Convoy protests: Police in riot gear clash with holdouts as they move toward main protest site
Police began their crackdown in downtown Ottawa as trucker-led convoy protesters continue to cause chaos in the city. Arrests were made on Thursday and Friday included convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Pat King. Follow the Star's live coverage.
10:49 a.m.: Tamara Lich, one of the original organizers of the so-called Freedom Convoy, has arrived at an Ottawa court wearing a black I love oil and gas" sweatshirt and a mask.
Lich was arrested Thursday and charged with counselling to commit the offence of mischief.
While she was being arrested, video showed Lich telling protesters to hold the line," and the Crown says they are holding her accountable for every day protesters continue to do that.
10:35 a.m.: Ottawa police said one protester launched a gas canister and was arrested.
10:12 a.m.: Pepper spray has been useds on the crowd.
10 a.m.: (updated) Police warned protesters to leave the National War Memorial area immediately. Ottawa police tweeted that because of continuing resistance police are now geared up with batons and helmets.
Police are closing in on the heart of the protest site where protesters have been encamped for the past four weeks, moving swiftly up the main road in front of Parliament Hill.
There appear to have been several arrests made.
Some demonstrators are emotional and calling for things to remain peaceful, but others appear to be deliberately provoking police.
9:40 a.m.: NDP MP Charlie Angus is calling for a public inquiry into the national embarrassment" that led to the trucker blockades of the Canadian capital for more than three weeks.
Angus is speaking in the House of Commons as MPs resumed debate on the government's invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Angus says an inquiry is needed to determine why Ottawa police let large trucks enter the national capital and set up a blockade that included bouncy castles, while racist members of the freedom convoy harassed local residents and forced businesses to close.
He is also calling for an inquiry into foreign funding of the so-called freedom convoy. He called the leaders of the protest racists" who belong in the crowbar hotel."
9:30 a.m.: Dozens of police began pushing crowds of protesters back along Wellington St.
8:42 a.m.: Pat King, one of the leading figures behind an antigovernment protest on Parliament Hill is set to appear in court today to face charges related to his role in the demonstration.
Ottawa police say King, 44, faces charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order and counselling to obstruct police.
King livestreamed his own arrest on Facebook on Friday.
Police say King, who hails from Red Deer, Alta., will appear in court today.
King is among the more than 100 people police say they have arrested as part of a massive police operation to clear demonstrators who have been blockading Parliament Hill for nearly four weeks.
Two other protest organizers - Chris Barber and Tamara Lich - were arrested earlier on charges of counselling to commit mischief. Barber also faces charges of counselling to disobey a court order and obstructing police.
An Ontario Court granted Barber bail and Lich is set to appear in an Ottawa courtroom Saturday for a bail hearing.
Justice Julie Bourgeois released Barber on a $100,000 bond and on the conditions he leave Ontario by next Wednesday and not publicly endorse the convoy or have any contact with the other major protest organizers.
King, Lich and other organizers of the so-called 'Freedom Convoy' 2022 protests also saw a temporary freeze to their bank accounts - including Bitcoin and cryptocurrency funds - following an Ontario Superior Court ruling on Thursday.
5:45 a.m. A massive police operation to clear demonstrators out of Ottawa's downtown core continued through the bitterly cold night as the protest against the federal government and COVID-19 public health measures entered its fourth week.
More than 100 protesters, including four key organizers, have been arrested and at least 21 vehicles in the so called "Freedom Convoy" were towed Friday as hundreds of officers - some of them on horseback - fanned out across the area to take back the streets.
The well coordinated police action began peacefully Friday morning but as the day wore on tensions escalated with the Ottawa Police Service accusing protesters of assaulting officers, trying to take their weapons, and in one case throwing a bicycle at a police horse. Some protesters claimed they were assaulted by officers.
Ottawa police interim chief Steve Bell told a Friday evening news conference that clearing the area would take time, but the operation was "deliberate and methodical" and police were in control on the ground.
