Canadian police have begun arresting protesters blocking the Ambassador Bridge, ending their demonstration after six days.
“Enforcement actions continue at the demonstration area with arrests being made. Vehicles being towed. Please continue avoiding the area,” the Windsor Police tweeted on Sunday, adding that they are taking “zero tolerance” policy toward “illegal activity.”
Canadian police begin arresting protesters blocking US-Canada bridgehttps://t.co/GoHUlta68c
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 13, 2022
According to the police, a 27-year-old man was arrested for an unspecified criminal offense in relation to the demonstration.
The arrests come after the Windsor Police received a court order on Friday to clear the Ambassador Bridge.
“The Windsor Police [and] its policing partners have commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge. We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully [and] peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time,” the department tweeted.
Only two pickup trucks and less than a dozen protesters were blocking the bridge before the police arrived. Most of the protesters left on their own and dismantled their makeshift encampment once they saw the police approaching.
The ‘Freedom Convoy’, which consists of over 100,000 truckers, blocked the Montana and Alberta border last week, causing disruption in the flow of goods and services between the U.S. and Canada.
The demonstrators are demanding governments lift their vaccine and mask mandates, as well as lockdowns and restrictions on business activities and mass gatherings.
Additionally, a larger protest is happening in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. According to the Ottawa Citizen, the movement started on January 28 and has since grown to 5,000 protestors.
There are currently no plans for the local police to intervene with the demonstration in the capital, but protestors are showing no signs of leaving.
The Canadian protests have reached their influence in the U.S., with a small group of protesters in Los Angeles calling for the end to vaccine and mask mandates as well during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the protestors in Los Angeles could head east after the weekend and reach Washington, D.C. by March 1, potentially impacting President Biden’s State of the Union address.
