Freedom Convoy
Truckers and thousands of sympathizers blocked Ottawa streets to protest Canada's vaccine mandates, as reports of vandalism and harassment by some demonstrators sent tempers flaring. The protest originated in western Canada, where dozens of truckers organized a convoy to drive from Vancouver to the Canadian capital Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19-related restrictions, particularly a vaccination requirement for truck drivers crossing the US-Canada border.
A convoy of Canadian truckers and their supporters began arriving in Ottawa on 28 January 2022 to denounce an order requiring truckers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to cross Canada’s land border with the United States. A vast majority of Canadian truckers – some 85 percent – are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), an industry advocacy group, which hadcondemned the convoy.
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” was organised by known far-right figures who have espoused Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and other hateful views, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network non-profit group reported. Protesters marched through Ottawa on January 29, while several have pledged to stay in the city, home to about 1 million people, until all coronavirus restrictions are lifted in Canada.
Canada needs to investigate foreign interference and support for an anti-government protest in the country’s capital, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh said 07 February 2022, as the convoy of truckers and their supporters continues to wreak havoc in Ottawa. Singh said the convoy’s stated intent is to “overthrow the government”. Singh, whose party has the fourth-most seats in the House of Commons, said “It is clear that this is not a protest; this is an act to try to overthrow the government, and it is getting funded by foreign interference and we need to investigate and stop that – stop the flow of that foreign interference, particularly coming from the [United] States”. After anti-lockdown demonstrators paralyzed traffic in the area around Parliament Hill for more than a week, the city declared a state of emergency, accusing the truckers of “siege” and “insurrection.”
GoFundMe announced that it was taking down a fundraiser that had raised several million dollars for the convoy because it violated the company’s terms of service. It said it would refund all contributions. “We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity,” GoFundMe said.
The truckers drew the praise of Donald Trump and was featured on Fox News in the US. Trump said: "We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way." He also criticized US President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for truckers and added that the Canadian protesters were "doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders by far." Elon Musk voiced his support for a so-called “freedom convoy” of Canadian truckers. “Canadian truckers rule,” the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer said 28 January 2022 in a tweet, a clear nod to a convoy that’s been picking up attention around the world. Musk’s dislike of vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions is well documented. He told Time Magazine that while he and his eligible children are vaccinated, state-imposed requirements to get a jab represent an “erosion of freedom.”
Action in New Zealand mimiced the continuous truck protest in Ottawa, Trucks and campers blocked streets around New Zealand’s parliament in Wellington, as up to 2,000 protesters attended on foot. Some were seen waving Canadian flags in apparent support of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. The area around the parliament building, also known as The Beehive, has been jammed by trucks and cars plastered with messages reading “Give us back our freedom,” and “Coercion is not consent.”
The Alberta RCMP on 01 February 2022 stated "What may have begun as a peaceful assembly quickly turned into an unlawful blockade. While the Alberta RCMP has been in a position to conduct enforcement, we have been engaged with protesters at the Coutts border crossing in an effort to find a peaceful and safe resolution for all involved. We thought we had a path to resolution, the protesters eventually chose not to comply. "As of this morning, further action is being taken by the Alberta RCMP as this blockade continues to impede the ability for emergency agencies to provide full services to area residents. It has also negatively impacted the flow of goods and services, and impedes the public's freedom of movement. "A Highway is considered essential infrastructure. It is unlawful to wilfully obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the construction, maintenance, use or operation of any essential infrastructure in a manner that renders the essential infrastructure dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective as per the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act of Alberta. Anyone who actively blocks a highway—or aids, counsels or directs a highway to be blocked—may be subject to arrest and charge under this act. "The Alberta RCMP uses necessary measures to protect the fundamental freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, to promote the safety of all citizens, to enforce laws and to maintain peace and order. In turn, it must be recognized that while everyone has a right to peaceful freedom of expression; the general public, local residents and businesses also have the right to a safe environment and freedom of movement. This event is not a peaceful assembly. " On 08 February 2022 the Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement and public safety officials in the United States that a prolonged trucker convoy protesting vaccine mandates could begin on Feb. 13, when the Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The warning of a trucker protest similar to the one that brought Ottawa, Canada, to a virtual halt, states that “the convoy could severely disrupt transportation, federal government, and law enforcement operations through gridlock and potential counterprotests.” The warning circulated by DHS to law enforcement nationwide states that the agency “has received reports of a convoy of truckers planning to potentially block roads in major metropolitan cities in the United States in protest of, among other things, vaccine mandates for truck drivers.” The DHS alert said that “the group intends to start in California as early as mid-February and travel to Washington, D.C., as late as mid-March, reportedly gathering truckers as they travel across the country.”
The DHS document, which is marked Unclassified and For Official Use Only, noted that as of its release on Feb. 8, the U.S. trucker convoy “appears to be purely aspirational because the event is only being discussed online,” though it warns that “this could change quickly.”
There is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021. Malign foreign powers have and continue to amplify these false or misleading narratives in efforts to damage the United States. COVID-19 mitigation measures — particularly COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates — have been used by domestic violent extremists to justify violence since 2020 and could continue to inspire these extremists to target government, healthcare, and academic institutions that they associate with those measures.
French police warned 10 February 2022 they would prevent so-called "Freedom Convoys" from blockading Paris, as protesters against COVID-19 rules began to drive toward the capital. Inspired by truckers paralyzing the Canadian capital, truckers and other motorists from across France were answering a call to converge on Paris. The movement raised fears of a repeat of the 2018 "yellow vest" anti-government protests that rocked France, only two months before President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek reelection. "There will be a special deployment … to prevent blockages of major roads, issue tickets and arrest those who infringe on this protest ban," the Paris police force said in a statement.
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