Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest US-Canadian border crossing, trying to end a demonstration against Covid-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralysed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The US Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.
Windsor police said about 12 were peacefully arrested and seven vehicles were towed just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge that links their city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.
It was not immediately clear when the bridge might be opened but Windsor’s Mayor Drew Kiklens said he hoped it would be soon.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” he added later. "Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination.
Only a few protesters had remained after police on Sunday persuaded demonstrators to move their pickup trucks and others cars that they used to block a crossing that sees 25 per cent of all trade between the two countries.
In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said were 4000 demonstrators on Sunday. The city has seen similar expansions on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January.
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