Friday afternoon, Freedom Convoy organizer Daniel Bulford peacefully turned himself in to authorities after federal and local law enforcement began sweeping through downtown Ottawa to remove and arrest demonstrators who have occupied the area since late January, in protest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COIVD-19 vaccine mandates.
Bulford, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police sniper, told authorities that he had heard he was going to be arrested, which is why he willingly handed himself over to police. The arrest can be seen here:
BREAKING: Convoy organizer Daniel Bulford and former RCMP sniper has been arrested
"I'm here to turn myself in" https://t.co/oFSoJ2e1fa for more. pic.twitter.com/9qLx6JGt5l
— Yanky 🐊 🚚🚛🚜 (@Yanky_Pollak) February 18, 2022
On Wednesday, Bulford had called on “all veterans to come lend your voice to this movement so that the rest of Canada can see that this is wrong,” referring to the treatment of protesters by the Canadian government.
Earlier on Friday, The Daily Wire reported that authorities had arrested at least 21 protesters who refused to leave the area, and “thousands” of police were on the scene:
National Review fellow Nate Hochman, who is in Ottawa to cover the Freedom Convoy protest, tweeted Friday that “thousands of police” have surrounded the protest area near Parliament and are beginning to move in on the protesters.
“Thousands of police have surrounded the Ottawa convoy over the course of the past 90 mins. More continue to come in to back up the front line, which has been methodically pushing in, foot by foot. An air of panic on the ground. Starting to feel like the beginning of the end,” Hochman tweeted.
Bulford is the latest Freedom Convoy organizer to be arrested. On Thursday, police arrested two other organizers of the convoy, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.
The Daily Wire reported that “during the day on Thursday, Lich, 47, who has worked as a fitness instructor and in the energy sector, predicted that she would be arrested on a video she released in which she stated:”
There’s a pretty good chance — well, I think it’s inevitable at this point — but I’ll probably be going somewhere tomorrow where I’ll be getting three square meals a day. And that’s okay. I’m okay with that. And I want you to know that I’m not afraid. I’ll probably get some sleep, finally. Just please stay peaceful and please take care of each other and know that this too shall pass.
And I’m not sure if you remember but I posted a video a few weeks ago — it feels like forever ago — about “tomorrow.” And there will be a tomorrow. And we will get through this. You have to understand that there’s a lot of things at work here that need to prevent this from being a success. And the only way that this is gonna succeed is if we always come from a place of love.
I’ve always said as human beings we make choices from one of two places; we make choices from love or we make choices from fear. That’s it. That’s the bottom line. And I pray and I hope that you will make your choices from love.
You have to know that they are trying to provoke us. I mean, you hear their language; you hear the language and the verbiage that they’re using and that is not coming from us. And I know you guys all know that.”
Police officers had also formed a barrier around certain sections of Ottawa, but as of press time protesters were still continuing the “party,” as described by Canadian radio host Andrew Lawton.
“A few hundred feet from the police offensive line, the party continues at the main stage. Speaker urges people to take a look but keep their kids away.” Lawton tweeted. “Also calls for protesters to “remind (police) of their oath.
A few hundred feet from the police offensive line, the party continues at the main stage. Speaker urges people to take a look but keep their kids away. Also calls for protesters to “remind (police) of their oath.” pic.twitter.com/6QTbI1k1Lq
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) February 18, 2022
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