The Ottawa Police Department is reportedly beginning a sweep through downtown Ottawa to remove Freedom Convoy protesters that have occupied the area since late January.
Protest organizers operating the YouTube account Live From The Shed said on a livestream Friday morning that police officers are sweeping the streets, arresting protesters, and pushing others out of the secured area that law enforcement set up earlier this week. According to the protesters, tow trucks are stationed nearby and are believed to be waiting to clear the area of trucks.
“The tow trucks are not labeled, they’ve had their plates removed and their companies covered so they are hiding their identities from the world,” one of protesters on the livestream said.
National Review fellow Nate Hochman, who is in Ottawa to cover the Freedom Convoy protest, tweeted Friday that “thousands of police” have surrounded the protest area near Parliament and are beginning to move in on the protesters.
“Thousands of police have surrounded the Ottawa convoy over the course of the past 90 mins. More continue to come in to back up the front line, which has been methodically pushing in, foot by foot. An air of panic on the ground. Starting to feel like the beginning of the end,” Hochman tweeted.
Police have “box[ed] in” protesters in downtown Ottawa, cutting off paths to leave the area and are conducting “mass arrests,” according to one protest organizer. Police are also breaking into vehicles to arrest people who have seemingly locked themselves inside.
Michael Thiessen, president of Liberty Coalition Canada, has posted video of the police moving in on protesters.
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