“Freedom convoy”: the foreign press reacts to the police operation

The foreign press followed the last episode of the “freedom convoy” saga on Friday, worried for the children present or disappointed with the lack of action, the police intervention in Ottawa did not resonate in the same way for everyone. world.

• Read also: [EN DIRECT] Dismantling of the siege in Ottawa: the tension at its height, at least 70 arrests

• Read also: [IMAGES] Police attack trucks

• Read also: “Freedom convoy”: Pat King, one of the organizers, is arrested

In the United States, the 70 arrests do not seem to impress a journalist from the Boston Globe who, following the announcement of the state of emergency, expected “to see Canada descend into chaos”. He even found Friday afternoon that “the reality is quite disappointing”, comparing the demonstration to a traffic jam. According to him, Trudeau would overreact, but should still “monitor the demonstration and its organizers closely” noting in passing their link with the far right and white supremacy.

FoxNews followed the intervention live and a “freedom convoy” tab was accessible on the home page for the occasion. The conservative media shared videos of the arrests of demonstrators as well as images of the towing of vehicles.

“The time of passivity in the face of anti-sanitary measures truckers is over”, noted on the other side of the Atlantic, the French newspaper Release. While it took several weeks for the Canadian government to make the decision to dislodge the protesters, in France the hesitation was short-lived. Last week, the few thousand protesters who tried to imitate the movement of truckers in Paris were violently chased away with tear gas by the police.

On the British side, The Guardian pointed to the artillery deployed by “hundreds of police, some carrying rifles, others with riot shields and gas masks”, to confront the demonstrators. “A police drone hovered overhead as other officers on horseback and at least three armored vehicles arrived at the scene,” the newspaper added.

“Canadian Anti-Vaxxers Use Children as Barrier in Protests Before Police Advance,” headlined the news site in Spain. 20 minuteswhile the country’s major newspapers such as El Mundo Where El País did not grant a text to the demonstrations on Friday.

AlJazeerathe Qatari news site, was also concerned about the fate of the children present there, sharing a tweet from Étienne Fortin-Gauthier, containing a video of children lined up with the description “Parents arrive at the confrontation with their children”.

The Qatari media also noted the announcement of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CLAC) on its intention to “sue the federal government for its decision to invoke the state of emergency”, as well as that concerning the freedom of journalists. “Warning journalists of security risks in the protest area is reasonable. Threatening them with arrest for doing their job is not.”