Photos: Ottawa police push to end weeks-long trucker occupation
Al JazeeraOttawa, Canada – Dozens of people have been arrested and several vehicles have been towed in downtown Ottawa, police said, as a large-scale operation to clear a weeks-long occupation of the Canadian capital was underway. Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell told reporters on Friday afternoon that 70 people had been arrested as of 3pm local time and that the force would work “day and night” until the protest is dismantled. Police increased their presence in the downtown core during the past several days, as they coordinated with law enforcement agencies at the provincial and federal levels to clear out participants in the so-called “Freedom Convoy“. The demonstrators chanted “freedom” and occasionally broke into a singing of the national anthem, “O Canada”, as many remained defiant despite the heavy police presence and multiple warnings to leave the area.