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Police arrest over 20 Canada truck protest leaders, tow trucks in bid to end blockade

Canadian police clashed with defiant COVID-mandate protesters in the “freedom convoy” Friday — making more than 20 arrests and towing trucks to try to finally end the three-week blockade.

Hundreds of officers, some carrying automatic weapons and wearing tactical unit uniforms, swamped the clogged streets at the heart of Ottawa in a huge show of force early Friday.

Scuffles broke out as the protesters mostly remained defiant even as lines of heavily armed officers — including some on horseback — slowly pressed them back, pushing some out the way and arresting others.

Police officers detain a man, as truckers and supporters continue to protest vaccine mandates, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. REUTERS
Police arrest a demonstrator against vaccine mandates in Ottawa AFP via Getty Images
A protester sings the national anthem as they are taken into custody by police officers on Colonel By Drive near the truck blockade in Ottawa. AP

“Hold the line!” many of the protesters shouted, with others yelling “freedom!” and singing the national anthem, “O Canada.” Others called the approaching mass of cops “f—ing cowards,” videos show.

At the same time, tow truck operators — many having taped over their companies’ decals to conceal their identities — arrived under police escort to start clearing the vehicles clogging the area near Parliament that had been designated a no-go “secured area.”

Police were filmed smashing their way through the door of at least one RV camper before hauling it away.

Police confront demonstrators against COVID-19 mandates in Ottawa. AFP via Getty Images
Police deploy to clear demonstrators. AFP via Getty Images

In what was one of the biggest police enforcement actions in Canada’s history, the force gave plenty of warnings that they were moving in — and saying Public Order Units would be “slowly moving forward to give people who want to leave the opportunity to do so.”

Protesters then formed lines of their own, and even “put children between police operations and the unlawful protest site, “police tweeted, saying that the children “will be brought to a place of safety.”

There was also a “concerted effort to flood our 911 and non-emergency policing reporting line,” police said. “This endangers lives and is completely unacceptable.”

Police confront demonstrators during the massive operation to clear the trucker-led protests. AFP via Getty Images
Police officers on horses ride near Rideau Centre, as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID vaccine mandates. REUTERS
Canadian police arrest Tamara Lich, widely seen as the main organizer of the protest. Twitter / @rFreedomConvoy
Police lead a protester toward a cruiser after making an arrest during the ongoing protest against COVID measures in Ottawa on Feb. 17, 2022. AP
Chris Barber, one of the leaders of the protest, was charged with counseling to obstruct police. Twitter / @goodblackdude
Police officers enter a blockade protest truck parked in downtown Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2022. AP

By early Friday afternoon, there had been 21 arrests and the same number of vehicles towed, Ottawa Police announced. It was not immediately clear if there had been any injuries.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said around midday, “There are indications we are now starting to see progress.”

Some of the drivers finally gave up the protest. “I don’t want to get beat up by this police,” said Dan Holland, a protester from London Ontario as he packed up his car, which was parked amid the trucks.

Two demonstrators take part in the protest of COVID measures on Feb. 17. REUTERS

Still, many of the protesters stood their ground. “Freedom was never free,” said trucker Kevin Homaund, of Montreal. “So what if they put the handcuffs on us and they put us in jail?”

One of the protest’s main leaders, Pat King, had warned tow-truck operators that they were committing “career suicide” by helping authorities. “We know where the trucks came from,” he said on Facebook.

He soon became one of those arrested, livestreaming the moment a young officer approached him as King sat in his vehicle. 

“I’m being arrested. We’ll talk to you guys soon,” he said before ending filming.

His arrest came a day after two other leaders — Tamara Lich, 49, and Chris Barber, 46 — were busted at the start of the police clampdown.

People stand around a fire during a protest against COVID-19 measures on Feb. 17, 2022. AP

“Oh boy,” one protester could be heard sighing in a video showing Lich calmly being led from the group by a cop and then turning to be cuffed on Thursday.

As she was led away in the snow, she shouted at the others, “Hold the line!”

She and Barber are both due in court Friday on a charge of counseling to commit mischief, police confirmed. Barber is also charged with counseling to disobey a court order and counseling to obstruct police. 

The capital represented the movement’s last stronghold after three weeks of demonstrations that have created a political crisis for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

An officer makes an arrest after a person interfered with a police operation on Feb. 17. AP

He had on Monday controversially invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, empowering law enforcement authorities to not only arrest the drivers but suspend their licenses and freeze their bank accounts.

Police then used the same act to enforce a “secured area” in the downtown stretch that includes many of Canada’s main government buildings.

It forced Parliament to cancel its planned debate on controversial emergency measures the government has used, including freezing bank accounts and assets of those supporting the protests.

Ottawa police warned those remaining in the area, “You will face severe penalties if you do not cease further unlawful activity and remove your vehicle and/or property immediately from all unlawful protest sites.”

“We do not take this decision lightly,” Interim Chief Steve Bell said.

Bell had warned of the crackdown the previous day in an address to the city council.

Police used the Emergencies Act to enforce a “secured area” in downtown Ottawa. REUTERS

“We are going to take back the entirety of the downtown core and every occupied space. We are going to remove this unlawful protest. We will return our city to a state of normalcy,” he vowed Wednesday.

“We want them to do this peacefully and immediately and we are facilitating the departure of anyone who wants to leave.”

The protest has sparked similar convoys, including in France.

With Post wires