After a week-long blockade that shut down Ambassador Bridge connecting Michigan to Windsor, Ontario, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) maps show that the route is clear.
The Canadian Freedom Convoy, a grassroots group of truckers who blocked the bridge in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions, was broken up thanks to police efforts, according to The Detroit Free Press.
“The Detroit International Bridge Co. announced Sunday night that the Ambassador Bridge is fully open allowing free flow of commerce between Canada and the United States,” that outlet said.
It noted that in order to get traffic moving again, police negotiated with the protestors, and arrested some. Only a few truckers remained after the negotiation.
The paper said that a few truckers showed up to protest Monday morning, but they were met by a heavy police presence.
The protests began more than three weeks ago in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s capital city, when truckers parked there, clogging the roads and honking their horns.
Friday night, an Ontario Superior Court judge issued an injunction ordering law enforcement to disperse the crowd. That order drew more protestors, and the bridge remained blocked through the weekend.
Before the court injunction, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) called the protestors and the media who gave them coverage “downright dangerous.”
“[The right-wing media is] inciting and encouraging people to break the law and to do so in a way that devastates so many hard-working people. … This is five days, and it’s already taken a toll of tens of billions of dollars — that number compounds over time,” Whitmer said on CNN Friday morning.
“And any encouragement for people to replicate this and break the law and devastate our economy is not just devastating to our national bottom line but to individual households. … It’s incredibly unhelpful and downright dangerous,” she said.
Ambassador Bridge is a major thruway for the auto industry, and some companies were forced to ramp back production due to the blockade.
Despite Whitmer’s objection, more truckers from around the country headed north in support of the counterparts.
A group called “The Convoy to Save America” set off Sunday from Tennessee destined for Buffalo, New York. Buffalo borders the Ontario.
“We are a grassroots movement, mamma bears, papa bears, patriots, of all denominations, of all races, of all religions, of all political views. It’s about getting together as Americans, getting away from the divide, and allowing us to be Americans again and free,” Pennie Fay, a member of the group leaving from Nashville, reportedly said.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Michigan Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
