Advertisement 1

WARMINGTON: Police horses trample demonstrators at Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa

Get the latest from Joe Warmington straight to your inbox

Article content

Turns out the lasting image of the Freedom Convoy protest at Parliament Hill will not be bouncy castles but that of a woman with a walker being trampled by a police horse.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

The violence the Prime Minister has expressed concern about during the three-week protest in Ottawa didn’t unfold until Justin Trudeau’s Emergencies Act police army was sent in to disperse the crowd.

Article content

The three major incidents Friday, under a form of martial law, were grotesque.

Video of Toronto Police Mounted Unit officers charging into the crowd and at least one horse trampling multiple people — including an elderly woman with a walker — was disturbing.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

But that was not the only troubling incident.

Another saw a protester behind a police line repeatedly being smashed with an officer’s rifle.

And convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter also told the Toronto Sun “one of drivers had his truck windows smashed by Ottawa Police (with) guns drawn and (he was) dragged out of his vehicle by force.”

Article content
Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

It’s ironic when you think back to three weeks ago.

“Of course I’m concerned,” Trudeau told The Canadian Press on Jan. 28. “A number of people are there without wanting to incite violence, but there are going to be, as we’ve heard, a small group of people in there who are posing a threat to themselves, to each other, to Canadians.”

But instead of violence there were bouncy castles, hot tubs, pancake breakfasts, pig roasts, road hockey games, dancing and fireworks displays.

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

While Trudeau tried to pin the online postings of a Swastika and Confederate flag on the truckers, they brought in a crane to rise the Canadian flag and sang O Canada every day. They definitely wore out their welcome while clogging up the parliamentary district of Ottawa, not wearing masks and excessively honking their horns.

But they didn’t cause violence.

So why the heavy hand in their mission to win back the city? That’s the question Ottawa Police, the Prime Minister, Premier Doug Ford and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson need to answer.

Advertisement 6
Story continues below
Article content

I have asked for the names and conditions of the people trampled, the person hit with the rifle and also the man allegedly arrested at gunpoint after having his truck windows smashed out.

Ottawa cops have tweeted no protesters or police were seriously injured on Friday.

It may have looked like a police state Friday. But it’s not one. That said, the Trudeau government had already obscenely used blunt force by deputizing Canada’s banks to freeze the accounts of protesters and threatening to cancel their licences, insurance and even take away their pets and children.

No matter how it’s spun at the end of the day, a majority of these protesters merely didn’t want to take a vaccine, parked illegally, honked their horns and disobeyed Trudeau. It’s not enough to hurt them.

Advertisement 7
Story continues below
Article content

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

This was not ISIS out there. It was Canadians with charter rights. But the rhetoric was revved up by Trudeau as if it was a terror cell putting Canada’s democracy at risk.

Perhaps the worst thing that happened Friday was the fact that the scheduled debate in the House of Commons was postponed for so-called security reasons, even though the past two years has seen many online debates during the pandemic.

“I‘m disturbed and saddened by what we are seeing today in Ottawa,” tweeted Opposition Leader Candice Bergen who is Conservative interim leader. “This situation was created by the PM and his desire to divide Canadians.”

Advertisement 8
Story continues below
Article content

Trudeau must be asked to answer why was it necessary to make the front of the parliament looked like a civil war Friday.

It is true the protesters were a nuisance, but it wasn’t them who were violent.

jwarmington@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @joe_warmington

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    This Week in Flyers