Top organizers of the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, Ontario, were arrested Thursday afternoon.
Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, two organizers of the anti-vaccine mandate trucker protests, which have clogged up traffic flow in Canada’s capital for three weeks, were arrested, according to CBC News. Barber and Lich remain in police custody and will face criminal charges, sources told the outlet.
“We now have the ability to remove [protesters] and have the resources and techniques to do that,” Ottawa Police Service interim Chief Steve Bell said during a city council meeting Wednesday, City News reported.
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“Our hope is as they look to the coming days, people will see our determination to get them to leave,” Bell said. “If they don’t, then we have the means to remove them.”
Barber, a trucker from Saskatchewan, was seen in handcuffs near Parliament Hill, according to CBC News. Earlier, Lich acknowledged to the outlet that she expected to be arrested, as the funds in her bank account had been frozen.
Barber and Lich are among the four people — Benjamin Dichter and Patrick King, also organizers, are the other two — named in a class-action lawsuit filed by 21-year-old Zexi Li on Feb. 4 seeking damages for “trauma” she claims has been caused by the honking of protesters’ truck horns.
NEW: Our reporter on the ground @MarkDayNews tells us police have made an arrest in the crowd. #OttNews pic.twitter.com/88bx4YFkcB
— CityNews Ottawa (@CityNewsOttawa) February 17, 2022
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Monday the never-before-used Emergencies Act, which gives the government the power to prohibit the public from assembling and traveling in response to the protests. The act also allows the government to arrest people and freeze their funds.
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As Trudeau works to shut down the protests, some provinces have begun easing their coronavirus-related restrictions.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the OPS for comment.
