[IMAGES] Police attack trucks

OTTAWA | The forces of order dislodge the truckers who refuse to comply by breaking the windows of the vehicles.

• Read also: [EN DIRECT] Dismantling of the siege in Ottawa: the police are gaining ground

After having surrounded the besiegers who challenged them on foot, the police are now attacking trucks and recreational vehicles where the diehards remain barricaded.

They do not hesitate to break the windows to be able to unlock the doors and dislodge the occupants if they refuse to comply.

“If these police officers have a heart and want to sleep well tonight, they must stop the intervention”, comments a Quebec demonstrator between the trucks.

It’s “a shameful day for Canada,” said Shannon Schoutese, 51, resigned to being arrested.

Consult all our articles on the police operation in Ottawa

Arrived from Owen Sound, Ontario, for four days, she is convinced that vaccines against COVID-19 cause deaths and warns that nothing will stop the movement.

“I’m going to get arrested, but it won’t be the end,” she said.

Not far from there, a man named Marc is also ready to handcuff himself, convinced of being quickly released.

“Let them come. I stay here until the end. They’re going to have to release us anyway, there’s not enough room in prison for all of us,” he said.

“They can arrest me, I did nothing wrong. I haven’t seen anyone here doing anything wrong, it’s a peaceful demonstration,” adds a Montrealer.

But the few residents who witness the scene with relief after three weeks of siege are not of the same opinion.

“I haven’t been able to go to work for weeks. They have the right to demonstrate, it’s the basis of democracy, but to prevent us from living is going too far,” said a young resident who attended the police operation so long awaited by the 15,000 inhabitants of the center. -city of Ottawa.

traumatized children

The occupation has been particularly traumatic for the children who live in the area. Schools and daycares have had to close while others have told families that they will apply a contingency plan similar to that provided for in the event of a shooting, if the police operation were to go wrong.

The police themselves remain worried about the presence of children among the besiegers.

“The protesters placed children between the police operations and the site of the illegal demonstration. The children will be brought to a place of safety,” Ottawa police said this morning.

Our teams have seen many children on the streets in the last hours. Three of them were alone on a street corner and were crying in fear.