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Canadian police on Thursday began arresting leaders of the trucker-led protest that has choked the capital’s streets for three weeks and provoked the government into calling on rarely used emergency powers.
A video posted to the Twitter account for the so-called “Freedom Convoy” showed Tamara Lich, one of the organizers, being taken into police custody on Thursday night.
The earlier arrest of another leader, Chris Barber, was also captured in a video shared on the same account.
The convoy had started with truckers protesting against mandatory Covid vaccines to cross the US border, but its demands have grown to include an end to all pandemic restrictions and, for many, a wider anti-establishment agenda.
At its peak, the movement also included blockades of a half-dozen US-Canada border crossings—including the key route between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.
Earlier on Thursday, Lich posted a tearful video to say she was expecting to be arrested.
She called on supporters to flood the capital, saying truckers already in place “are gonna stay and fight for your freedom.”
“If you can come to Ottawa and stand with us, that would be fantastic,” she said.
Tamara Lich has been arrested, but we will continue to #holdtheline pic.twitter.com/GaPZdsrhVe
— FreedomConvoy2022 (@rFreedomConvoy) February 18, 2022
But city police chief Steve Bell said access to downtown Ottawa would be restricted to prevent people joining the demonstration, and he warned of “imminent” action against those already there.
“I implore anyone that’s there: Get in your truck… and leave our city streets,” Bell told reporters.
‘They have to stop’
Criticized for failing to act decisively, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week invoked the Emergencies Act, which gives the government sweeping powers to deal with a major crisis.
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Source : france24
