(Ottawa) Two hours. This is the time it took the seven police forces mobilized in Ottawa to evacuate an area occupied for 23 days on Saturday. Trucks in front of parliament are now a thing of the past. But a core of demonstrators resists, and continued Saturday evening to face the police.
Updated yesterday at 11:43 p.m.
From 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, the “Fuck Trudeau” and calls for “freedom” rang out in downtown Ottawa. The demonstrators, who were displaying patched Canadian flags, began to gather.
But they were quickly disillusioned.
After making slow progress the day before, the police had changed their strategy. They were now advancing rapidly through the crowd.
Sound bombs, pepper spray, arrests and tows: in a few hours, the police operation intensified.
In total chaos and cacophony, demonstrators with bullet-proof vests and smoke grenades were subdued and then arrested by the police. A protester was arrested after throwing a can of gasoline at the police. Makeshift shelters and snowswept encampments were dismantled.
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. The municipal agents handed over 3,600 statements of offence.
“The operation is going exactly as we anticipated,” said Acting Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell. Criminal investigations are underway regarding the use of weapons, added Chief Bell, without being able to give more information.
By the end of the day, the protesters had been driven from Wellington Street to the O’Connor Street intersection and all vehicles on Sir John A. Macdonald Driveway had left or been towed away. “All that remains is to clean the street,” tweeted the Ottawa Police Service.
Pushed back to the corner of Bank and Wellington streets, the demonstrators were fewer and fewer, but a hard core persisted in occupying the street. Riot squads took turns blocking access to parliament.
“Protesters were beating police officers with weapons warranting the deployment of Medium Range Impact Weapons (ARWEN) to stop the protesters’ violent actions,” police wrote on Twitter.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
A huge fence has been installed at the intersection of Bank and Wellington streets.
A huge fence was then installed at the intersection. The situation calmed down, then the police force was reduced for the evening.
Around 9 p.m., demonstrators could still be heard chanting “Freedom! Freedom ! everywhere in the area.
Police intervention deplored by demonstrators
Earlier in the day, many truckers left the scene before being arrested. At the end of the morning, the organizers of the “freedom convoy” also asked truckers to evacuate the area of Parliament Hill “to avoid further police brutality”. In a press release, they qualify as abuse of power certain actions of the police, whom they accuse of having beaten demonstrators with their batons and their weapons. They promise to go to court.
In mid-afternoon, at the corner of Metcalfe and Albert streets, the retreating truckers did it with tears in their eyes, fists in the air, cheered by protesters who had formed a hedge of honor to support them. It was the beginning of the end. ” Victory ! Liberty ! said an Alberta driver. “Thank you for coming to see us,” a woman yelled, honking her horn.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Truck driver applauded by protesters
A few blocks from the parliament, Rebecca Stanley, her husband and their 16-year-old son were shaken by sobs.
” God protect our country and our land. [Que Dieu protège notre pays.] Policemen rushing at us. We were so peaceful. I never thought it would end like this, ”exclaimed the mother of the family.
However, the warnings had been numerous on Friday. On Twitter, in loudspeakers during the demonstration and in press briefings, the police had warned the demonstrators of the risks to which they were exposed. Just over a hundred people had been handcuffed.
Guillaume Guénette, in camouflage from head to toe, deplored the intervention of the police.
It was really a nice move until they arrived.
Guillaume Guénette, about law enforcement
He said he wanted to stay as long as it takes. He had no intention of confronting the police, in order to avoid being expelled.
The crowd that surrounded him on Saturday was sometimes hostile towards the journalists and cameramen present to document the intervention. “You have no business here”, “Liar gangs”, “ You’re not welcome here (“You’re not welcome here”), “Fuck off, my shitholes”, are added to other insults that have been hurled at the media.
Children and information warfare
Throughout the day on Saturday, children were present at the site of the demonstration. ” [Ils] 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.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
There were a few children at the demonstration on Saturday.
The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa has expressed 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 convince the few families who arrived on the spot to turn back.
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 at the protest without disclosing any police tactics.
Ottawa Police Acting Chief Steve Bell
He cited in this regard a misleading information that circulated on social networks 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 debate on the Emergency Measures Act resumed early Saturday morning, having been canceled the day before in because of the police operation that was taking place 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.