The police in Ottawa ended the occupation of the “Freedom Convoy” with a titanic show of over the top force, and Senator Ted Cruz retweeted a “report” that one of those brave occupiers was trampled to death by cops on horseback! Oh the brutality! Someone needs to contact Amnesty International!
Oh wait! That’s a lie??!
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz on Saturday deleted a message he shared on Twitter by a journalist who falsely stated that a Canadian protester was trampled to death by police during "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations.
"I deleted my retweet about a Canadian protestor being trampled to death because the journalist who first reported it now says it was in error," Cruz tweeted Saturday. "I remain deeply concerned about the abuse—seizing money & employing violence against peaceful protesters—that we're seeing in Canada."
Cruz initially shared the tweet from Fox News reporter Sara Carter who wrote on Friday that there were reports that a "woman trampled by a Canadian horse patrol just died at the hospital."
No Canadian horse patrol trampling a protestor in Ottawa. A person was taken to the hospital, but the person had a HEART ATTACK! But the Fox “news reporter” did her “My Bad!” routine.
And as for all that police “abuse,” it’s bullshit too. Here is a real news organization reporting on the what happened in Ottawa to those so called freedom fighters:
OTTAWA — Police succeeded Saturday in taking back control of downtown Ottawa from the Freedom Convoy truckers, methodically forcing out the anti-vaccine mandate protesters who occupied the city for three weeks.
Police formed lines and pushed forward a few feet at a time starting in the morning, shoving back protesters and then towing the cars and trucks that clogged city streets. No one was killed or seriously injured, police said. Protesters tried desperately to “hold the line” and push police back. But sapped by defections and freezing cold temperatures, they were overwhelmed. Several protesters were pepper sprayed and 170 were arrested as of Saturday afternoon.
By midday Saturday, protest leaders had thrown up the white flag figuratively and literally — organizer Pat King told his followers, quite wrongly, that waving a white flag meant they could not be arrested under international law. Another organizer, Tom Marazzo, held a press conference where he accused the police of brutality and excessive force, but also said truckers were willingly leaving the city.
“The vast majority of the truckers do want to withdraw, but it is an individual choice for any trucker,” said Marazzo.
It’s a shockingly fast collapse for the one-of-a-kind protest that was for weeks defined by how immovable it seemed. Just days ago, the overwhelming sentiment among the convoy was that the protesters were winning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would soon be forced out of office, and all vaccine mandates would end.
This has carried on for almost three weeks. The Ottawa police along with reinforcements literally handed out leaflets to those assholes telling them to leave or be arrested. They gave them plenty of time to split. Then, the police went in and started to arrest people and tow their precious trucks away. Some of the holdouts decided to fight back, and cops don’t like that. Naturally, the Ottawa police peppered sprayed and used flash grenades against the last holdouts.
The right wing protestors were lucky 1) they were not people of color and 2) that they were not dealing with American cops.
And as for how the intrepid freedom fighters of the “Freedom Convoy” responded to the cops doing their duties, well the “Battle for Ottawa” was a bit one sided:
But police abandoned their hands-off approach and brought in reinforcements from across Ontario and Quebec, starting Thursday. By Friday, they formed lines to move through the streets of Ottawa, retaking territory bit by bit. Sights of police shattering truck windows convinced many demonstrators to leave while they still could.
Spencer Bautz, a trucker from Saskatchewan, said earlier in the week that the warnings of arrests were merely scare tactics. By Saturday morning, staring down an incoming line of armored police, he had made a different calculation. “I’m going to hold the line as absolutely long as I can,” he said. “But my truck’s better off outside the city and smashed and dragged into some hole.”
Yuh think so asshole? It’s all fun times when the cops do nothing for weeks. Blaring horns at all fucking hours and tying up the city for weeks is all fun and games. Intimidating the locals is a blast! Then, the cops start to arrest some people, tow and smash their precious trucks, and it’s “Adios Amigo!” for most.
But guess what? The cops are not letting those who ran off the hook. They are going after those assholes.
Those who left willingly are not necessarily going to escape legal action. Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell said police will spend months pursuing charges. “If you were involved in this protest we will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges, absolutely. This investigation will go on for months to come,” he said.
What? Consequences for being an asshole?!! WTF?
Protesters reacted to the end of their encampment with a mix of anger and acceptance. There was widespread shock that police were cracking down, despite days of repeated warnings that the officers would take extraordinary action to end the occupation that has debilitated the city. Many accused the police of unnecessary violence. “We’ve only been peaceful for the last three weeks. This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” said Andrea, a protester who was walking the site with her pet pigeon Little Cloud on her shoulder.
I hope Andrea has someone to take care of Little Cloud when she gets arrested. And near the end, there was nothing peaceful about the protestors. The reports are the final holdouts were fighting with the cops.
And they still think that they have “energized” their movement. Too bad most of the opinion polls are against the right wing lunatics who shut down Ottawa for weeks on end. And the locals are never going to sing their praises either.
By the way, other cities across the globe will now be looking at how the cops in Ottawa finally handled the right wing protestors. Instead of being some glorious battle for freedom, the protestors in Canada have given a heads up to other law enforcement agencies on the needed steps to stop this kind of shit in the future. In honor of the Saskatchewan trucker who at this minute is driving back home to evade capture by the cops, I give you this song from The Guess Who:
But remember, Ted Cruz will always have your back!