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‘We cannot be silent’: GOP lawmaker wants to offer Freedom Convoy protesters asylum from Trudeau’s heavy hand

February 20, 2022 | | Print Article

Citing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “heavy-handed crackdown against peaceful protesters,” New Mexico Representative Yvette Herrell announced her plan to offer “asylum” for the Canadian truckers and their supporters.

“Justin Trudeau’s heavy-handed crackdown against peaceful protesters in Canada is not the action of a Western Democracy, but that of an authoritarian regime like Venezuela,” Herrell tweeted in a three-part thread. “Just as we provide asylum for political prisoners, we should do the same for truckers who have been subjected to violence, had their property confiscated, and their bank accounts frozen by a government that is quickly becoming the embarrassment of the free world.”

“I am introducing legislation that would temporarily grant asylum to innocent Canadian protesters who are being persecuted by their own government,” she stated. “We cannot be silent as our neighbors to the north are treated so badly.”

According to The Associated Press, Ottawa Interim Police Chief Steve Bell stated that, between Friday and Saturday, 170 people were arrested following Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act, on Feb. 14.

The over-the-top move sparked instant condemnation, as The Canadian Constitution Foundation, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association promptly filed separate lawsuits.

The Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, fired off a letter to Trudeau on Thursday, “calling for an end to the pointless trucker vax mandate and travel restrictions.” On Saturday, he announced he will take the challenge to court.

“Alberta will launch a Court challenge of the Trudeau government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act, because it is: unnecessary; disproportionate; violates natural justice; intrudes into provincial jurisdiction; [and] creates a dangerous precedent,” Kenney tweeted.

In the days following the invocation, the scenes out of Canada have become nothing less than Orwellian — none more so than the video of an elderly Mohawk Nation leader being trampled by Ottawa’s mounted police.

Ottawa Police were quick to tweet that no one was seriously injured and the horse was “fine,” as rumors began to circulate that the woman had actually died at the hospital.

Though early reports that the woman later died at the hospital have now been proven false, the truth of the situation lies somewhere in between Ottawa’s claim that “anyone who fell got up” and “she died.”

In a tweet posted later by Keean Bexte, it was learned the woman was trampled and taken to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder.

But it isn’t just physical harm the protesters have to worry about.

“Canadian authorities also announced they had used emergency powers to seize 76 bank accounts connected to protestors, totaling roughly $3.2 million ($2.5 million U.S.),” AP reported.

While offering asylum to the persecuted protesters sounds great on paper, many are concerned that U.S. citizens will soon face the same treatment.

A US version of the Freedom Convoy is set to make its way to Washington D.C., arriving on March 1 — just in time for President Biden’s State of the Union Address, when every politician will be gathered once again in the nation’s capital.

A statement issued Friday by the Capitol Police, they make clear that security will be tightened in anticipation of the convoy’s arrival.

“Law enforcement agencies across the National Capital Region are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, DC around the time of the State of the Union,” the release reads. “As with any demonstration, the USCP will facilitate lawful First Amendment activity. The USCP is closely coordinating with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service and other allied agencies to include the DC National Guard.”

And, in what is becoming an all-too-familiar sight, another fence will be erected around the Capitol.

 

Melissa Fine
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