 103 of them.
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