Police on guard against 'lone wolf individuals' as protest convoy arrives in Ottawa
CBC
Ottawa's police chief says officials are on guard against "social media actors" and "lone wolf individuals" who might try to infiltrate this weekend's protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Members of a protest which organizers call the Freedom Convoy steadily streamed into the nation's capital Friday as various groups from across the country prepared to rally against the federal government's vaccination mandate for all cross-border drivers, which came into effect earlier this month.
Trucks lined up along Wellington Street throughout most of Friday — a day ahead of when the official protest was scheduled to begin — honking their horns and blocking the road in front of both Parliament Hill and the Supreme Court of Canada, blocks away.
Hundreds more were expected over the weekend, with Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly saying authorities weren't sure how large the rally would be.
A count by Kingston Police Friday morning had 17 tractor trailers and 104 tractors without trailers, along with more than 400 passenger vehicles and six RVs, leaving the city en route to the capital. Kingston is about 174 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.
Protesters walked in between the trucks, cars and RVs, waving Canadian flags and carrying signs with messages, including #SayNoToVaccineMandates.
Sloly said residents and visitors should expect a large police presence across the city, but especially in the downtown, with officers in uniform and plain clothes.
"The demonstrations this weekend will be unique, fluid, risky and significant," said Sloly at a news conference Friday morning.
Police and intelligence officials are also keeping a close eye on parallel demonstrations and are expected to film the weekend's events, but police said they have been unable to connect with most of the organizers.
While the protests are national in scope and massive in scale, Sloly said, they are also "polarizing in nature" and come with "significant risks."
Sloly said organizers of the main convoy have promised that demonstrations will be peaceful but that there have been various online threats locally, nationally and internationally inciting violence, hate and criminal acts.
"We do not know all the parallel demonstrations that may occur and/or the lone-wolf individuals who may insert themselves into the mix for various reasons," Sloly said.
At least one vehicle flying a confederate flag was seen driving around the city's downtown Friday. The flag of the southern states whose secession set off the American Civil War has been taken up by some white supremacist groups.
Some of the hateful rhetoric over public health measures has been ongoing since the start of the pandemic, Sloly said, and directed at local, provincial and federal politicians, including Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.
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