Plans by followers of leading Canadian QAnon figure Romana Didulo to arrest Peterborough police officers led to the arrest of several of their own on the weekend.
Didulo, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Canada,” arrived in the city in a crowd-funded RV on Saturday along with a group of 30 individuals. Didulo for months has called for the arrests and killings of anyone involved with Canada’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Her followers — with 70,000 on Telegram, many staunch anti-vaccine supporters — often deliver “cease and desist” letters to organizations demanding they end their “crimes against humanity.”
In a message, she asked her followers to meet in Peterborough to detain Peterborough Police Service officers in their Water Street station and wait for the military to arrive to arrest them.
Lawyer Caryma Sa’d, a citizen journalist, posted updates via her Twitter feed @CarymaRules throughout the day highlighting what unfolded. (Warning: Some of the videos contain vulgar language). Global News Peterborough has reached out to Sa’d for an interview.
The followers, led by area resident Frank Curtin, first gathered at nearby Confederation Park before marching over to the police station on Water Street around 1 p.m., where they attempted to enter the lobby but were met with locked doors and no responses from police when using the intercom system.
They remained outside the station for several hours, circling the building and looking for an entrance.
Didulo, meanwhile, remained near her RV, at one point providing her “followers” with sardines and vegetables served on paper plates along with previously opened bottles of water, according to Sa’d. The RV was guarded by individuals wearing white attire.
Around 4 p.m., when several officers arrived in a vehicle for a shift, Curtin and others met them in the lot and said they were under arrest. However, it led to officers detaining Curtin and another man while the crowd yelled in response. A woman is seen attempting to stop the officers.
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Several videos on social media show the two men resisting arrest. Eventually, Curtin is physically dragged along the ground into the police station by several officers.
Police in a statement on Saturday evening said the officers were “blocked” by protestors as they tried to enter a secured entrance.
“The officers attempted to take a protester into custody when officers were surrounded,” police stated. ” A protestor then struck two officers. ”
Police said a 54-year-old Millbrook, Ont., man was arrested and charged with mischief and resisting arrest. While police did not name the name, videos show the man was Curtin.
Another 55-year-old Innisfil, Ont., man was charged with two counts of assaulting police.
Both were held in custody and made court appearances in court in Oshawa on Sunday.
In a live video feed to her followers, Didulo said an “aircraft” arrived above the police station which she said was “Allied Special Forces.” She asked her followers to “remain calm.”
“I am here to observe this entire process,” she said. “I said no violence, no agitating anyone.”
Didulo and the RV left the area around 7 p.m.
Third arrest, SIU investigating
Late Monday afternoon, acting police chief Tim Farquharson released a video statement noting the investigation is ongoing and that police will make further arrests and lay charges “if warranted.”
He said a third individual was arrested on Sunday. A 31-year old Peterborough man was arrested for kicking the rear door of the police station and “striking” an officer while doing so.
“The suspect then repeatedly kicked at the door and further encouraged others to participate,” said Farquharson. “The suspect then went to another area of the police parking lot and began banging on the windows of several police cars with officers in them, preventing them from leaving the station.
The suspect was charged with assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, mischief – obstruct, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property, obstructing a peace officer and two counts of counselling an indictable offence which is not committed.
Farquharson also noted Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, is investigating the arrest of the 55-year-old man. The SIU says following an “interaction” with police, the man was taken to hospital with a serious injury and admitted.
The SIU is an independent agency that investigates the conduct of officers in incidents that have resulted in death, serious injury, or alleged sexual assault. Two investigators have been assigned to the case.
“The Peterborough Police Service is cooperating fully with their investigation,” said Farquharson.
Counter-protestor assaulted
Police say they are also investigating reports a counter-protester was assaulted.
Videos by Sa’d show a young man wearing an orange mask and carrying a sign that read “Vaccines Save Lives.” Throughout the day he continually yelled the sign’s message along with “Hail Satan” at Didulo’s followers.
At Confederation Park, one individual grabbed the counter-protester’s sign and destroyed it, as captured by Sa’d’s camera crew:
Later outside the police station, an elderly woman confronts the young man, kicks him in the groin and rips the mask off his face — another event captured on video by Sa’d.
Police on Monday afternoon said they are looking for two suspects. One is a woman with white hair, approximately 65 years old and standing 5-foot-3. She was wearing a light blue plaid blouse and sunglasses. The other suspect is a man age 50 to 60 years old with a white moustache and goatee. Standing at 5-foot-7, he was wearing a black leather vest with chains hanging from the pocket, blue jeans, and a black head scarf.
Police are asking anyone with video on any of Saturday’s events to either send a link to aru@peterborough.ca or to leave their information on the service’s Crime Line at 705-876-1122 ext. 555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
More to come.
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