The ongoing protests in Ottawa are inspiring others around the world to create and plan their own "freedom" convoys to demonstrate against pandemic measures and vaccine mandates.
Organizers have set up multiple groups on Facebook, some stating their support for the Canadian protesters and others planning their own convoys.
U.S. media have reported that Facebook removed at least one group, "Convoy To D.C. 2022," co-ordinating a convoy from California to Washington, D.C.
Another group has discussed a route that would travel through the northeastern United States. Some have chosen to organize on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram.
Also inspired by the Canadian protests, Australians organized a "Convoy to Canberra" in the country’s capital this past week to protest vaccine mandates.
One Facebook group has advertised a freedom convoy to the Austrian capital of Vienna set to take place on Feb. 11.
The emergence of other “freedom convoys” and potential protests comes as Ottawa police prepare for more demonstrations this weekend, a week after thousands of people, some travelling in from Western Canada, descended on the Canadian capital.
The main organizers of the convoy have said they have no intention to leave until all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions are eliminated.
"We are calling on all levels of government in Canada to end all COVID mandates and restrictions," Tamara Lich, one of the convoy’s leaders, said on Thursday.
Some protesters were seen stockpiling canisters of propane and fuel in Ottawa’s Confederation Park and building a wooden structure for a possible community kitchen.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said Friday that 150 more officers will be sent in, with barricades set up around the protest "red zone" and incoming vehicles directed to designated parking zones outside of the downtown core.
Police expect as many as 300 to 400 trucks will try and enter the downtown throughout the weekend, along with up to 2,000 people on foot and another 1,000 counter-protesters.
The protests are on top of similar oxjmtzywnes that have taken place or are planned in other parts of Canada, including at the Canada-U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., Quebec City, the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg, and Toronto.
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A cyclist stops in front of trucks blocked on Metcalfe Street, Feb. 4, 2022, as a rally against COVID-19 restrictions, which began as a cross-country convoy protesting a federal vaccine mandate for truckers, continues in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
