Share this @internewscast.com

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 11 people involved in a truckers blockade near the U.S.-Canada border on Monday and found a major cache of weapons and body armor in three vehicles, officials announced.

Law enforcement seized 13 rifles, handguns, a “large quantity of ammunition” and high-capacity firearm magazines, multiple sets of body armor and a machete in Coutts, Alberta, close to the busy U.S.-Canada border crossing, according to an RCMP statement.

They conducted the search after learning of an “organized group” among the truckers with access to the weapons and a “willingness to use force against the police,” the statement added.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called increasing incidents of violence among the truckers “disturbing.” A “small cell people wanted to take this in a very dangerous and dark direction,” he added. (Watch his remarks in the video above.)

In an “example of the militant mindset” of the group, the RCMP said, “a large farm tractor and a semi-truck, both involved in the blockade, attempted to ram a police vehicle” on Sunday night. The officer was reportedly able to avoid the collision.

The RCMP is now investigating that incident and others as a possible conspiracy to attempt to commit murder, RCMP Superintendent Roberta McKale told reporters on Monday.

The weapons cache is the latest disturbing development in a protest against COVID-19 precautions that began late last month in Ottawa, where a “Freedom Convoy” of semi-trucks paralyzed the downtown area. Truckers were accused of harassing and even assaulting residents, including by ripping masks off pedestrians’ faces.

The protest has since spread to other cities and evolved into blockades of bridges and border-crossings nationwide.

Trucks and pedestrians were finally cleared from the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit over the weekend. Trucks had choked off the movement of supplies to U.S. car companies.

Aides said Monday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to invoke emergency powers across all of Canada to quell the protests.

The trucker blockade is being heavily funded by right-wing forces in the U.S. and abroad and has received vocal support from hard-right politicians and others in America, from former President Donald Trump to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Last week, a Canadian judge blocked an online fundraiser for the truckers by a right-wing American Christian site.

Michael Kempa, associate criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, has characterized the fight over vaccine mandates as a cover for a deeply authoritarian movement aimed at upending the rule of law and weakening the Canadian government.

Source: huffpost

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Heartbreaking: Father Continues Uber Eats Deliveries While Searching for Missing Son

Jeremy J. Rouse (Seminole County Jail). Background: The area in Altamonte, Florida…

Disgraced MP Stripped of Seat and Freedom After Embezzling $435k in Public Funds

A former member of parliament, now disgraced, has been sentenced to a…

Father Receives Sentence for Severe Abuse of 8-Year-Old Daughter

Inset: Ian Tatro (7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office). Background: Spartanburg County Courthouse (WYFF).…

Husband Charged in Tragic Murder of Young Mother of Two

A man from New York state is facing serious charges following the…

Wolff Counters Melania Trump’s Legal Threat Over Epstein Suit in Surprising Twist

Left: Michael Wolff (CNN/YouTube). Right: First Lady Melania Trump (Photo by MANDEL…

McDonald’s Worker Allegedly Brandishes Gun Following Threatening Encounter: Police Report

Background: Surveillance video from the McDonald’s where Yoan Soto (far left) allegedly…

Shocking Night Attack: Man Arrested for Stabbing Ex’s Stepfather in Sleep with Kitchen Knife

Inset left: Tomas Aguilar (Webb County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Oscar Bedarte…

Tragic Turn: Husband Allegedly Shoots Wife and Disposes Body Miles from Home

Share A man from New York has been apprehended and faces murder…

Swift Legal Triumph: States Secure Immediate Success in National Guard Deployment Dispute

President Donald Trump speaks before a lunch with Ukraine”s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy…

Maternal Grandmother of Missing California Girl, Melodee Buzzard, Shares Her Perspective as Search Efforts Intensify

In a heartfelt plea, Lori Miranda, the grandmother of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard,…

Explosive New Investigation: Private Investigator Uncovers Shocking Details in Teen Celeste’s Case Linked to Singer D4VD’s Tesla

Mladen Trifunovic, the landlord of the property that Burke was renting for…

Suspect Arrested for Murder in Kada Scott Homicide Case

In a significant development in a disturbing case from Pennsylvania, authorities have…