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Police Arrest ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protesters at US-Canadian Border

Many Americans have their attention locked on the 2022 Super Bowl, airing tonight at 6:30 EST. However, Outsiders simultaneously have their gaze turned to the ongoing blockade located at the United States/Canadian border. Ambassador Bridge, the primary source of the blockade, serves as a significant point of transport between the two nations. However, travel has seen major interruption among ongoing protests. Now, the convoy has seen consecutive days of demonstrations. As such, law enforcement has begun to arrest protestors participating in the truckers’ Freedom Convoy and its blockade.

According to the New York Post, police located in Windsor, Ontario began making arrests just after dawn on Sunday. Law enforcement took action after officials first attempted to convince the convoy’s supporters to remove their vehicles from the bridge on Saturday.

Before local and federal officials took action in attempts to reopen the bridge connecting Ontario to Detroit, crowds had surged to 4,000 participants.

At the time of the arrests, the outlet states two pickups and a dozen protestors remained at the bridge’s entrance.

Now, police barricades have gone up at the international bridge. Although it remains unclear when the route will be passable again.

Amid the arrests, a judge ordered an end to the convoy’s blockade. Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford also declared a state of emergency after the blockade caused the closure of two auto industry plants on either side of the bridge. The declaration enabled law enforcement to issue fines of up to 100,000 Canadian dollars. In addition, demonstrators could also see up to one year in jail for continuing to illegally block roads and other routes of transport.

Canadian Government Froze Convoy’s Donations Ahead of Arrests

The Canadian truckers’ convoy has grabbed media attention for weeks, with protestors inspiring similar movements across the globe. However, ahead of the arrests Sunday, the Canadian government froze access to the demonstrators’ funds. The move essentially restricted access to millions of dollars.

Prior to law enforcement’s involvement, the nation’s government successfully got a court to halt donations to the Freedom Convoy. Support had recently been pouring in through the platform, GiveSendGo.

As a result, the convoy’s truckers lost access to the funds this past week.

After the Superior Court of Justice’s order had been decided, it became illegal for parties to distribute the donations sent through GiveSendGo in support of the “Freedom Convoy 2022” and the “Adopt-a-Trucker” pages.

The GiveSendGo donations overall accumulated more than $9 million in support of the truckers’ convoy. However, the demonstrators had seen larger amounts of financial support through an earlier GoFundMe page, initially raising $10 million. At first, the sponsoring site supported the movement as they believed the convoy would host peaceful demonstrations.

Soon enough, though, GoFundMe removed their support after law enforcement had labeled the movement an “occupation.” Instead, the site refunded supporters’ donations.