Chief Dale McPhee said Wednesday, Edmonton Police Services are watching for “professional protesters” attending Edmonton freedom rallies..Ahead of Saturday’s planned Freedom Convoy converging in Edmonton, McPhee warned there are “people…on both extreme sides of this. They’re looking for conflict and confrontation.”.“We track intelligence that some of these people are, let’s say they’re professional protesters, and they don’t come for the same reasons as maybe the majority do..“And that’s why when we step in, even though sometimes people might not feel it’s for the reason we try to avoid those confrontations (between protesters and counter protesters) at all costs..“When you see weapons and you’ve seen this and similar situations in other parts of the country that were in Coutts, that’s always in front of our mind.”.RCMP laid charges against 13 Alberta men and women after a cache of weapons was found near the Coutts border protest..Organizers of the blockade at Coutts told the Western Standard they are not associated with this group in any way and “condemn their actions 100%.”.McPhee urged leaders to help keep the peace..“Imagine instead of using the platform to throw buckets of water on the fires politicians, protest organizers and public alike were throwing buckets of gasoline on them fanning the flames..“I’m asking imploring political leaders, community members, everyone across the spectrum to help us put this fire out. We need to turn down the temperature.”.“The COVID 19 pandemic has taken its toll on all of us. We are seeing a lot of anger and frustration in our community today..“The divided community can be a dangerous community.”.McPhee said the city’s injunction against horns being honked downtown in support of the Freedom Convoy truckers was not a useful tool..“It did not provide the effective outcome that so many people were hoping for..“As it stands, the injunction does not grant us any more power than we currently have through existing bylaws..“And the power it does grant us is simply to arrest and remove..“It does not contain any provisions to deal with the contempt for any charges resulting from a violation and we have no residual authority to detain those who violate it.”.He also spoke about two Edmonton Police Service members who were recently placed on administrative leaves..Staff Sgt. Rick Abbott and Const. Elena Golysheva participated in a Milk River/Coutts freedom rally on Feb. 12..Golysheva had previously made an emotional video in support of the Freedom Convoy while in her uniform..“Those two members…are currently on administrative leave. And I expect that review here in the next couple of days.”.“That first preliminary review is that’s not something we support or condone, like that’s just not something that’s allowed in how we actually do our police work and we have a discipline process for that.”.McPhee provided some rough estimates of participants over the course of the last three rallies..“For three weekends in a row with 5,300 vehicles one weekend, 2700 another, another 9,500 people protesting, 1,500 and 1,000, roughly (respectively).”.Convoys from Sherwood Park, Nisku, and Acheson are anticipated to converge in Edmonton at the Legislature grounds at 1 pm on Saturday.
