OTTAWA, 19 February 2022, (TON): Police arrested scores of demonstrators and towed away vehicles Friday in Canada’s besieged capital, and a stream of trucks started leaving under the pressure, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions.

Authorities said “by evening, at least 100 people had been arrested, mostly on mischief charges, and nearly two dozen vehicles had been towed, including all of those blocking one of the city’s major streets.

Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said “one officer had a minor injury, but no protesters were hurt.”

He said “police continue to push forward to take control of our streets.”

He added that we will work day and night until this is completed.”

Those arrested included four protest leaders. One received bail while the others remained jailed.

The crackdown on the self-styled Freedom Convoy began in the morning, when hundreds of police, some in riot gear and some carrying automatic weapons, descended into the protest zone and began leading demonstrators away in handcuffs through the snowy streets as holdout truckers blared their horns.