The trucker blockade protest at the Canada-U.S. border continues to grow, and local government is reportedly discussing a response to organizers who are asking officials to lift Alberta’s COVID-19 mandates.

Rebel News reporter Kian Simone reported Tuesday evening that Royal Canadian Mounted Police and protestors were involved in hours of tense negotiations as police attempted to get protestors to open the border crossing in the village of Coutts. Police allowed the truckers to bring supplies into the site of the protest, without being forced to open a lane of traffic. Chad Williamson, a crowdfunded lawyer provided to the truckers, was also brought in.

Police then approached the truckers with a final warning: leave or be arrested. RCMP then cut off negotiations and moved to arrest the truckers, but more truckers filled in the gaps left behind by RCMP abandoning its checkpoint. The truckers then moved to the rear of the blockade, where a brief standoff ensued. However, the police line retreated, and more trucks joined the protest, filling the gap where police had retreated.

Late Tuesday evening, Williamson informed Simone that police had retreated and that he wanted RCMP to come back to the negotiating table.

“The biggest problem, I think that they face now is, how the heck are they gonna remove these hundreds of rigs and pieces of…farm equipment, passenger vehicles,” Williamson said. “This is a problem that seems to be spreading as well across the country, with other blockades at other locations. And while the RCMP have shut down negotiations, at least with my team, we think it would be incumbent upon them to come back to the negotiating table, as I think that this isn’t going to wrap up as quickly as people may have expected.”

Simone then reported that other truckers had moved to block off other entries to the protest site amid reports that RCMP had mobilized units in town.

The truckers released a statement condemning rumored instances of vigilantism and violence. They reaffirmed that the purpose of their protest was to get the attention of authorities and to get Alberta’s and Canada’s vaccine mandates lifted.

Simone also retweeted a video posted by fellow Rebel News reporter Syd Fizzard, showing aerial footage of the blockade. Rebel News Producer Efron Monsanto posted a statement from Premier Kenney which estimated that as many as 10,000 truckers were involved in the blockade.

Simone posted a video interviewing one of the protest organizers Wednesday morning. The organizer said that RCMP came to the protest site offering aide to truckers who had their rigs frozen out in the night, including mechanics and vehicle technicians, and lauded the RCMP’s show of consideration for the truckers. He also made clear that the truckers wanted to speak to Jason Kenney.

“We need to have a table discussion with Jason Kenney,” the trucker said. “We’re not hard-hammered here to keep this thing closed. We want this border open as well. It affects everybody … But it’s time now that we need to sit down and discuss what’s going on, and what the Canadians, Albertans want. We need change. This can’t continue like this. This thing is getting bigger and bigger … and it’s not gonna stop. People are upset. They’re done with this. It’s time.”

Simone also reported that members of the Albertan legislative assembly were allegedly scheduled to gather at 2 p.m. MST to discuss lifting all COVID mandates in the rural parts of Alberta, provided that the truckers open a lane of traffic to the border. The truckers complied, opening a lane on both sides of the border, but they resolved to close it again if the assembly fell through.

Simone reported later that the legislative meeting had been postponed to 6 p.m. local time, saying that it was because of a high volume of calls to legislators’ offices. The protestors, meanwhile, had taken to prayer.

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Source: Dailywire

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