On Day 29 of the Truckers for Freedom Convoy, Ottawa law enforcement continued their crackdown on peaceful protesters, police harassed a small business for being open in the “red zone” and a journalist had her bank accounts frozen for the crime of telling the truth.
Ottawa Police continued to tweet updates of their ongoing efforts to end all protests in Canada’s capital.
Police confirmed that 191 individuals had been arrested and 389 charges had been laid.
Other gatherings around the city were also cleared out by police, including one at Coventry Road.
True North and Rebel News journalists were denied access to Ottawa’s downtown for not having appropriate press credentials even though legacy media was granted access.
A Rebel News journalist was blocked from going downtown today despite displaying a press pass and an Independent Press Gallery card.
Furthermore, Ottawa Police stopped two Rebel journalists on the street and asked to see their IDs and hotel reservations.
The officer told them that they should register with the city for “authorization.”
A video posted to social media of an Albertan woman – “Doreen” – trying to access a coffee shop was widely shared by influencers in the United States.
A police officer asks Doreen where she lives, then proceeds to shout at her to leave. The officer can then be seen swatting the woman’s phone out of her hand.
David Anber – a criminal lawyer who has been providing legal services to protesters for many weeks in Ottawa – announced he has been retained by the woman in the video.
Anber confirmed that he would be “putting together a professional standards complaint regarding officers Jones, Berube and McElravy of the OPS.”
In response to the shocking displays of violence shown by law enforcement this weekend, the Ontario Special Investigations Unit announced that it would be opening investigations into several incidents.
These investigations include the “serious injury” of a woman in an interaction with a police horse and the discharging of “less-lethal” firearms at protesters.
This footage taken by a bystander this morning appears to show police manhandling a trucker who has surrendered peacefully. Other cops can be seen standing by and not intervening.
On Saturday night, leaked Whatsapp group chats from RCMP officers were posted to social media by Rebel News, which appear to document multiple officers cheering on the violent treatment of protesters, including the video of an elderly First Nations woman being knocked down and trampled by riot horses.
“Just watched that horse video – that is awesome!!! We should practice that manoeuvre,” wrote one member by the name of “Marca.”
Another member under the name of Andrew Nixon wrote, “(t)ime for the protesters to hear our jackboots on the ground”
He added that they were going to make some “sweet OT (overtime)” that weekend, and urged his colleagues, “(d)on’t kick all of (the protesters) out until next weeks group gets our turn.”
In a video on Sunday, police were seen threatening small business owners in an attempt to enter Iconic Cafe in downtown Ottawa. It is unclear at this time why police were trying to gain access, but police can be heard telling the shop owner that they would break the glass if he didn’t open the door.
This morning Police tried to trespass on to the Iconic Cafe in down town Ottawa. Now, they are closed.
— Salman Sima (@SalmanSima) February 20, 2022
They even tried to open the door illigally but they couldn’t. Police still is out side of the cafe.#TrudeauFailedCanada pic.twitter.com/QbeEllKlCo
True North will update you on the status of Iconic Cafe in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the financial measures the Liberals implemented along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Emergencies Act continued to freeze the bank accounts of people involved with the Freedom Convoy, including at least one journalist.
Conservative MP Mark Strahl announced that one of his constituents – a single mom working a minimum-wage job – had had her bank account frozen for donating $50 to the truckers.
Andy Lee – a journalist well-known on Twitter under the handle Hannah_Bananaz – was also locked out of her financial banking services and accounts.
Lee can’t use her credit cards to leave Ottawa.
Debate over Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act continued in the House of Commons today, with a vote expected on Monday.
Conservative MP and leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre spoke out forcefully against Trudeau’s use of the Act and declared he will vote against it.
True North will continue to provide you with updates from Ottawa and the rest of the country as protests continue.
The Givesendgo set up by the Truckers for Freedom Convoy organizers had reached USD $9,714,324 by the time this article was published.
