LOS ANGELES (KNX) — After several weeks protesting, a group of truck drivers at the Canadian border demanding COVID-19 "mandate freedom" have begun to clash with authorities.
Mark Day, an anchor for CityNews Ottawa, has been on the ground covering the events. He joined KNX In Depth to share his inside look at the developing situation.
Friday, with yells and commotion audible in the background, Day said he was about 20 feet from where demonstrators and police clashed Friday — as drivers used vehicles to form a blockade blocking several streets and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act in an attempt to end demonstrations.
So far, the protests have "nearly paralyzed" a portion of downtown Ottawa for the last 22 days, according to The Associated Press.
"A police enforcement that we've never seen the likes of, I don't even think in this country," he said. "And protestors now are confronting the police who are moving forward...already 70 arrests today."
For weeks, government officials and residents have asked why nothing has been done to quell the disruption to daily life. So why now are police being called into the fray?
"Because of that time frame, even the police chief here in the city of Ottawa has resigned...because he wouldn't take the enforcement and move ahead with it," Day said.
"So the federal government brought in the Emergencies Act, and that gives them the ability to control the police."
Day said as several agencies move in, they are making arrests and towing several of the trucks that are blocking streets.
In the interview with KNX, Day confirmed that many of the protesters are being funded internationally by people in the states who also disagree with vaccine mandates, with many of them creating GoFundMe pages for the protestors.
Many of those pages have since been shut down, Day said.
"Those bank accounts, the GoFundMes...but what happened earlier this week is that [the government] has also started seizing the bank accounts of the organizers, those who are involved as well as some of the truckers who are here," Day said.
"We can tell you at this point that three of the main organizers have already been arrested. Two were arrested last night, another was arrested today."
The principal argument of the protests stems from a dislike of the federal government's handling of vaccine mandates - with some who are already vaccinated protesting simply because they don't believe it should be forced upon others who wish to continue working but don't trust or want the COVID-19 vaccine.
With arrests happening, Day said police are hoping that protests will come to an end soon, peacefully.
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