Canada Police Begin Clearing Protesters Blocking key U.S.-Canada Bridge

• 02.12.2022, 19:43
•  World

REUTERS

Canadian police began clearing protesters blocking a key bridge linking Canada and the United States on Saturday, more than 12 hours after a court order came into effect that ended a blockade that had snarled international trade, Reuters reports.

The Ambassador Bridge, North America's busiest land border crossing, had no traffic flowing for the fifth straight day on Saturday morning. About 15 trucks, cars and pick-up vans blocked traffic in both directions, choking the supply chain for Detroit's carmakers.

"We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully," Windsor Police said in a Twitter post, asking commuters to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations.

Police in black uniforms with yellow vests moved behind the protesters' vehicles, forming a line across the bridge entrance and yelling at protesters to move. The number of demonstrators had thinned from about 200 on Friday night to roughly two dozen early Saturday.

Protesters closest to the bridge were seen moving back peacefully.

The "Freedom Convoy" protests, started in the capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 16th day on Saturday.