Gathering at War Memorial: Four Arrested

Police will make their presence felt throughout the end weekday in downtown Ottawa.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) confirms that four people were arrested in a gathering at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. They allegedly assaulted police officers.

Earlier in the evening, the OPS had to intervene and make strong arrests at the corner of Wellington and Elgin streets in Ottawa.

Three people were initially arrested. The incidents include assaults on officers, Ottawa police wrote on their Twitter account.

A Canadian Press photographer saw this officer receiving treatment to heal an injury.

During the evening, various Videos of a muscular police intervention were shared massively on social networks. Police confirmed at 9:20 p.m. that they were looking into the events.

“We are reviewing videos and investigating the incident. […] Initial investigation reveals that an interaction with officers became confrontational and one officer was strangled.

—Ottawa Police Service, on Twitter

Thursday evening, several hundred people gathered at the National War Memorial in the center of -city of Ottawa, to welcome James Topp.

The Canadian Armed Forces activist and reservist arrived early in the evening after a long four-month journey that began in Vancouver.

James Topp set out on foot from Vancouver and Ottawa to speak out against COVID-19 vaccine requirements. He made a speech about it when he arrived.

Maxime Bernier and Paul Alexander, a former member of the Trump administration, were present at the National War Memorial.

During his speech, the reservist called for calm and unity. Several hundred people were present during his speech, but the crowd was smaller than in April, during the Rolling Thunder demonstration.

They were no longer only a few dozen at the end of the evening.

On Thursday evening, officers issued more than 230 tickets and towed 59 vehicles from the screening area in place for Canada Day events and end of week.