Chapter 77: Occupation

303      As many as 10,000 “patriots” . . .  Aaron Wherry, “Conservatives Hitch Their Wagons to the Convoy Protest Without Knowing Where It’s Going,” CBC News, February 1, 2022, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-conservative-otoole-convoy-vaccine-mandate-1.6335286; and “Thousands Gather on Parliament Hill for Massive Protest Against Vaccine Mandates,” Toronto Sun, January 29, 2022, torontosun.com/news/national/protesting-truckers-and-supporters-converge-on-parliament-hill.
 
303        it is the provincial governments . . . public health restrictions  Wherry, “Conservatives Hitch Their Wagons to the Convoy Protest Without Knowing Where It’s Going,” www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-conservative-otoole-convoy-vaccine-mandate-1.6335286.
 
303      blame. . . Trudeau . . . are led by the “ideological cousins” of the Conservative Party  Wherry, “Conservatives Hitch Their Wagons to the Convoy Protest Without Knowing Where It’s Going,” www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-conservative-otoole-convoy-vaccine-mandate-1.6335286.
 
303      an exaggerated claim  Dan Evon, “Fact Check: Did 50,000 ‘Freedom Convoy’ Trucks Set Guinness World Record?” Snopes, January 27, 2022, www.snopes.com/fact-check/freedom-convoy-guinness.
 
303      Hundreds . . . occupy almost every street  “Thousands of Vehicles, Pedestrians Arrive with Truck Convoy in Ottawa,” CBC News, January 29, 2022,” CBC News, January 29, 2022, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/navigating-ottawa-during-protest-convoy-1.6331704. 
 
303      Bridges are jammed with trucks Government of Canada, Public Safety Canada, “Parliamentary Committee Notes: Overview—Freedom Convoy 2022,” December 20, 2022, www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20221013/03-en.aspx.
 
303      struggle to get to work Alex Black, “Convoy Gridlock Preventing Ottawa Hospital, Montfort Healthcare Workers, Patients from Getting to Campuses,” CityNews Ottawa, January 31, 2022, ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/01/31/convoy-gridlock-preventing-ottawa-hospital-montfort-healthcare-workers-patients-from-getting-to-hospital-campuses-5010347.
 
303       incessant, angering business owners and residents  Laura Osman and David Fraser, “Blaring Intro to Life in Ottawa During ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protest Comes with Recording of Deafening Chorus of Big-Rig Horns,” Canada’s National Observer, October 15, 2022, www.nationalobserver.com/2022/10/15/news/blaring-intro-life-ottawa-during-freedom-convoy-protest-comes-recording-deafening.
 
303      “assault on my hearing” Victoria De La Ronde quoted in Osman and Fraser, “Blaring Intro to Life in Ottawa During ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protest Comes with Recording of Deafening Chorus of Big-Rig Horns,” www.nationalobserver.com/2022/10/15/news/blaring-intro-life-ottawa-during-freedom-convoy-protest-comes-recording-deafening.
 
303      desecrate the grounds of the National War Memorial  “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many rebuked,” Associated Press (AP) News, January 30, 2022,” apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0; and Arpan Rai, “Police Launch Investigation After Member of Canada Trucker Convoy Filmed Dancing on Tomb of Unknown Soldier,” The Independent, January 31, 2022, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ottawa-protests-trucker-freedom-convoy-soldier-tomb-b2004298.html. 
 
303      dancing on this tomb  “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many rebuked,” apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0.
 
304     upside-down Canadian flag . . . “Mandate Freedom” . . .Terry Fox  Sign quoted in “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many rebuked,” apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0.
 
304     set off fireworks . . . throw rocks at an ambulance . . . call paramedics racist slurs  Christy Somos et al., “‘Freedom Convoy’ Protest: How Did We Get Here?” CTV News, February 8, 2022, www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/freedom-convoy-protest-how-did-we-get-here; and “Canada Trucker Protest: Ottawa Declares Emergency,” BBC News, February 7, 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60281088.
 
304     force a downtown vaccine clinic and school to close . . . mall to close  Wherry, “Conservatives Hitch Their Wagons to the Convoy Protest Without Knowing Where It’s Going,” www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-conservative-otoole-convoy-vaccine-mandate-1.6335286.
 
304     overrun . . . soup kitchen, demanding food Graeme Massie, “Soup Kitchen Says Freedom Convoy Truckers ‘Harassing’ Staff for Meals and Used ‘Racial Slurs,’” The Independent, January 30, 2022, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/convoy-truckers-canada-soup-kitchen-b2003765.html.
 
304     “One member of our shelter community . . .”  Shepherds of Good Hope, “Statement Regarding Protest in Ottawa,” Facebook, January 30, 2022, www.facebook.com/sghottawa/photos/a.118342014885270/5117155241670564.
 
