Canada: Police arrest 2 protest leaders

Canadian police on Thursday arrested at least two leaders of the so-called "freedom convoy" protest who clogged the streets of Ottawa, standing their ground and defiantly blasted their horns.  Ottawa police issued a final warning to protesters late Wednesday, asking protesters to either leave or face being arrested. Busloads of police arrived near Ottawa's Parliament Hill, and workers put up extra fences around government buildings.Police also essentially began sealing off much of the downtown area to outsiders to prevent them from coming to the aid of the protesters. The action is imminent, said interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell. We absolutely are committed to end this unlawful demonstration."

Police arrested organisers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber around Parliament Hill, but officers were not moving in force on the demonstrators. Police took Lich into custody late Thursday. Police continued negotiating with the protesters and trying to persuade them to go home, Bell said. Many of the truckers appeared unmoved by days of warnings from police and the government that they were risking arrest and could see their rigs seized and bank accounts frozen.I'm prepared to sit on my ass and watch them hit me with pepper spray, said one of their leaders, Pat King. As for the trucks parked bumper-to-bumper, he said: There's no tow trucks in Canada that will touch them. I'm prepared to sit on my ass and watch them hit me with pepper spray, said one of their leaders, Pat King. As for the trucks parked bumper-to-bumper, he said

The protests by demonstrators in trucks, tractors and motor homes initially focused on Canada's vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but soon morphed into a broader attack on COVID-19 precautions and Trudeau's government.The protests have shaken Canada's reputation for civility and rule-following and inspired similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands.