Canadian Trucker Convoy Blocks Bridge to US

🚛 A Canadian trucker protest forced the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit, MI, and Windsor, Canada, to shut down on Monday. The busiest border crossing in North America was temporarily closed overnight and into Tuesday before the jam was cleared.

• The self-titled Freedom Truck Convoy began late last month when hundreds of Canadian truckers gathered in Ottawa to protest a cross-border vaccine-or-quarantine mandate (despite the country’s trucking association saying an overwhelming majority of drivers are vaxxed).
• The daily demonstrations soon evolved to cover general anti-government sentiment, with some regular Canadians joining in to speak out against two years of pandemic restrictions.
• On Sunday, following a weekend of protests, Ottawa authorities declared a state of emergency and said the police were overwhelmed. To date, they’ve made 22 arrests, issued more than 1,300 tickets, and opened 79 criminal investigations.
• Yesterday, a judge ordered the truckers to cease honking their horns in the downtown area for 10 days, saying the demonstrators were infringing on “citizens’ right to quiet.”

+Funding un-secured: Last week, GoFundMe announced it was freezing over $9 million in donations earmarked for the trucker protests because the demonstrations go against its rules on violence and harassment.

The crowdfunding site initially said it would distribute the money to charities selected by the protest organizers, before reversing course and saying it would automatically refund donors after several GOP lawmakers threatened fraud investigations.

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