Surrey RCMP investigating alleged assaults on officers, motor vehicle violations in border clash
Mounties in Surrey are in the process of gathering evidence against a number of people they allege assaulted officers, as well as the registered owners of vehicles they say broke past their barricades and violated the Motor Vehicle Act in other ways.
The probes stem from clashes with RCMP, who had set up roadblocks and barricades to prevent vehicle traffic from getting too close to the Pacific Highway border crossing on Saturday during a “Freedom Convoy” protesting COVID-19 public health measures, with many participants also expressing anti-government sentiments.
“We are investigating several incidents where people bypassed blockades, ran through blockades, individuals who assaulted police officers by pushing, shoving and attempting to remove police officers from blocking vehicles," said Surrey RCMP Sgt. Elenore Sturko. “It is not acceptable and we will investigate these acts that've placed both the public and our police officers at risk."
On Sunday, a handful of people were arrested near the border itself, where several people had stayed overnight at an encampment that began on Monday, but it was a far cry from the clash the previous afternoon, when hundreds of people had followed big rigs and a military-style vehicle to the border.
Sturko pointed out that it’s not as easy as arresting everyone or towing vehicles that may be breaking the law.
"The reality is there are times when our officers are surrounded by hundreds of people, so we have to act strategically," she said.
A CLOSER LOOK AT SATURDAY’S CLASH
CTV News was there when a Canadian-flag-festooned, military-style vehicle approached the border and was the setting for a tense confrontation between demonstrators and several RCMP officers, who stood in front of it in silence as people yelled at them.
The vehicle’s front grill clearly has an Oshkosh logo, and it’s painted in drab green tones used by armed forces. A comparison of video from the event with different models of Oshkosh vehicles identifies it as a M1070 model, which is used by the United States Army to transport tanks. It bears the logo of a Chilliwack rockworks contractor.
Other big rigs joined the Oshkosh, as did people who’d parked and walked several kilometres past the RCMP blockade and traffic standstill at 8th avenue and 176 Street.
Hundreds of people were observed singing and waving flags, including American flags and ones with anti-government slogans. Several scuffles broke out between them and Mounties. As RCMP pulled back their vehicles from the fray, one demonstrator could be heard calling them “cowards.”
WARNINGS OF NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES EMERGING
While it’s a close detour for working truckers to get to the Peace Arch border crossing, the Pacific Highway crossing is designed for commercial traffic and any deviation is an inconvenience. But one expert is raising the alarm that it’s much more serious than that.
"When our trade is being impeded, that is a national security issue,” explained former national security analyst and current Carleton University associate professor Stephanie Carvin.
“When you have extremist groups within this larger movement, and we have seen these movements, that is a national security concern."
The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner by far, and most of that trade happens via land border crossings. Carvin believes it’s no accident that they are the focus of traffic-snarling demonstrations.
“So many ports of entry have come under systemic attack from this movement,” she said. “One of the concerns I have is that as this movement continues on, as the convoy protestors in Ottawa remain in place and seem to be inspiring people in Canada and throughout the world, is that more extreme elements are coming into it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Can the Governor General do what Pierre Poilievre is asking? This expert says no
A historically difficult week for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government ended with a renewed push from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to topple this government – this time in the form a letter to the Governor General.
'I'm still thinking pinch me': lost puppy reunited with family after five years
After almost five years of searching and never giving up hope, the Tuffin family received the best Christmas gift they could have hoped for: being reunited with their long-lost puppy.
Wrongfully convicted N.B. man has mixed feelings since exoneration
Robert Mailman, 76, was exonerated on Jan. 4 of a 1983 murder for which he and his friend Walter Gillespie served lengthy prison terms.
Two U.S. Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent 'friendly fire' incident, U.S. military says
Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent 'friendly fire' incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.
BREAKING NEWS 6 adults, 4 children taken to hospital following suspected carbon monoxide exposure in Vanier
The Ottawa Paramedic Service says ten people were taken to hospital, one of them in life-threatening condition, following an incident of suspected carbon monoxide exposure Sunday morning in the neighbourhood of Vanier.
Big splash: Halifax mermaid waves goodbye after 16 years
Halifax's Raina the Mermaid is closing her business after 16 years in the Maritimes.
Second body recovered from site of B.C. landslide
The second resident of a home that was destroyed by a landslide in Lions Bay, B.C., last weekend was found dead Saturday, officials confirmed.
A small plane crashes into a Brazilian town popular with tourists and the number of dead is unclear
A small plane crashed into a Brazilian town that is popular with tourists on Sunday, killing several people, local officials said.
OPP find wanted man by chance in eastern Ontario home, seize $50K worth of drugs
A wanted eastern Ontario man was found with $50,000 worth of drugs and cash on him in a home in Bancroft, Ont. on Friday morning, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).