Police launch criminal investigations into ‘illegal’ acts at Ottawa anti-vaccine-mandate trucker protests

Police in Canada said “several criminal investigations are underway” into “threatening” and “illegal” behavior that occurred over the weekend during huge protests in the capital, Ottawa, where truckers and thousands of supporters gathered to denounce coronavirus vaccine mandates and other public health measures.

While many protested peacefully, Ottawa police said they would investigate after monuments were defaced and some demonstrators displayed “threatening/illegal/intimidating behaviour to police/city workers and other individuals.”

“Illegal behaviour will not be tolerated and will be fully investigated,” police said.

There were reports of urination on the National War Memorial and desecration of other monuments, including the statue of Terry Fox, a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist, who died in 1981 after dedicating his life to raising funds to cure the disease.