Canadian police started clearing protesters opposing pandemic restrictions who were blocking a bridge linking Canada and the United States more than 12 hours after a court order to end the blockade took effect, police said.
The Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing, had no traffic flowing for the fifth straight day on Saturday morning. About 15 trucks, cars and pick-up vans blocked traffic in both directions, choking the supply chain for Detroit’s carmakers.
“We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully,” Windsor Police said in a tweet, asking commuters to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations.
Police in black uniforms with yellow vests were seen moving behind the protesters’ cars on the bridge. Protesters have thinned from about 200 blocking the bridge on Friday night.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started in the national capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 16th day on Saturday.
Protests have spread to three border points, including the Ambassador Bridge, strangling trade between the two countries.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised President Joe Biden quick action to end the crisis, and on Friday a Canadian judge ordered an end to the four-day-long blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing.
The order came into effect at 7pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT), but five hours after the deadline, some 100 protesters were milling around the entrance to the bridge, waving Canadian flags.
While the number of protesters and police dropped as the night progressed, demonstrators continued to block the bridge with trucks and pick-up vans, preventing any flow of traffic in either direction.
Protesters sang the Canadian national anthem and midnight, and some shouted “Freedom!”
Police, who started to gather in a parking…
Source : france24
