Friday, February 11, 2022

Washington braced for protests as it calls for Canada to act against ‘Freedom Convoy’


Protestors gather along Wellington Street, Ottawa, as a protest against Covid-19 restrictions that has been marked by gridlock and the sound of truck horns reaches its 14th day, in Ottawa, Thursday, February 10, 2022

WASHINGTON has urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use federal powers to end a protest by lorry drivers angry over coronavirus restrictions with similar demonstrations set for the US.

The White House said that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had spoken to their Canadian counterparts as a key transport route remained closed.

Drivers taking part in the “Freedom Convoy” have blocked the Ambassador Bridge between Ontario and Detroit for four consecutive days.

It has caused car production plants on the US side to shut down and been condemned by the Teamsters union.

Ontario’s conservative leader Doug Ford was successful as he asked a court to freeze millions of dollars of funding to the protests raised via crowdfunding site GiveSendGo and described the convoy as “an occupation.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged Canadian authorities to quickly resolve the standoff, saying: “It’s hitting pay cheques and production lines. That is unacceptable.”

The US fears that a protest convoy will disrupt this weekend’s Super Bowl in Southern Carolina and make its way to Washington for the State of the Union address in March.

Similar protests are set for Belgium and France.

U.S. organizers plan convoys in support of Canadian truckers

A variety of U.S. groups are organizing convoys of trucks and other vehicles for this weekend and early next month, emulating the protests against COVID-19 mandates that have roiled Canada in recent days and disrupted North American supply lines. An organization dubbed "Convoy to Save America" said on its website that two separate vehicle convoys will converge this weekend at the Peace Bridge, a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Buffalo, New York.


Reuters Updated: 11-02-2022 
U.S. organizers plan convoys in support of Canadian truckers

Avariety of U.S. groups are organizing convoys of trucks and other vehicles for this weekend and early next month, emulating the protests against COVID-19 mandates that have roiled Canada in recent days and disrupted North American supply lines.

An organization dubbed "Convoy to Save America" said on its website that two separate vehicle convoys will converge this weekend at the Peace Bridge, a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Buffalo, New York. One of the convoys will leave New York City on Friday and the second from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, on Saturday. Pennie Fay, one of the group's founders, told Reuters that the convoys will consist of sports utility vehicles and minivans filled with supplies such as water, food, gas cards and blankets for Canadian truck drivers who arrive on the U.S. side.

"This weekend is about the Canadians, about supporting them," said Fay, who is leaving from Nashville, "while at the same time bringing attention to the fact that we want the mandates gone. Remove them from state to state. We want a free country." In Canada, the trucker protest is entering its third week. Beginning as a protest over a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, its scope has expanded to include a more generalized opposition to government rules set up to control the spread of the virus over the past two years.

Truck drivers have occupied the Canadian capital of Ottawa and now are blocking the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest international land border crossing in North America and a critical lifeline for the automotive industry, between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. Truckers have also blocked smaller border crossings in

 Canada's Alberta and Manitoba provinces. Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency on Friday.

Calls for financial help for U.S. and Canadian truckers have been created on fundraising websites. A campaign on the Christian fundraising site Givesendgo.com has raised more than $8 million for Canadian truckers while another has raised more than $41,000 for truckers in the United States. Some U.S. Republicans have vowed to investigate GoFundMe after it took down a page accepting donations in support of protesting truck drivers.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement agencies of a possible convoy of protesting truckers gathering at this weekend's Super Bowl in Los Angeles, according to several media reports. The agency said in a statement that it is tracking reports of a potential convoy traveling to several U.S. cities, but the statement did not allude to the Super Bowl.

A variety of U.S. groups are organizing on social media platforms such as Telegram, TikTok and Facebook, aiming to tap into frustration that appears to be growing among Americans over COVID-19 mandates. In some cases, logistics for possible large convoys across the nation are part of those discussions. One of the efforts, dubbed "The People's Convoy," which has 64,000 followers on Facebook, is planning a rally in Coachella Valley in Indio, California, on March 4. Truck drivers will then convoy from California and other parts of the country to WashingtonD.C., to show their disapproval over mandates.

