Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich gets arrested in Ottawa

2 years ago
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Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich gets arrested in Ottawa
Canadian police have arrested two of the most high-profile leaders of the Freedom Convoy, hours after Ottawa police warned protesters that they had to move their trucks from the center of the capital.
Tamara Lich, 47, widely seen as the main organizer of the protest, was detained on Thursday night as snow fell in Ottawa. She did not resist as she was handcuffed and calmly taken away in a police patrol car.
Hold the line,' she shouted as she was escorted away.
A former fitness instructor who has sung and played guitar in a band called Blind Monday in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Lich was also a senior member of a separatist group that advocated for Canada’s Western provinces to secede from the country.
On Wednesday night, she had posted a tearful video to YouTube telling her supporters that she expected to be arrested imminently.
'There's a pretty good chance - I think it's inevitable at this point - I'll probably be going somewhere tomorrow where I'll be getting three square meals a day,' she said.
'And that's OK. I want you to know I'm OK with that.
'I'll probably get some sleep.
'But please stay peaceful. And know that this too shall pass. There will be a tomorrow. And we will get through this.'
A second leader, Chris Barber, was arrested hours before Lich on Thursday. He is being held in custody and is expected to face criminal charges, CBC reported.
Barber, a truck driver for the last 28 years who led the Saskatchewan portion of the protest convoy that has been in Ottawa for the last three weeks, was walking down the street with several friends when police detained him.
Footage posted on social media showed him being detained. He could be seen smiling calmly as he was patted down and put in a patrol car.
'Call my wife!' he said, to a friend who was filming. 'And put this on social media.'
The arrests came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to face tough opposition in Parliament as he battles to maintain his emergency powers in a crackdown on Freedom Convoy protesters.
On Thursday, legislation upholding Trudeau's declaration under the Emergencies Act was presented in Parliament, where Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs voiced fierce opposition.

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