CNN Analyst Backtracks After Calling for Canadian Convoy to Have Tires Slashed

Protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 mandates gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway at the U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Canada, on Feb. 2, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

A former Obama administration official who works for CNN hastily backtracked on a Twitter post calling for people to slash the tires of Canadian truckers protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“Earlier today, I tweeted something that has been used by others to suggest I was promoting vigilantism. I was not. People have the freedom to protest. Governments have the responsibility to protect public safety. That was what I intended to say,” Juliette Kayyem wrote on Twitter Thursday evening.

Earlier on Thursday, Kayyem criticized the truckers and called for them to be stopped. It comes as a group of truckers blocked the U.S.–Canada Ambassador Bridge for about five days.

“The convoy protest, applauded by right wing media as a ‘freedom protest,’ is an economic and security issue now. The Ambassador Bridge link constitutes 28 percent of annual trade movement between US and Canada. Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks,” she wrote.

But her Twitter post was quickly derided by other users, including some who claim to be truckers. Some noted that if the trucks’ gas tanks were drained, it would be difficult to move them. Others remarked that commercial trucks generally have their tires inflated to around 100 PSI, meaning that if someone tried to slash one of the truckers’ tires, it could lead to significant bodily harm.

Kayyem, who currently works as a national security analyst for CNN, is also a lecturer at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously, she worked in the Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security.

Starting about two weeks ago, thousands of truckers and protesters gathered in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, and have remained stationed downtown and near Parliament in a bid to protest against the country’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports, which are among the strictest in the world.

Starting about a week ago, the protesters started moving to key U.S.–Canada crossing points, including the Ambassador Bridge.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has yet to meet with the demonstrators, has faced significant criticism for how he’s dealt with the crisis, alleging without evidence that the protesters are racist and misogynistic.

“People of Ottawa don’t deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods, don’t deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner or a confederate flag or the insults and jeers just because they’re wearing a mask. That’s not who Canadians are,” Trudeau said Monday during a Parliament speech.

Despite Trudeau’s comments, the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan announced recently that they would do away with COVID-19 mandates, including vaccine passports.

The Epoch Times has contacted CNN for comment.