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Autos from the protest convoy are parked blocking lanes on a street, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022 in Ottawa. Residents of the nationwide capital are once more being instructed to keep away from touring downtown as a convoy of vehicles and automobiles snarl site visitors protesting government-imposed vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press by way of AP)
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Police in Canada’s capital mentioned Sunday they're investigating doable prison expenses after anti-vaccine protesters urinated on the Nationwide Struggle Memorial, danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to show an anti-vaccine assertion.
1000's of protesters gathered in Ottawa Saturday to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns. Some travelled in truck convoys and parked on the streets round Parliament Hill, blocking site visitors.
Many remained on Sunday.
Ottawa Police mentioned officers are additionally investigating threatening habits to police and others.
“A number of prison investigations are underway in relation the desecration of the Nationwide Struggle Memorial/Terry Fox statue,” Ottawa police mentioned.
Some demonstrators parked on the grounds of the Nationwide Struggle Memorial and others carried indicators and flags with swastikas, sparking widespread condemnation.
The statue of Fox, a nationwide hero who misplaced a leg to bone most cancers as a teen, then set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek throughout Canada, was draped with a the other way up Canadian flag with an indication that mentioned “mandate freedom.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retweeted an announcement from The Terry Fox Basis that mentioned “Terry believed in science and gave his life to assist others.”
Canada has one of many highest vaccination charges on the planet. Trudeau has mentioned Canadians will not be represented by this “very troubling, small however very vocal minority of Canadians who're lashing out at science, at authorities, at society, at mandates and public well being recommendation.”
Deirdre Freiheit, president of the Shepherds of Good Hope, who run a soup kitchen for the homeless in Ottawa, mentioned a number of protesters confirmed up on the soup kitchen on Saturday and verbally abused workers and volunteers whereas demanding they be served. She mentioned some protesters got meals to defuse the scenario, and going ahead meals will solely be given to those that want them.
The convoy of truckers and others prompted police to arrange for the potential for violence and warn residents to keep away from downtown. A close-by mall and liquor shops closed early on Saturday and remained closed Sunday.
The demonstration was initially geared toward denouncing vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, however the motion has morphed right into a protest in opposition to quite a lot of COVID-19 restrictions and Trudeau’s authorities.
Sitting in his truck, Scott Ocelak mentioned he deliberate to remain till Tuesday on the newest.
“Everybody’s united and we simply wanted a spark, and that is the spark that we would have liked,” Ocelak mentioned. “We’re all on board and we’re all right here collectively. It’s finish all mandates for everyone.”
A brand new rule took impact Jan. 15 requiring truckers coming into Canada be totally immunized in opposition to the coronavirus. The USA has imposed the identical requirement on truckers coming into that nation.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance mentioned a large number of the protesters had no connection to the trucking business, including they've a separate agenda to push. The alliance notes the overwhelming majority of drivers are vaccinated.
“Persons are dropping their jobs as a result of they don’t need to get the vaccine. I don’t need the vaccine,” mentioned Eric Simmons, who drove in from Oshawa, Ontario.
Some opposition Conservative lawmakers served espresso to the protesters and Conservative celebration chief Erin O’Toole met with some truckers. The protest additionally attracted help from former U.S. President Donald Trump.