The police put an end to the demonstration by arresting the handful of irreducible who continued to protest near the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Canada to the United States, Sunday morning.
Posted at 7:15 a.m.
Updated at 10:08 a.m.
Shortly before 8 a.m., officers formed a line in front of the concrete barricade they erected on Saturday evening. Behind them were armored vehicles and several buses. “Come home, otherwise we will arrest you,” they shouted at the twenty protesters who had spent the night on the scene and chanted “Freedom”. A few turned on their heels, but some stood still, waving flags. Faced with the refusal to comply, the police advanced towards the demonstrators, forcing them to retreat. A lady, sitting cross-legged, was arrested.
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Linden Debassige, a front-row protester, quietly backed away, waving a Canadian flag in front of him. “It’s the most important thing I’ve done in my life,” the Toronto resident told The Press, a few minutes earlier. “I will stay until the police take me away,” he said.
As the officers moved forward, another line of police officers appeared in the distance. The latter surrounded the few vans still present in the middle of the street. ” Open the door ! “, ordered the members of the police forces.
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The police towed this van belonging to a protester.
About a mile away, officers broke up the other protest around 9 a.m., which was taking place near a commercial thoroughfare. “It’s disgusting,” says Rene Brouillette, about the police operation. “People were protesting peacefully,” the woman adds, watching the scene from her car.
Officers asked the protesters to move their parked car to the adjacent parking lot, at the request of the owner. But some refused to cooperate, standing motionless in front of their car. “A parking lot is a parking lot,” repeats a protester to the police, raising his arms to the sky.
The police operation is still ongoing. At this time, the Ambassador Bridge remains closed to traffic.
By Saturday morning, numerous police cars had driven the protesters back, until the main intersection near the bridge was cleared. However, the crowd was present throughout the day, despite the departure of the trucks.
The operation was launched under a decision of the Superior Court of Ontario, which on Friday ordered the departure of these demonstrators installed since Monday on this major border axis between the two American neighbors, a blockage which pushed Washington to intervene with the Trudeau government.
The closure of this bridge has already caused disruption to the automotive industry on both sides of the border. More than 25% of goods exported between the United States and Canada pass through this bridge.
Other border axes are also blocked, in Manitoba and Alberta and the movement has not weakened in Ottawa paralyzed by demonstrators since the end of January.
With Agence France-Presse