Royal Canadian Mounted Police members have allegedly praised violence against protesters in a group chat, saying things such as “time for the protesters to hear our jackboots on the ground.”
The RCMP issued a statement Sunday saying it’s “aware of the material circulating on social media pertaining to a chat group that includes some of its members, and we can confirm that we are looking into the matter. This material is not representative of those who have committed themselves to serving Canadians with integrity and professionalism.”
Rebel News published screenshots of RCMP members bragging about brutally suppressing protesters over the weekend while authorities arrested truckers and cleared the area of demonstrators.
In a second message, another officer allegedly said, “Time for the protesters to hear our jackboots on the ground.“
At least two people, including an elderly woman on a mobility scooter, were knocked down by police on horseback in the video.
The content of the texts has still not been authenticated by Rebel News.
This is all following last week’s activities: Far-left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked rare emergency powers to end the Freedom Convoy trucker protests against vaccine mandates. The Canadian House of Commons on Monday approved his emergency powers.
On Thursday night, MPs were told to avoid the area around parliament due to ‘exceptional circumstances’ that police were closing in on Freedom Convoy protesters.
While Trudeau fights to maintain his emergency powers in cracking down on Freedom Convoy protesters, he continues to face tough opposition in Parliament.
Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs sprang into action on Thursday to oppose Trudeau’s declaration under the Emergencies Act.
Canadian politician Mark Strahl claimed on Feb. 20 that a single mother with a minimum wage job had been deprived of her bank account after she “legally” donated $50 to the Freedom Convoy.
(After the Emergency Powers was enacted, anyone who had “aided and abetted” the protestors was classified as a terrorist, even if the action ocurred before the Act was put in place.)
Strahl, a Conservative, took to Twitter to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the Emergencies Act, which was invoked for the first time in Canadian history to deal with the impact of the ongoing protests by truckers and their supporters against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.
In a statement on Feb. 21, RCMP said the account-freezing powers under Emergency Economic Measures Order (Emergencies Act) applied to “individuals who were influencers in the illegal protest in Ottawa, and owners and/or drivers of vehicles who did not want to leave the area impacted by the protest.”
“At no time, did we provide a list of donors to financial institutions,” RCMP said.
“We are now working with the banks to build a process to address the accounts that were frozen,” RCMP added.
RCMP deputy commissioner Mike Duheme announced on Feb. 20 that 206 financial products, including bank and corporate accounts, had been frozen as a result of the ongoing protests in Ottawa.
The initial schedule had the motion to confirm Trudeau’s emergency powers debated through the weekend and voted on Monday night.
Speaker Anthony Rota suspended Friday’s debate in the House of Commons due to safety concerns, warning MPs of a police operation and urging them to remain away from the city center until further notice.
Last Thursday, police arrested key leaders of the Freedom Convoy — Tamara Lich and Chris Barber — in Ottawa. The crackdown escalated Friday and into Saturday as police made 150 arrests.
According to Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell, individuals who attended the Freedom Convoy protests in the city could face criminal charges and financial sanctions — even if they return home without incident.
A Romanian-born trucker who’s been a Canadian for 20 years — and was beaten by Ottawa police after he said he peacefully surrendered to them over the weekend — said he will not be broken by their violence.