He said no serious injuries had been reported, and those arrested had been charged with various offences including mischief, adding that police were still urging demonstrators to leave peacefully.
Meanwhile, inside the House of Commons today MPs will resume debate on the use of the Emergencies Act to respond to the illegal blockades. The debate was begun on Thursday but Government House leader Mark Holland said in a Twitter post that House leaders from all parties agreed to to cancel Friday's session on the advice of parliamentary security.
Holland said MPs will vote early next week on the Emergencies Act motion.
12 a.m. A group involved in the anti-government protest against COVID-19 measures in Ottawa is asking a court to put the brakes on federal use of the Emergencies Act to clamp down on demonstrators.
In submissions Friday to the Federal Court, Canadian Frontline Nurses and member Kristen Nagle seek an injunction staying the Liberal government's use of the emergencies law and associated measures while their full case plays out in court.
The group and Nagle say they are opposed to unreasonable" COVID-19-related mandates and restrictions that have been implemented by various levels of Canadian governments.
They want a court declaration that the federal government strayed beyond its jurisdiction in declaring a public order emergency earlier this week, saying the move was unconstitutional.
The applicants also seek all orders-in-council, minutes of meetings, cabinet submissions, memorandums, agreements and constituting documents relating to the public order emergency proclamation.
As of late Friday, no date had been set to hear the motion for an injunction. Federal officials had yet to file a response to the court application.
11:30 p.m. The federal government has no plans to immediately revoke its declaration of a national emergency if police completely clear the occupation of downtown Ottawa this weekend by so-called Freedom Convoy" protesters.
But that decision now rests ultimately not in the hands of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but rather with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
Trudeau's minority government needs the support of at least one of the major opposition parties in a vote next week to endorse its invocation of the Emergencies Act, which gives the government extraordinary and time-limited powers.
The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois have both said they will vote against the government, leaving the NDP as the Liberal minority's only potential partner. So far, Singh has indicated that his party will support the government action, but that could change as the events of the weekend unfold.
Read more from the Star's Jacques Gallant: With Liberals invoking emergency powers, all eyes are now on Jagmeet Singh
9:30 p.m. Defiant Freedom Convoy" protesters taunted and clashed with riot police in tactical gear and officers on horseback Friday as police sought to clear an entrenched 22-day occupation of the nation's capital.
As evening fell, tempers frayed and claims and counterclaims of provocations and assault flooded social media, where images had been livestreamed, tweeted and broadcast since dawn.
Ottawa police said a protester, who was later arrested, tossed a bicycle at the feet of a police horse in an attempt to injure it as officers tried to create a safe distance" between protesters and the advancing line.
Protesters are assaulting officers, have attempted to remove officer's weapons. All means of de-escalation have been used," the police said. Hours after darkness fell, the Ottawa police warned anyone in the secured zone will be arrested."
Safety concerns for members of Parliament, senators and their staff led to the closure of Parliament before the second day of a debate on the unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act had even begun.
Read more from the Star's Tonda MacCharles, Alex Ballingal and Raisa Patel in Ottawa: Dozens arrested as police start clearing convoy demonstrators from downtown Ottawa after three-week protest
8 p.m.. On Thursday they were told they would be arrested if they did not end their illegal occupation of Ottawa.
The next day hundreds of heavily armed police moved in to make good on that warning. Yet even as several of the convoy's leaders were detained, and trucks began to be towed, many protesters and their supporters seemed undeterred by the growing police presence. As their fellow occupiers were arrested, some said they didn't believe it would happen to them. Others said they were willing to fight for their cause.
On Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill, the convoy's infamous bouncy castle - now deflated - sits across from a makeshift daycare, with lawn games for kids and a box holding what looked like children's toys. Children could be seen playing in the area Friday afternoon.
The Star's Jenna Moon and Ben Cohen report from Ottawa: Protesters play music and dance as police close in