Police arrest last protesters at US-Canada border, traffic set to resume

Canadian authorities made a push to remove the last protesters from the Ambassador Bridge and surrounding areas on Sunday after having to close the border crossing in Windsor, Ontario with barricades last week. 

Police began arresting non-compliant demonstrators and towing vehicles supporting the anti-Covid-mandate trucker protest in Canada on Saturday. They pushed protesters away from the bridge on Sunday before making arrests, of which there were a dozen, according to authorities. 

Windsor police spokesperson Sergeant Steve Betteridge told reporters that approximately 12 people were arrested from the protests and claimed there were no violent incidents between demonstrators and police. 

“I am very pleased to say of those 12 arrested there was no violence at all. No violence from the protester and the officers did not have to use, use of force,” he said. 

Approximately 10 vehicles in the area were also towed after refusing to move. The bridge is expected to reopen sometime on Sunday afternoon. 

On Friday, the chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court granted an injunction ordering the protesters to leave the area that night after a blockade that had lasted for days. 

Footage from the protests shows police forming lines and pushing back demonstrators, some of whom chanted “Shame on you.” According to local media, crowds began thinning out on Sunday after arrests were made, with police far outnumbering the remaining protesters. Some footage shows a handful of police for each protester taken into custody.