Canada's Show Of Force As Police Clear Anti-Vaccine Protests' Main Hub

Canada anti-Covid rules protest: Ottawa police chief said that 170 people had been arrested since the start of the operation, 47 of them on Saturday.

Police in riot gear cleared the main protest hub in downtown Ottawa Saturday, using batons and pepper spray and making dozens of arrests, as they worked to flush out a hard core of demonstrators occupying the Canadian capital.

In a day-long show of force, hundreds of officers pushed into the city center -- facing off in tense scenes with determined protesters who hurled gas canisters and smoke grenades at advancing police, linking arms and chanting "freedom."

By the afternoon, police backed by tactical vehicles and overwatched by snipers had cleared Wellington Street in front of the Canadian parliament -- the epicenter of the trucker-led demonstrations which began almost a month ago over Covid-19 health rules.

Trucks were towed and tents, food stands and other structures set up by the demonstrators were torn down.