The Freedom Convoy protest movement kicked off last week, with people decrying a vaccination mandate for truckers traveling between the United States and Canada. Scores of vehicles gathered at the border, while thousands of protesters descended on Canada's capital Ottawa.
“We want the Covid mandates removed, and we also want the Covid passport system – the QR code system for entering the country – we want that program abandoned,” B.J. Dichter, vice president and spokesperson for the Freedom Convoy movement, told RT.
Canadian media outlets have increasingly been describing the protesters as “hateful” and dangerous, with extremists and conspiracy theorists hijacking the whole movement.
However, Dichter said that the reports were exaggerated, and even went so far as to call the outlets “fake news.”
Still, on Friday, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford described the truckers’ protest in Ottawa as nothing short of an “occupation.” Ottawa police chief, Peter Sloly, meanwhile, announced that a new “surge and contain strategy” would be implemented following a week of “hatred, violence, and illegal acts that Ottawa residents and businesses have endured.”
Speaking earlier this week, he described the remaining activists as a “highly determined and highly volatile group of unlawful individuals.”
During the interview with RT, Dichter, however, insisted that despite being much maligned by the media and politicians, the protest is enjoying support from local residents from “across the political spectrum.” According to the activist, the truckers have even set up a soup kitchen for the homeless. Incidentally, speaking to reporters on Monday, Trudeau, among other things, accused the truckers of “stealing food from the homeless.”
Dichter told RT that Canadians are “fed up with politicians” and many see the truckers as the real opposition – which, according to the activist, is reflected in the generous donations the movement is receiving.
However, it is precisely the convoy’s fundraising campaign that made the headlines early on Saturday, when the GoFundMe platform announced that “no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers,” claiming that the movement was no longer peaceful.
The protest organizers quickly switched to Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo instead.