Demonstration in Ottawa | The noose is tightening, 170 demonstrators arrested since Friday

(OTTAWA) Tension rose a notch on Saturday in the Canadian capital, where the police used cayenne pepper to control the crowd near parliament. “The operation is going exactly as we anticipated,” said Ottawa Police Acting Chief Steve Bell. The parliamentary precinct was locked down during the day while debate on emergency measures continued in the House of Commons.

Mayssa Ferah
The Press

Mylene Crete
The Press

Sound bombs, tear gas, arrests and towings by the dozens: the police operation intensified after 23 days of occupation of the demonstrators. Massive crowd movements are underway in downtown Ottawa, where convoy participants are beginning to disperse. Several truckers left the scene in the early afternoon.

The noose is tightening around the demonstrators at the corner of Bank and Wellington streets. They are fewer and fewer, but a hard core stubbornly occupies the streets. Riot squads take turns blocking access to parliament. At around 8 p.m., the demonstrators started shouting at the police and beating them, which led to clashes between the two groups.

Guillaume Guénette, dressed in camouflage from head to toe, deplores the intervention of the police. “It was really a nice move until they arrived,” he sighs. He says he wants to stay as long as it takes. He has no intention of confronting the police to avoid being deported.

The crowd is sometimes hostile towards the journalists and cameramen present to document the intervention. “You have nothing to do here”, “Gangs of liars”, “You’re not welcome here”, “Fuck off”, are added to several insults hurled at the media.

The police, who had made slow progress on Friday, opted for a different tactic on Saturday. After being challenged and vilified by protesters earlier in the day, they moved quickly through the crowd.

The Chaudière Bridge, which had been closed all afternoon to avoid a new influx of demonstrators, reopened at the end of the day.

According to the latest report from the Ottawa police, 170 people have been arrested and 53 vehicles have been towed since the start of the operation on Friday. Municipal agents have issued 3,600 statements of offense to date.

Demonstrators who had bulletproof vests and smoke grenades in their possession were overpowered and then arrested by the police. Smoke grenades and fireworks were also seized from a car parked on Wellington Street. Several criminal investigations are underway concerning the use of weapons, said Chief Bell without being able to give more information.

A protester was arrested after throwing a can of gasoline at the police. Protesters who swore at the police were handcuffed to the ground. Others fled in panic as riot squads advanced rapidly towards them.

On the spot, we note the presence of irritating gases and thick smoke surrounds the police.

“As the officers moved forward, the smoke you saw was not caused by the police, but by the protesters. We ask protesters to remain peaceful,” the Ottawa Police Service tweeted.

At the end of the morning, the police had managed to repel all the demonstrators who were in Wellington Street. The crowd has now moved away from the area it occupied near parliament.

Several truckers left the scene of their own free will. A section of Kent Street that was completely blocked off from heavy vehicles during the first weeks of the demonstration has been cleared.

The organizers of the “freedom convoy” also asked truckers at the end of the morning to evacuate the area of ​​Parliament Hill “to avoid further police brutality”. In a press release, they qualify as abuse of power certain actions taken by the police officers whom they accuse of having beaten demonstrators with their truncheons and their weapons. They promise to go to court.

At the corner of Metcalfe and Albert streets, the truckers packing up do so with tears in their eyes, fists in the air. They greet the crowd of protesters who form a guard of honor to applaud them.

Dozens of demonstrators continue to rail against the heavily armed police.

Police say children were at the protest site. “Children will be brought to safety,” the Ottawa Police Service wrote on Twitter. Parents face fines of up to $5,000 and imprisonment for one to five years under the Emergency Measures Act.

The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa has also expressed serious concern about the presence of these young people. So far, social services have not had to take any children into care. The authorities would have managed to dissuade the few families who had shown up to turn back.

“The police have managed on the ground to even tell the families it’s not appropriate, it’s time to leave, otherwise we’ll have to bring the child to a safe place where my staff is waiting,” said the director. General of the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, Kelly Raymond. We succeeded in the field in redirecting the families as quickly as possible. »

The debate on the Emergency Measures Act resumed early Saturday morning, having been canceled the previous day due to the police operation at the gates of parliament. The Parliamentary Protective Service had deemed it too risky for elected officials and employees of the House of Commons to go there. A recommendation accepted by the House leaders of all parties.

The authorities put the parliamentary precinct in confinement for part of the day. The vote to uphold or revoke the state of emergency is due to take place Monday at 8 p.m.

Information warfare

The police are also trying to dispel false information transmitted on social networks regarding the police operation. “One of the tactics used by protesters is misinformation,” said Chief Bell.

“We are actively posting information on Twitter and other media to give the facts about what is happening in the protest without disclosing any police tactics,” he added.

He gave as an example the misleading reports circulating on social media that a person died after being trampled by a horse. Fox News freelance journalist Sara Carter, who has 1.3 million subscribers, relayed the rumor Friday night before recanting the next day. The equestrian team had raided the crowd late Friday afternoon, knocking down two people in the process.

“They fell, got up immediately and continued to demonstrate,” said the acting chief of police in Ottawa.

The operation which mobilizes seven police forces including the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) could last several days. Ottawa’s interim police chief wouldn’t say when it would end. “We will be there until the end,” he said.