The “Freedom” convoy “no passage” at the gates of Paris

AGI – Thousands of opponents of the vaccine passport, who came from all over France imitating the protest of “freedom convoys” launched by truck drivers in Canada, reside in the suburbs of Paris and intend to enter the French capital to demonstrate, despite the police ban.

According to the letters of hadiths in which they coordinate the protest, The idea is to become a “mass of vehicles that are impossible for the police to contain, unless the clients block the main hubs of the capital. “In the face of several thousand parked vehicles, a few dozen tow trucks could not do much,” says one of the messages.

The province said that about 7,200 police and gendarmes will “deploy to impose the ban on car convoys.” Armored vehicles from the gendarmerie were also deployed in the capital, for the first time since the “yellow vests” demonstrations at the end of 2018. Prime Minister Jean Castix has promised inflexibility. “If they block traffic or if they try to close the capital, we will be very stuck,” he told France 2.

The protest movement was formed – of a heterogeneous nature including critics of President Emmanuel Macron and the “yellow vests”. On the mobilization form that paralyzes the Canadian capital Ottawa. The hundreds of cars, campers, and vans that departed from Lille, Strasbourg, and Vimy (Pas de Calais) or Chateaubourg (Ile et Villen) stopped just outside Paris last night; According to police sources, no cars have entered the capital yet.

Truck drivers led protests against anti-Covid health measures in Canada inspired similar movements in Europe and New Zealand as well. Here is a global panorama.

Canada

Canada’s “Freedom Caravan” began in late January in the country’s west, after outraged truck drivers who had to be vaccinated, tested or quarantined for COVID-19 to cross the US-Canada border. While the vast majority of the country’s truck drivers are being vaccinated, a group of angry, like-minded truckers against the vaccine have shut down downtown Ottawa, in a noisy and sometimes provocative protest over the past two weeks. The movement has become a much broader protest against the sanitary-epidemic regulations, as well as the Trudeau government. Hundreds of vehicles are still parked in Parliament House, under Trudeau’s offices.

Last week, they closed three major border crossings with the United States, including the Detroit Ambassador Bridge, which is used daily by more than 40,000 passengers and a truck carrying goods worth an average of $323 million. This has caused chaos, especially in the economy. Major auto manufacturers have had to cut production at many factories in the region. The province of Ontario, the epicenter of the protests, declared a state of emergency on Friday and Trudeau stressed that “everything is on the table because this illegal activity must stop.” The US Department of Homeland Security has asked Canada to use “federal authorities” to remedy the situation.

new Zeland

In New Zealand, activists spent four days camping in Wellington Parliamentary Gardens in a protest that began Tuesday as a replica of the Canadian Caravan. However, it led to clashes with the police, and left more than 120 detainees. The number of protesters jumped to nearly 1,500 on Friday as officers scaled back their efforts to disperse the protests.

France

Thousands of vehicles were approaching Paris on Friday in convoys from across France, with many attendees hoping to shut down the capital to protest Covid vaccination rules and other health restrictions. French demonstrators left cities such as Bayonne, Perpignan and Lyon. The Paris police tried to stop the demonstrations, arguing that they would ban convoys and prevent roadblocks, threatening heavy fines or even imprisonment.

Belgium

Belgian authorities also said they would ban convoys whose rally was announced in Brussels on Monday, according to a protest appeal that spread on social media.

Austria

Meanwhile, Austrian police announced a ban on any “freedom convoy” after news of several hundred vehicles converging in Vienna and near an important public park in the Austrian capital.

United State

US supporters of Canadian protesters have taken to social media to announce a “caravan of people” made up of truck drivers and “all freedom-loving Americans” and to call a rally in East Los Angeles for a two-day rally. Starting Thursday, March 4th, before the highways hit, possibly toward Washington.