"It's happening whether you like it or not, it's going to happen," Brian Brase, one of the group's organizers, said in a recent TikTok post. "It's not a right issue. It's not a left issue. It's not an anti-vax thing. It's about the constitution and our rights as Americans." Brase could not be reached immediately for further comments.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


European capitals vow to stop ‘Freedom Convoy’ spreading from Canada

By Ellen Francis
Updated February 11, 2022

Washington: Authorities in France and Belgium are taking no chances with truck-led protests against COVID restrictions, taking steps to ban road blockades being organised online.

They said on Friday (AEDT) they would try to stop planned convoys from entering those cities.

The protests started in opposition to US and Canadian rules requiring cross-border truck drivers to be fully vaccinated. But they’ve mushroomed into a broader movement against pandemic restrictions.

A man puts a poster reads “Liberty Convoy” on a van before leaving for Paris, in Bayonne, south-western France.
CREDIT:AP

The convoy rolled into Ottawa on January 28. Since then, the Canadian demonstrations have drawn support and inspired copycats from Australia to New Zealand and to Europe.

Paris police said in a statement that convoys now en route to the French capital from across the country will not be able to enter the city for planned rallies this weekend “because of a risk to public order.” Penalties for blocking public roads include two years in prison, €4500 ($7200) in fines and driving bans, the statement noted.

Not long afterwards, in Brussels, where several groups planned to converge on February 14, the mayor announced that a procession modelled on Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” would not be allowed in. Vehicles arriving to protest would be “diverted,” the mayor said.

Though it is not clear whether authorities in either city will succeed in identifying, let alone stopping, motorists bound for rallies, the attempt to preempt their arrival underscores the nerves in Western capitals as officials watch a small but radical group wreak havoc in North America.


Trucks block the road outside the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Canada, as protesters plan similar anti-COVID restriction blockades in Paris, Brussels and beyond.
CREDIT:THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

On Thursday, a convoy with passengers shouting “freedom!” and “fake news!” descended on Ottawa International Airport, near Parliament Hill, causing traffic disruptions and delays.

Some 400 trucks remained downtown, jamming major thoroughfares. Police said there had been 25 arrests, including for mischief and menacing behaviour. Authorities have issued more than 1700 fines, received reports of 400 hate incidents and are pursuing some 120 active investigations.

Protesters blockaded a third US-Canada border crossing on Friday (AEDT), escalating a crisis that’s leading automakers to cut production, weighing on the economies of both countries and prompting US officials from mayors to the White House to call for their Canadian counterparts to intervene.

That bridge, which connects Windsor in Canada to Detroit in the US, is the busiest land crossing on the border, and a key conduit for the auto industries on both sides.


Protesters block access to the Canada-United States border crossing at Emerson, Manitoba, with heavy trucks and farm equipment on Thursday.
CREDIT:THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

Many businesses in Canada have been closed due to security concerns and the lives of residents have been disrupted. Some have been harassed for wearing masks, police have said. Protesters are rallying also against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Pat King, a far-right figure listed as a regional organiser for the Canadian convoy, has said the only way to end restrictions “is with bullets”. In a video streamed online, he agreed with a passenger who said “it’s going until the mandates are gone and the premiers are gone and the prime minister is gone.”


“And the dissolving of the Liberal Party,” King added.

Police have said that those found to be taking part in criminal activity, which could include blocking streets or “assisting others in the blocking of streets,” could be arrested. They’ve also said that if suspects are convicted, their vehicles could be seized and forfeited and they could be denied permission to cross the border.

In the US, federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies are bracing for the possibility of a protest by truckers that could begin this weekend and carry into March, potentially including a cross-country caravan and disruptions to cities and major transportation routes.

Already in Alaska, dozens of truckers gathered in Anchorage on Sunday, driving to suburban Eagle River to show support for the Ottawa protesters, according to local media outlets. “Mandates should be our choice, whether you want the shots or not,” one truck driver told the Anchorage Daily News, which reported that other cities in Alaska saw similar events.


People carrying a large Canadian flag march on Brooklyn Bridge during an anti-vaccine mandate protest ahead of possible termination of New York City employees due to their vaccination status in New York. 
CREDIT:AP

The protests have also spread to New Zealand where vehicles clogged streets in the capital, Wellington, with horns blaring on Wednesday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the protesters as a minority.


Police officers form a line in front of protesters at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand.
CREDIT:GETTY

In Australia, a pedestrian “Convoy to Canberra” has lasted for about eight days with a largely peaceful atmosphere and are expected to keep going into the weekend.


The ‘Convoy to Canberra’ protest at the front of Parliament House on February 5.
CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

The Washington Post


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