304     “A security guard went to his aid and was threatened and called racial slurs”  Shepherds of Good Hope, “Statement Regarding Protest in Ottawa,” www.facebook.com/sghottawa/photos/a.118342014885270/5117155241670564.
 
304     rises dramatically that weekend  “COVID-19: Wastewater Index Blip Coincides with Convoy Arrival; Moore Notes ‘General Improvement’ in Indicators; Six More Deaths in Ottawa,” Ottawa Citizen, February 3, 2022, ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/covid-19-ontario-death-toll-up-by-75.
 
304     assault . . . and use his church as a urinal Luke LeBrun, “‘It Was Violent’: People’s Commission Report Shines Light on Violence, Harassment and Hate Crimes During ‘Freedom Convoy,’” PressProgress, January 31, 2023, pressprogress.ca/it-was-violent-peoples-commission-report-shines-light-on-violence-harassment-and-hate-crimes-during-freedom-convoy; and Hibah Salaria, “Witnesses Recount Devastating Impact of Freedom Convoy, Lack of Police Action,” Capital Current, November 18, 2022, capitalcurrent.ca/witnesses-recount-devastating-impact-of-freedom-convoy-lack-of-police-action.
 
304     stop an Asian Ottawa resident  LeBrun, “‘It Was Violent’: People’s Commission Report Shines Light on Violence, Harassment and Hate Crimes During ‘Freedom Convoy,’” pressprogress.ca/it-was-violent-peoples-commission-report-shines-light-on-violence-harassment-and-hate-crimes-during-freedom-convoy.
 
304     “do the dragon dance”  Quoted in LeBrun, “‘It Was Violent’: People’s Commission Report Shines Light on Violence, Harassment and Hate Crimes During ‘Freedom Convoy,’” pressprogress.ca/it-was-violent-peoples-commission-report-shines-light-on-violence-harassment-and-hate-crimes-during-freedom-convoy.
 
304     When he refuses, they beat him up LeBrun, “‘It Was Violent’: People’s Commission Report Shines Light on Violence, Harassment and Hate Crimes During ‘Freedom Convoy,’” pressprogress.ca/it-was-violent-peoples-commission-report-shines-light-on-violence-harassment-and-hate-crimes-during-freedom-convoy.
 
304     waiting at a bus stop . . . “Take it off, take it off!” Quoted in LeBrun, “‘It Was Violent’: People’s Commission Report Shines Light on Violence, Harassment and Hate Crimes During ‘Freedom Convoy,’” pressprogress.ca/it-was-violent-peoples-commission-report-shines-light-on-violence-harassment-and-hate-crimes-during-freedom-convoy.
 
304     attributes the growth in support . . . to COVID-19 restrictions Stephanie Levitz, “Maxime Bernier Rejects Climate Science and Vaccinations: Will He Get to Do It at the Leaders’ Debates?” Toronto Star, August 20, 2021, www.thestar.com/politics/federal-elections/maxime-bernier-rejects-climate-science-and-vaccinations-will-he-get-to-do-it-at-the/article_c212dd8f-d811-5093-b7bb-1de30a60f783.html.
 
304     was founded in 2020 . . . and attracting anti-vaccine voters  Kazutaka Kamizawa, “Populist Sanseito Party Rising Through Rhetoric Seen on YouTube,” Asahi Shimbun, December 11, 2022, www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14781333.
 
304     co-founder and first party leader  Kayima and Matsuda were among the party’s five founding members. Kayima succeeded Matsuda as party leader in 2023. Yuki Honda et al., “Five-Year-Old Suffrage Party Is a ‘Shadow Government’ That Secretly Controls Society, Its Leader Claims,” Asahi Shimbun, July 16, 2025, www.asahi.com/articles/AST7H1CH9T7HUTIL008M.html, via Google Translate; and “Sanseito Retains Populist Message After Silencing Vaccine Stance,” Asahi Shimbun, July 16, 2025, www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15909452.
 
304     “murder weapon”  Manabu Matsuda, October 12, 2022, quoted in Kamizawa, “Populist Sanseito Party Rising Through Rhetoric Seen on YouTube,” www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14781333.
 
304–305 losing an election for the House of Representatives in 2012  Honda et al., “Five-Year-Old Suffrage Party Is a ‘Shadow Government’ That Secretly Controls Society, Its Leader Claims,” www.asahi.com/articles/AST7H1CH9T7HUTIL008M.html.
 
304–305 launched a YouTube channel and founded “Ishiki Kaikaku University” . . .  Honda et al., “Five-Year-Old Suffrage Party Is a ‘Shadow Government’ That Secretly Controls Society, Its Leader Claims,” www.asahi.com/articles/AST7H1CH9T7HUTIL008M.html.
 
