The heat is building as an injunction was granted to clear the Ambassador Bridge. This as whereabouts of organizers are now questioned.
It appears that the law is getting ever closer to the terrorist occupation. The big story is that a court has granted an injunction against the terrorists occupying the Ambassador Bridge. Some were hoping that 7PM, Friday, would be the moment police finally moved in, but that didn’t happen. Still, the injunction is basically telling police to move in. From the CBC:
The chief justice of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has granted an injunction to end the blockade at Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge.
Chief Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz made the ruling in a court proceeding Friday. It will come into effect at 7 p.m.
Specifics of the injunction are being worked out, with a draft to be presented to the court when the proceedings resume at 5:15 p.m. Friday.
At this point, there is a risk of contempt of court if the bridge isn’t cleared out thanks to this injunction. How long it will take for police to move in is anyone’s guess. Still, given their history, foot dragging is basically expected by Canadian’s given how much of a hands off approach the police have been all this time.
Banks Are Handing Terrorist Funds Over to Authorities
In a somewhat smaller, but also significant development, TD, one of Canada’s largest banks, has said that they will hand funds the terrorists have received over to authorities. From CTV:
A Canadian financial institution has struck another blow against the attempts by the convoy group blockading Ottawa to collect on the millions of dollars it has solicited in online donations.
On Friday, TD Bank told CTV News that it would apply to surrender to an Ontario court the money that had not been refunded by GoFundMe, totalling about $1 million, as well as some $400,000 the group had accepted through direct donations.
“TD has asked the court to accept the funds, which were raised through crowdfunding and deposited into personal accounts at TD, so they may be managed and distributed in accordance with the intentions of the donors, and/or to be returned to the donors who have requested refunds but whose entitlement to a refund cannot be determined by TD,” spokesperson Carla Hindman said.
The development is a follow-up to one of the many developments we brought you yesterday where a court froze the GiveSendGo funds. While this is the second time the funds were frozen, the first time around saw the funds refunded to “donors” who basically took that money and started seeking alternate ways of funnelling the cash. This freeze basically meant that the funds are not going back to be recirculated which means the backers may have lost that money.
Still, the funding taps aren’t completely dry. There have been efforts to funnel the cash in through crypto currency exchanges. While it is more difficult for courts and the government to block those funds, it isn’t actually impossible.
Paranoia Continues to Spread in the Communications Networks
Some of the communications we’ve been hearing suggest that the terrorists are increasingly finding it difficult to keep control of their networks. Trolls are apparently flooding the channels with references to gay pornography which is proving disruptive. Some openly remark that booting the “trolls” has become a full time job.
Another aspect that they are noticing is that people are also silently monitoring their communications and publishing reports on sites like Freezenet. Apparently, they are finding this more scary than the trolls. We here at Freezenet are very sure that there is nothing scary about it. On the plus side, it is much easier to ignore people who aren’t communicating and psychoanalyzing (among other things) what all is happening. So, it’s all good. Nothing to worry about there.
Reinforcements Still Not Arriving
Another reoccurring theme we have been noticing as of late is the growing frustration of the lower “front line” terrorists. Complaints are coming out that the terrorists have been waiting for reinforcements for the better part of a week, yet none have arrived. Others are trying to reassure them that people are coming in from all over and that everyone supports their cause. One of them noticed that the people who are urging the front line terrorists to “hold the line” aren’t even present on the front lines. The ones that are actually on the streets are often the people not egging them on.
In fact, at least one of them outed themselves as not even residing in the same country even though they are egging them on. As a result, suspicions are rising that the front line terrorists might have been lied to. On the bright side, at least some are piecing some of this together that they might have been grifted – something that has been painfully obvious to many Canadian’s observing the developments.
Organizers Go Missing in Action
A lot of the well known organizers on the inside apparently have suddenly gone missing in action. This as the talking points shifted for the terrorists who have begun telling journalists that there are no organizers and that “the people” are “in charge”. With the heat rising even more and some feeling that action might be just around the corner, it seems all too convenient that some of these organizers have suddenly vanished. The word of this happening has only fuelled the demoralizing atmosphere that seems to permeate the chats.
Door Knocking By Authorities
Another reported action by police is that they are now knocking on doors. Apparently, they are handing out information regarding the Ontario state of emergency. While the officers seemed to handle things as professionally as possible, some video’s show that terrorists are agitated by this and tried to be accusatory of their actions – with no real success mind you.
Belgium Trucker Union Not Welcoming Convoy
In addition to this, apparently, there has been efforts in other countries to start up similar convoys. In Belgium, for instance, a transport union isn’t exactly welcoming the convoy with open arms. From Politico.eu:
The self-declared “freedom convoy” that’s planning to descend on Brussels next week to protest COVID-19 measures won’t get much love from Belgium’s truckers.
