Truckers say they'll face arrests peacefully — but will defend their rights

Truck driver Jacobo Peters says he plans to lock himself in the cab of his semi and lay on the horn whenever police move to clear downtown Ottawa of the protest organizers call the Freedom Convoy.

Peters, 35, from Leamington, Ont., says he won't fight arrest, but police will have to smash the cab window and pull him out to remove him from the line he's pledged to hold during the protest that has gridlocked downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks.

By Thursday evening, police had arrested Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, key organizers of the convoy that has been protesting vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions. Police also set up a hardened perimeter around the downtown core, with nearly 100 checkpoints. Interim Ottawa police Chief Steve Bell warned that "action is imminent."

"Who knows, I might go home with some broken bones or go to jail with some broken bones depending on how much force they use," said Peters earlier that day.

He has four children between the ages of nine and 18.

"We just want our freedoms back, and we've been peaceful," said Peters.

Peters's rig is one of three arranged in line next to an intersection near Ottawa's Memorial Arch and the Canadian Phalanx monument. There are about seven semis parked in this area just beyond the edge of the parliamentary precinct, straight north from Library and Archives Canada on Wellington Street, the centre of the protest. 

The trucks are parked two intersections now populated with barbecues and a large grill, where they cook egg burritos in the morning and burgers in the afternoon to give away to anyone who comes by. The food comes from a 53 foot refrigerated trailer packed with donated goods, like frozen lasagnas, ribs, toilet paper and yogurt.

Many of the cross-border truckers in this area come from Leamington, Ont., about 732 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.

Police began tightening control of downtown Ottawa Thursday in preparation for an expected final push to clear the demonstrators and the hundreds of trucks and vehicles from city streets around Parliament Hill. 

The parliamentary precinct is one of the areas designated as a protected zone by the Emergencies Act invoked by the federal Liberal government to end protests that also spawned now-cleared border blockades in Windsor, Ont., Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

WATCH | Busloads of police officers arrive on Day 21 of protest: 

Peters, an owner-operator who regularly hauled freight over Canada and the U.S., said he's slept little over the past 24 hours, waiting, listening for police to make their move.

"That's where a lot of stress comes in. I've never been arrested. I've never committed a crime where I needed to be arrested," he said.