Trudeau says ‘very small, very angry’ trucker convoy is trying to ‘lash out’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's concerned about the potential for violence during this weekend's planned protest on Parliament Hill by truckers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s concerned about the potential for violence during this weekend’s planned protest on Parliament Hill by truckers and others joining the crowd to vent their anger about public health restrictions to combat COVID-19.

“Of course I’m concerned,” Trudeau said in an interview Friday with The Canadian Press.

“A number of people are there without wanting to incite violence but there are going to be, as we’ve heard, a small group of people in there who are posing a threat to themselves, to each other, to Canadians.”

Ottawa police have warned of the potential for violence by extremists who’ve joined, or in some cases helped organize, the truck convoy that began converging on the country’s capital Friday.

The so-called “freedom convoy” has been billed as a protest against the federally imposed vaccine mandate on cross-border truckers, even though planning for the event began before the policy was established.

While key organizers have said violence won’t be tolerated, far-right extremists and white nationalists have latched onto it, with some calling for “bullets” or a “massive revolution” or a riot akin to the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol a year ago.

“The problem is this has morphed into something a lot larger that doesn’t represent what the vast majority of truckers are going through, or indeed the vast majority of Canadians’ perspective on this,” Trudeau said.

“Canadians are not represented by this very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.”