A St. Thomas, Ont., man, accused of pelting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with gravel during a campaign stop in London last year, was among those taken into custody by police in Ottawa Thursday near the scene of the so-called “freedom convoy” protests.
Video posted to Twitter by a journalist with Montreal-based Noovo Info appears to show a handcuffed Shane Marshall, 25, being led to an SUV by a number of police officers near Parliament Hill, where protesters have been camped out for weeks.
“Shane what did they say to you?” someone can be heard asking.
“They said I’m under arrest.”
Several members in a pro-convoy Telegram channel identified the man in the video as being Marshall.
It’s not clear if Marshall was charged, will be charged, or whether he remains in custody. An inquiry to Ottawa police’s media relations department was not immediately returned.
A staff member with the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa told Global News that there was nothing on file for a Shane Marshall as of late Friday morning, and no Shane Marshalls were listed on the day’s court docket.
Marshall is set to appear in court in London in March for a charge of assault with a weapon that was laid last year after Justin Trudeau was hit by gravel as he boarded his election campaign bus following a stop at an east London brewery on Sept. 6.
The 25-year-old was later booted by the People’s Party of Canada as president of their Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association after news of the charge was made public.
London lawyer Phil Millar, who is representing Marshall in the gravel-throwing incident, said he was not aware that Marshall had traveled to Ottawa and had been arrested when reached by Global News late Friday morning.
Marshall was just one of many people taken into custody Thursday by police in Ottawa in relation to the ongoing protests, which have occupied the city’s downtown core for weeks. Also arrested were key organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.
Barber, 46, has been charged with counselling to commit mischief, counselling to disobey a court order and counselling to obstruct police, while Lich, 49, has been charged with counselling to commit mischief.
Both were scheduled to appear in court Friday.
In an update Friday afternoon, Ottawa police said they had arrested at least 70 people in connection with the ongoing protests.
Police began enforcing against the protest on Thursday night, setting up about 100 checkpoints and arresting key organizers.
Many more officers descended upon the downtown core Friday morning, some clad in riot gear and holding what appeared to be tear-gas canisters.
Interim chief Steve Bell says police were still urging demonstrators to leave peacefully, but those arrested had been charged with various offences including mischief.
Another of the main convoy protest organizers, Pat King, was taken into custody on Friday. King posted a video of himself being arrested on Facebook Live.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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