Surrey RCMP investigating alleged assaults on officers, motor vehicle violations in border clash

RCMP arrest protesters at B.C. border Police arrested several "Freedom Convoy" supporters at the Pacific Highway border crossing Sunday, with more under investigation.

Mounties in Surrey are in the process of gathering evidence against a number of people they allege assaulted officers, as well as the registered owners of vehicles they say broke past their barricades and violated the Motor Vehicle Act in other ways.

The probes stem from clashes with RCMP, who had set up roadblocks and barricades to prevent vehicle traffic from getting too close to the Pacific Highway border crossing on Saturday during a “Freedom Convoy” protesting COVID-19 public health measures, with many participants also expressing anti-government sentiments.

“We are investigating several incidents where people bypassed blockades, ran through blockades, individuals who assaulted police officers by pushing, shoving and attempting to remove police officers from blocking vehicles," said Surrey RCMP Sgt. Elenore Sturko. “It is not acceptable and we will investigate these acts that've placed both the public and our police officers at risk."

On Sunday, a handful of people were arrested near the border itself, where several people had stayed overnight at an encampment that began on Monday, but it was a far cry from the clash the previous afternoon, when hundreds of people had followed big rigs and a military-style vehicle to the border.

Sturko pointed out that it’s not as easy as arresting everyone or towing vehicles that may be breaking the law.

"The reality is there are times when our officers are surrounded by hundreds of people, so we have to act strategically," she said.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SATURDAY’S CLASH

CTV News was there when a Canadian-flag-festooned, military-style vehicle approached the border and was the setting for a tense confrontation between demonstrators and several RCMP officers, who stood in front of it in silence as people yelled at them.

The vehicle’s front grill clearly has an Oshkosh logo, and it’s painted in drab green tones used by armed forces. A comparison of video from the event with different models of Oshkosh vehicles identifies it as a M1070 model, which is used by the United States Army to transport tanks. It bears the logo of a Chilliwack rockworks contractor.

Other big rigs joined the Oshkosh, as did people who’d parked and walked several kilometres past the RCMP blockade and traffic standstill at 8th avenue and 176 Street.

Hundreds of people were observed singing and waving flags, including American flags and ones with anti-government slogans. Several scuffles broke out between them and Mounties. As RCMP pulled back their vehicles from the fray, one demonstrator could be heard calling them “cowards.”

WARNINGS OF NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES EMERGING

While it’s a close detour for working truckers to get to the Peace Arch border crossing, the Pacific Highway crossing is designed for commercial traffic and any deviation is an inconvenience. But one expert is raising the alarm that it’s much more serious than that.

"When our trade is being impeded, that is a national security issue,” explained former national security analyst and current Carleton University associate professor Stephanie Carvin.

“When you have extremist groups within this larger movement, and we have seen these movements, that is a national security concern."

The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner by far, and most of that trade happens via land border crossings. Carvin believes it’s no accident that they are the focus of traffic-snarling demonstrations.

“So many ports of entry have come under systemic attack from this movement,” she said. “One of the concerns I have is that as this movement continues on, as the convoy protestors in Ottawa remain in place and seem to be inspiring people in Canada and throughout the world, is that more extreme elements are coming into it.”