Ottawa police knew ‘Freedom Convoy’ participants could get guns as deputy chief defends his force’s response, inquiry hears
OTTAWA — An Ottawa police “threat assessment” of the approaching “Freedom Convoy” last winter flagged how some unnamed participants had access to guns and that weapons had been seized from travelling protesters in “two cases at least,” according to a document tabled at the Emergencies Act inquiry.
And yet, Ottawa Police Deputy Chief Steve Bell defended the local law enforcement agency’s preparations for the convoy protests in testimony Monday, saying that despite Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) intelligence that the protest convoy travelling across Canada to Ottawa could stay for a long time, the local police could not have predicted the demonstration would turn into a “violent” and “traumatic” occupation around Parliament Hill.
