Canadian police have arrested leaders of the anti-vaccination protest as part of a mega-operation that seeks to end the lockdown that has paralyzed the capital, Ottawa, for three weeks and has become one of the biggest crises of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s term.
The act began by opposing health measures enacted to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and ended with protesters calling for the fall of Trudeau – who, under pressure, declared a national emergency on Monday (14), which allows the government to use force. against the protesters.
Live television footage showed police making at least seven arrests on Friday. “Some protesters are surrendering and are being arrested. We ask you to remain peaceful and legal,” Ottawa police said in a tweet.
The House of Commons, which is based in the area occupied by the trucks, exceptionally canceled the session for the first time since the protests began, for security reasons.
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two of the main leaders of the blockade, were detained on Thursday night (17). Officers handcuffed Barber and placed him in the back of a vehicle, a video posted on the organizers’ Facebook page showed. Later, another video, posted on the group’s Twitter page, showed Lich’s arrest.
Since January 28, drivers, accompanied by thousands of protesters and about 400 vehicles, have turned the streets around Parliament in downtown Ottawa into a noisy protest area.
Drivers protest against mandatory vaccination for those who work on the route that connects the country to the United States, but many also called for Trudeau’s downfall.
Threats of fines and imprisonment helped convince protesters to withdraw this week from four US border crossings, where they had also settled. Police issued similar warnings in Ottawa, and acting police chief Steve Bell said he was committed to evicting the protesters.
“We are strengthening our resources, developing plans and preparing to act. Action is imminent,” Bell told reporters Friday morning. “For those involved in the illegal protests, if you want to leave on your own terms, now is the time to do so.”
On Wednesday (16), the police had already distributed pamphlets warning that truck drivers should leave the city center or they would be arrested, but the initiative had no effect.
The movement’s self-appointed leaders, some with military backgrounds and in right-wing organizations, orchestrated a disciplined and highly coordinated occupation, according to a report in The New York Times.
The team includes former police officers, military veterans and conservative activists, a collaboration that helped turn a protest against mandatory vaccines into a force that destabilized the city and sent shockwaves across Canada.
The rally’s main public face, former fitness instructor Tamara Lich played an important role in organizing a campaign on the GoFundMe website that raised US$7.8 million for the protests before the vaquinhas closed it, after receiving “police reports of violence and other illegal activities”.
Lich has ties to the Maverick Party, a small center-right group based in Calgary created to promote the separation of three provinces from the rest of the country.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino warned this week that some of the protesters “have a strong connection with a far-right organization that has leaders in Ottawa.” He was referring to the arrest of 13 people in Alberta earlier this week, linked to the blockade of a point on the border with the state of Montana, in the US, which has since been released.
According to police, the group belonged to a small cell in the province that planned to use violence if agents tried to demobilize the act. Various weaponry, including 13 long-barreled guns, revolvers, a machete, several sets of armor, and a large amount of ammunition and magazines were discovered in trailers in Alberta.