305      “the ‘hidden power’ that controls this world” . . . “Was Hitler really a great evil?”  Ishiki Kaikaku University course contents quoted in Honda et al., “Five-Year-Old Suffrage Party Is a ‘Shadow Government’ That Secretly Controls Society, Its Leader Claims,” www.asahi.com/articles/AST7H1CH9T7HUTIL008M.html.
 
305      created Creemos, (We Believe) in 2020  “‘We Believe Bolivia,’ the Camacho-Pumari Alliance That Aims to Unite East and West,” Eju, eju.tv/2020/01/creemos-bolivia-la-alianza-de-camacho-y-pumari-que-plantea-unir-oriente-occidente, Google Translate.
 
305      “Bolsonaro of Bolivia”  Quoted in Jacquelyn Kovarik, “Bolivia’s Anti-Indigenous Backlash Is Growing,” The Nation, November 13, 2019, www.thenation.com/article/archive/bolivia-morales-whipala.
 
305      lost, but . . . won . . . in his department of Santa Cruz Claudia Zilla and Madeleyne Aguilar Andrade, “Bolivia after the 2020 General Elections,” Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, November 23, 2020, www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2020C55; and “Luis Fernando Camacho Wins the Governorship of Santa Cruz with 55.64% of the Votes,” March 15, 2021, Red Uno de Bolivia, www.reduno.com.bo/noticias/luis-fernando-camacho-gana-la-gobernacion-de-santa-cruz-con-el-55-64-de-los-votos-20213158221, via Google Translate.
 
305      founded the . . . National Alliance   “The National Unity Led by the Philosopher Radžvilas Was Registered,” Delphi, April 2, 2020, www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/iregistruotas-filosofo-radzvilo-vadovaujamas-nacionalinis-susivienijimas-83947253, via Google Translate.
 
305      “emphasize the importance of nationalism . . .”  “The   National Unity Led by the Philosopher Radžvilas Was Registered,” www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/iregistruotas-filosofo-radzvilo-vadovaujamas-nacionalinis-susivienijimas-83947253.
 
305      founded for similar reasons  “Miroslav Škoro Introduced His Closest Associates and Said: “I Wouldn’t Be Standing Here Today if I Wasn’t Ready to Be Prime Minister,” Dnevnik.hr, February 29, 2020, dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/miroslav-skoro-osniva-stranku-glavni-oslonac-su-mu-ljudi-iz-glavaseva-hdssb-a---595748.html, via Google Translate.
 
305      finished third in Croatia’s general assembly elections International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Election Guide, “Croatian Assembly 2020 General,” July 5, 2020,last updated June 21, 2024, accessed March 18, 2025, www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3510.
 
305      established . . . Liberty Advances, in 2021  “Outside Rightwing Economist Jumps into Argentine Politics to Fight Immoral Rulers,” MercoPress, August 9, 2021, en.mercopress.com/2021/08/09/outside-rightwing-economist-jumps-into-argentine-politics-to-fight-immoral-rulers. 
 
305      “because [they] placed liberty at centre-stage”  Javier Milei quoted in Jorge Fontevecchia, “Javier Milei: ‘The More People Are Against the Ropes, the More They Will Embrace Freedom,’” Buenos Aires Times, September 25, 2021, www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/javier-milei-the-more-people-are-against-the-ropes-the-more-they-will-embrace-freedom.phtml.
 
305      “¡Viva la libertad, carajo!”  Javier Milei quoted in Facundo Iglesia, “Javier Milei: The Tringe Economist Pundit Turned Presidential Frontrunner,” Buenos Aires Herald, August 13, 2023, buenosairesherald.com/politics/javier-milei-the-fringe-economist-pundit-turned-presidential-frontrunner.
 
305      Long live freedom, damn it!  Javier Milei quoted in Michael Chapman, “Javier Milei at Cato Conference: ‘I’m a Liberal Libertarian . . . I Don’t Believe Politicians Are Gods,’” Cato at Liberty, Cato Institute, September 27, 2024, https://www.cato.org/blog/javier-milei-cato-conference-im-liberal-libertarian-i-dont-believe-politicians-are-gods; and quoted in Juan Elman, “Young People’s Anger Fuels Far-Right Populist as Argentina’s Election Nears,” openDemocracy, August 9, 2023, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/javier-milei-argentina-election-far-right-libertarian-candidate-youth-support.
 
305      “political caste”  Javier Milei quoted in Vera Bergengruen, “Javier Milei’s Radical Plan to Transform Argentina,” Time, May 23, 2024, time.com/6980600/javier-milei-argentina-interview.
 
305      “Quarantine is used as a mechanism of repression”  La Nación, “Javier Milei: "Quarantine Is Used as a Mechanism of Repression," YouTube, July 11, 2020, youtu.be/RMFsLcsRtr4?si=elCI1fSbiDt-Z2tY, 14:15–14:18, via Google Translate.