A coordinated pan-European convoy of anti-vaccine protesters is planning to arrive in the Belgian capital on February 14.
The protest is taking a page from Canadian truck convoys complaining about vaccine and mask mandates. The movement initially protested a vaccine requirement for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border, but is now much broader; it’s blockaded Ottawa for two weeks and prompted the province of Ontario to declare a state of emergency.
Banned in France
Another country that has the terrorists have been trying to occupy is France. Authorities, however, aren’t exactly welcoming the movement either. From CP24:
PARIS (AP) – Authorities in France and Belgium on Thursday banned road blockades threatened by groups organizing online against COVID-19 restrictions, in part inspired by protesters in Canada.
Citing “risks of trouble to public order,” the Paris police department banned protests aimed at “blocking the capital” from Friday through Monday. Police will put measures in place to protect roads and detain violators.
Blocking traffic can lead to two years in prison, 4,500 euros (more than $5,000) in fines and a suspended driver’s license, the police department said in a statement.
Online chat groups in France have been calling for drivers to converge on Paris starting Friday night, and to continue north to Brussels on Monday. There have been calls to action in Belgium for truckers to converge on the capital, which houses European Union institutions.
Arrests Made in New Zealand
New Zealand is also a country the terrorists tried to spread to. After three days, however, authorities have moved to end their presence through arrests. From CBC:
Police on Thursday began arresting dozens of protesters who were camped out on the grounds of New Zealand’s Parliament on the third day of a convoy protest against coronavirus mandates.
The arrests came after Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard took the rare step of closing the grounds.
Police called in more than 100 extra officers from other parts of the country. Still, police seemed prepared to wait it out as officers formed a line and ordered people to leave but only very slowly advanced on them.
By noon, police had arrested more than 50 people and had charged many of them with trespassing or obstruction. Police wore protective vests but didn’t don riot gear or carry guns.
Police said they had told everybody on the grounds they were trespassing.
Foreign Interference Spotted in US Terrorist Activities
There has been a push to start up a “convoy” in the US. While the organization apparently has ramped up, it has been getting a major boost from foreign operations. From NBC:
There is growing momentum in the U.S. anti-vaccination community to conduct rallies similar to Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” that has paralyzed Ottawa, Ontario, and the effort is receiving a boost from a familiar source: overseas content mills.
Some Facebook groups that have promoted American “trucker convoys” similar to demonstrations that have clogged roads in Ottawa are being run by fake accounts tied to content mills in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Romania and several other countries, Facebook officials told NBC News on Friday.
The groups have popped up as extremism researchers have begun to warn that many anti-vaccine and conspiracy-driven communities in the U.S. are quickly pivoting to embrace and promote the idea of disruptive convoys.
Researchers at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy first noted that large pro-Trump groups had been changing their names to go with convoy-related themes earlier this week. Grid News reported on Friday that one major trucker convoy Facebook group was being run by a Bangladesh content farm.
Many of the groups have changed names multiple times, going from those that tap hot-button political issues such as support for former President Donald Trump or opposition to vaccine mandates, to names with keywords like “trucker,” “freedom” and “convoy.” Facebook allows groups on its platforms to change names but tracks the changes in each page’s “about” section.
The motivations of the people behind the content mills are not clear, but Joan Donovan, director of the Shorenstein Center, said the pattern fits existing efforts to make money off U.S. political divisions.
“In some ways, it’s normal political activity,” Donovan said. “In other ways, we have to look at how some of the engagement online is fake but can be a way to mobilize more people.
Botnet Activity Pushes Convoy in Canada
Various bot tracking services have noticed an increase in bots trying to push the convoy. For instance, convoy friendly hashtags like “TrudeauMustResign” has been linked to botnets faking the popularity of the hashtag. It is far from the only pro-convoy hashtag pushed by botnets of course.
Still, it is hardly surprising. With manpower issues plaguing the terrorists operations for well over a week now, one of the major focuses have been to try and fake widespread support when there isn’t much in the first place. The truck footprints have long been a method to make the occupations bigger than they really are. Troll farms have also been spotted trying to harass people not supportive of the “movement”. Either way, many have likened the movement to an astroturfing campaign.
Relief Still Not Coming for Ottawa Residents
Perhaps one of the hardest, if not, the hardest hit people are the residents of Ottawa. They’ve been effectively left to their own devices as police continue to take a hands off approach to the occupation. Apparently, parties overnight have resumed on the city streets. One reporter had to deal with a truck driver who seemingly removed the muffler to make the vehicle even louder while revving the engine.
With so much focus on the Ambassador Bridge, Ottawa residents will be forced to feel abandoned by all levels of government as they suffer even more while trying to live their day-to-day lives. Still, there is a ray of hope that movement is finally happening to try and put an end to this Canadian nightmare.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
