Freedom Convoy Protesters Allow Reopening Of Ambassador Bridge After One Week

The Detroit International Bridge Company confirmed that the Ambassador Bridge, a key US-Canada border crossing, reopened in the late hours of Sunday night, according to news agency AFP. The Ambassador Bridge which connects Detroit in the US to Windsor in Canada was shut for a week due to the ongoing Freedom Convoy protests.

The Freedom Convoy protests have been going on for the last 17 days as truckers expressed their outrage regarding vaccine mandates which require unvaccinated truckers to isolate for 14 days once they return to Canada from the US. The protest began initially against this particular vaccine mandate but later snowballed to protests against all vaccine mandates and Covid-19 regulations.

The protest also has caused divisions in Canadian politics with the opposition Conservative Party claiming that the vaccine mandates often impinge on basic human rights. Several lawsuits have also been filed against the protesters. The protesters are present in large numbers and have garnered support but some residents of Ottawa have claimed that the racist images were seen during the protests which the Freedom Convoy protesters have attributed to unknown miscreants. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau late on Sunday night convened a meeting of his cabinet, Canada-based news agencies including the Ottawa Sun reported.

Meanwhile, two of the prominent Canadian Freedom Convoy protest organisers displayed minor inconsistencies in terms of future planning of the protests as Pat King and Tamara Lich sent conflicting messages. Though the protests have no defined leader or group, both King and Lich, due to their involvement in the protests, are among the prominent voices. Pat King in a video, according to the Ottawa Sun, asked protesters to stay put where they were and continue with the blockade.

“Hold the line. Nobody moves,” King, who has a large social media following, said in a video. He urged people not to leave Ottawa. Meanwhile, Tamara Lich said that her group will consolidate protests around Parliament Hill and move trucks away from residential areas. Lich is not a trucker but helped organise the GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the convoy. King alleged that counter-protesters were handing letters to fuel rumours that an agreement was made with the authorities.

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