Almost 900 Parking Tickets Were Issued At 'Rolling Thunder' Convoy In Ottawa This Weekend

The "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle convoy came through Ottawa this past weekend, and police and bylaw officers dished out a substantial amount of tickets.

The City of Ottawa reported on May 1 that since Friday morning, "889 parking tickets were issued, 45 vehicles were towed, and 10 Provincial Offence Notices (tickets) were distributed in the area affected by the demonstration."

The demonstration left the city on Sunday, and today, areas will reopen as City Public Works staff "remove all the no-stopping and no-parking signs present in and around the restriction zone," the City said.

Several arrests were made over the weekend, according to Ottawa Police Services, including a woman arrested for assaulting police and a man arrested for "rushing an OPP motorcycle at a checkpoint." The man was already "on conditions" stemming from the Freedom Convoy in February, police said.

The man was charged with several offences, including "breaching release conditions, dangerous driving, refusal to provide a sample, assault on a peace officer and assault with a weapon."

Ottawa Police said they shut down "several highway off-ramps to the downtown core" in collaboration with the OPP and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to minimize the impact of the demonstration.

The "Downtown Core Control Plan" was put into place on Thursday night as demonstrators prepared for the convoy, with resources from several other forces such as "RCMP, OPP, York and Windsor Police," according to a press release posted on April 29.

"Several attempts were made to occupy areas of the city" on Friday, but the attempts were dissolved through tow trucks, officers, and bylaw, police said.

Public Order Units were also sent to the area of Rideau/Sussex with "hard tactical gear, including helmets and batons" on Friday night to deal with an "aggressive and combative crowd."

Police reported on Saturday that "several convoys and groups had been spotted outside of the City." Through their "intelligence gathering," they believe the groups chose not to attend due to the police presence.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.