Organizers of the Freedom Convoy in the Canadian capital say they have notified police after being told that “nefarious elements” are planning to plant weapons at the Ottawa COVID-19 mandate demonstrations as a “pretext to forcibly remove peaceful protestors.”
The information, Bulford said, correlates with the more than 2,000 firearms that were stolen in Peterborough, Ont., on the morning of Feb. 13.
Peterborough Police Service officers had said they are investigating the incident regarding the stolen firearms, which were taken from a trucking yard in the city in the early hours of the morning.
The truck and trailer were carrying more than 2,000 firearms with magazines. Officials said no ammunition was taken.
“Today on Feb. 14, we received information from multiple believed, reliable sources that firearms may be planted in Ottawa specifically around the Freedom Convey to discredit the protest and to use as a pretext to forcibly remove peaceful protestors,” said Bulford, who says he was a sniper supervisor with the RCMP regularly tasked with protecting the prime minister. He left the force since he didn’t want to have COVID-19 vaccination.
“Due to the nature of this information, we felt it prudent to notify the public in the interest of their safety. This private intelligence correlates with the approximately 2,000 firearms stolen in Peterborough Ontario on Sunday morning, Feb. 13.
“Our sources have notified us that these weapons may be planted by nefarious elements and at this point, we have no further knowledge about who is behind this act of sabotage.
“As soon as we received this information, we notified the appropriate authorities with whom we are collaborating, including the Ottawa Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Parliamentary Protective Service.”
The Ottawa Police Service told The Epoch Times: “The Ottawa Police Service (OPS), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been fully engaged via the Integrated Command Centre (ICC) to ensure an efficient response to the ongoing demonstrations.
“The RCMP would not, either itself as a policing agency nor as a partner of the ICC, disclose information related to any operational matters, including operational discussions or the sharing of information among our policing partners.
“The RCMP remains fully committed to providing assistance to this Ottawa Police Service-led operation, and we continue to work collaboratively with all ICC partners.”
Bulford urged demonstrators to inform the police immediately if they witness any suspicious activities.
He also asked the police not to “act discriminately” toward demonstrators.
“We expressly affirm the principle that change can only occur within the democratic process. We have never, nor do we ever, intend to step outside of this democratic process. Public and police safety remains our paramount concern,” he said.
Officials said they believed it to be an isolated crime of opportunity rather than a targeted incident.
“It’s believed the suspects entered several other commercial yards in the city before this one, and that they had attempted to take different trucks and trailers before leaving with the trailer being sought in this incident,” officials said.
The truck is a white 2019 Freightliner New Cascadia 126 with the company name in red on the doors and a red #97 in red on the side of the hood.
The trailer was a white 2014 Hyundai 53 foot Dry Freight Van trailer with a silver metallic line that runs horizontally the whole length of the trailer, police said.
Officers are currently working to locate the trailer and its contents and upload the stolen firearms onto the national database.
“The group was said to have a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade,” officials said.
Officers searched three trailers believed to be linked with the small group and detained 11 people. They also seized 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition, and high-capacity magazines.
The protest at Coutts border crossing started on Jan. 29. It is one of several demonstrations that has begun since the Freedom Convoy encamped in Ottawa to demonstrate against the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers.
