"Rolled out the welcome mat": Ottawa police receive backlash for lack of enforcement at trucker protest
The Ottawa Police Service released a statement about how they plan on handling the protesters rallying against the vaccine mandate who have “announced their intention to stay in place.”
The statement, released on Sunday night, urged residents of the nation’s capitol to avoid travel to the core due to major traffic, noise and safety issues.
It also went on to explain why police haven’t been enforcing parking and traffic bylaws.
“Police have avoided ticketing and towing vehicle so as not to instigate confrontations with demonstrators,” reads the statement. “Still, confrontations and the need for de-escalation has regularly been required.”
Update 5: Weekend Demonstration
Throughout the weekend, the Ottawa Police Service and its partners have been actively and patiently managing a well-funded, major demonstration in the downtown core…More at: https://t.co/3SUF3qvXsO#ottnews
la version française suivra…
— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) January 31, 2022
The Ottawa police have since received backlash online. People took to Twitter to express their disappointment.
Many expressed anger at how the police have gone easy on the protesters.
Happy Monday & good morning to everyone except the Ottawa Police who continue to allow a small fringe minority to infringe on the rights of a large majority.
A school is closed, many businesses too. People can’t leave their homes…and these protestors are AGAINST lockdowns?
— Dr. Amit Arya (@AmitAryaMD) January 31, 2022
This must stop. It has been an epic fail on the part of police, who have rolled out the welcome mat to people who obviously despise Ottawa, and who are anti-social to start with. It’s clear now that an attempt to accommodate political rights was interpreted as a sign of weakness.
— Mark Bourrie (@MarkBourrie) January 31, 2022
Unless there are people arrested for their actions on the ground in Ottawa, this chaos will continue indefinitely.
The Ottawa Police not wishing to confront hostility is a failure of good government as they tolerate behavior that is clearly unacceptable and damaging to citizens.
— PeterRatcliffe (@PeterHRatcliffe) January 31, 2022
Others pointed out the stark difference between how the police have treated these protesters versus how they treat unhoused, racialized and Indigenous people.
One comparison is how Wet’suwet’en land defenders were treated by the RCMP.
Looks like you’ve noticed that there is a difference in the way Ottawa Police handled recent demonstrations versus the Police violence we’ve seen on the unhoused, racialized or indigenous.
What if I told you policing is acting exactly the way it is designed to?
— Gaibrie Stephen (@SGaibrie) January 31, 2022
The Ottawa Police refuse to even ticket and tow the trucks and vehicles clogging up traffic downtown. They refuse to do anything, despite citing “safety issues” that are bad enough they’re advising people to avoid downtown. In case you were wondering where their loyalties lie. https://t.co/Ko4vTOagPV
— Alicia Elliott (@WordsandGuitar) January 31, 2022
Oh look so de-escalation is possible! Remember who gets the humanity of de-escalation by the @ottawapolice https://t.co/y0UbbpxEix
— Erica Ifill (@wickdchiq) January 31, 2022
So let me get this straight: Ottawa Police wasted no time removing unhoused people living in encampments with nowhere else to go but won’t remove “freedom” protestors who pee on war memorials, steal food from the unhoused, carry Nazi flags & cause businesses/schools to be closed?
— Naheed Dosani (@NaheedD) January 31, 2022
What was billed as a peaceful demonstration quickly attracted protesters flying Nazi and Confederate flags.
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Along with the Terry Fox statue, the national war memorial and the aboriginal veterans monument were defaced by protesters. A tweet from reconciliation and mental health ambassador Tim O’Loan thanked the Ottawa Police for helping clear the monuments.
Wanted to let you all know, thanks to the assistance of the @OttawaPolice and @OPP_ER that both the national war memorial and the aboriginal veterans monument have been cleared. We cleansed both spaces w a smudge, ceremony and prayers. We need to de better. pic.twitter.com/eQmPBvl7e9
— Tim O’Loan (@TimOLoan) January 30, 2022
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” arrived in Ottawa over the weekend to protest the vaccine mandate on all cross-border truckers.