A second person arrested in Ottawa for trying to burn down an apartment building had nothing to do with the truckers’ Freedom Convoy, police say.
Blacklock’s Reporter noted several elected officials falsely blamed truck drivers for the incident.
There was no evidence two suspects charged with arson were “involved in any way with the convoy which was going on when this arson took place,” Ottawa police said in a statement.
Two men arrested in the case were both Ottawa residents.
The pair was charged with arson in a February 6 incident on Lisgar Street, five blocks from the convoy blockade outside Parliament. Surveillance cameras showed the men taped shut the lobby doors and then attempted to light a small fire that charred the carpet.
“It happened after residents of the building argued with protesters,” Global News reported February 7.
“We learned of this horrific story that clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of these protesters occupying our city,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said that day.
“Thankfully no one was hurt but this story could have ended very, very differently. It’s extremely disturbing and points to a desire to harm our residents.”
Police at no time claimed there was any evidence Freedom Convoy protesters attempted to burn down the building.
But Global News rumours were spread by MPs and senators as proof the Emergencies Act was required to end the blockade.
“There was an attempted arson and the doors were handcuffed shut so that if a fire started, people would be burned alive inside the building,” Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell (Pickering-Uxbridge, ON) told the Commons February 19.
“Violence is commonplace,” New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said February 7.
“We saw an example of this violence with an attempted arson of a downtown apartment building, where people started a fire and taped the doors closed when they exited.”
“I ask members to take a moment to think what that means. They had the forethought to set a fire and then tape the doors so no one could escape. This is not isolated. There are ongoing examples.”
“People were entrenched in our capital, swearing at people wearing masks, making racist and homophobic remarks, attempting to commit arson in buildings where people were asleep,” Sen. Bev Busson (BC), a former RCMP commissioner, told the Senate February 23.
“These occupiers are by definition anarchists. They are professionally led, well-funded and skillfully planning the downfall of democracy.”
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