Group of American truckers begins cross-country drive from California to capital Washington to protest coronavirus restrictions, taking a cue from demonstrations that paralysed Canada's capital city, Ottawa, for weeks.
Some protesters insist on the continuation of demonstrations as one of the group's leader said that they decided peacefully to withdraw but will "regroup as a grassroots movement."
Scuffles broke out in places, and police repeatedly went nose-to-nose with the protesters and pushed the crowd back amid cries of “Freedom!” and the singing of the national anthem, “O Canada.”
The anti-Covid mandate protests that started in Canada’s capital and spread to the US and Europe are reinvigorating right-wing populism.
A video shared to a Twitter account for the so-called "Freedom Convoy" showed protest leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber being taken into police detention.
Police action to end three-week trucker-led protest blockading Canadian capital is "imminent," Ottawa police warns, adding authorities have "begun to harden the perimetre around the protests."
No immediate word from police on when or if they might move in to clear hundreds of trucks by force in capital Ottawa but protest leaders say they’re ready for action.
PM Justin Trudeau activates rarely used 1988 Emergencies Act in an effort to end protests that have shut some border crossings and paralysed parts of the capital.
Far from united in their demands, the protestors and their grievances represent a range across the political spectrum.
Scores of drivers protesting Canada's Covid-19 restrictions have continued to bottle up the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest US-Canadian border crossing.
The two-week blockades have already impacted business, with protesters closing down a third Canada-US border crossing in central Manitoba.
US politicians have condemned the use of the American crowdfunding site GoFundMe to support protests against Covid measures in Canada.
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