Ambassador Bridge blockade over, but protesters are back

Windsor Police and the Canadian city’s mayor suggested Sunday the border blockade had ended even as new protesters arrived back at a previously cleared intersection near the Ambassador Bridge.

About 50 protesters hooted, drank coffee and hollered “Freedom” near a gas station at Huron Church and Tecumseh roads in the early afternoon about an hour after police cleared the area. The location is about a mile from the bridge along a major thoroughfare to the entrance.

Earlier Sunday, police suggested an end had come peacefully after negotiation and some arrests. Windsor Police, who had taken criticism from Leftists on social media for not forcefully ending the blockade on Friday after a judge OK’d such a move, announced the all-clear just before noon.

“Police used discretion during the course of the demonstration to avoid creating an unstable situation and potentially putting the public at risk,” a news release from the department said. “This exercising of police discretion should not be confused with lack of enforcement.”

The release also noted: “Throughout this demonstration, Police have respected the protesters’ freedom of expression and their right to a peaceful assembly. The importance of public safety remained the number one priority of officers with the goal being a peaceful resolution.”

Several arrests were made overnight Saturday and into Sunday. Police said those arrested would all face a charge of mischief. Multiple vehicles also were towed away.

It remained unclear when the bridge would reopen to traffic.

Cars were being towed Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, as part of the Ambassador Bridge protests.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens tweeted just before 11 a.m. that reopening the bridge was up to authorities.

Overnight Saturday in the cold, the crowd of several hundred protesters left over from earlier in the day had dwindled to just a couple of dozen by Sunday morning.

The supposed end of the standoff — which at first featured semi-trailers blocking access to the bridge, later replaced by people on foot — began in a tweet from Windsor Police about 8:15 a.m. Sunday, which warned of enforcement actions coming — “with arrests being made. Vehicles being towed.”