
Freedom Convoy President Urges ‘Hold The Line’ as Police Take Her Away in Handcuffs
Ottawa, ON — The crackdown on Freedom Convoy leaders is continuing as another top organizer has been arrested.
An Ottawa Police Services (OPS) officer arrested Freedom Convoy President Tamara Lich on Thursday night.
In a now viral video, the officer is seen approaching Lich and asking, “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she calmly responds.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” the officer says. “So, you’re going to be placed under arrest.”
Lich peacefully puts her hands behind her back and the officer arrests her without incident.
As she is being escorted to a police cruiser nearby, Lich urges, “Hold the line!”
Tamara Lich has been arrested, but we will continue to #holdtheline pic.twitter.com/GaPZdsrhVe
— FreedomConvoy2022 (@rFreedomConvoy) February 18, 2022
Two other top organizers were with her at the time of her arrest, but were not detained.
In a Facebook LIVE the night before, a tearful Lich signaled her arrest was likely imminent.
“There’s a pretty good chance, well, I think it’s inevitable at this point. I’ll probably be going somewhere tomorrow where I’ll be getting three square meals a day,” she predicted. “Please keep that love in your heart. Don’t give in.”
Lich has told Transportation Nation Network (TNN) on multiple occasions — even before the convoy left for Ottawa — that she understood she could unjustly face legal consequences at some point.
“This is the hill I am willing to die on,” she recently said to TNN. “I am not afraid. I’m so damn proud of all Canadians who are standing up for freedom. We will hold the line.”
A few hours before her arrest, trucker and fellow founding organizer Chris Barber was also taken into police custody.
Click HERE to watch his arrest.
Also on Thursday, OPS Interim Chief Steve Bell vowed to bring a swift end to the protest.
“Overnight and into today, we’ve begun to harden the perimeter around the protests,” he said at a presser.
Police have created what is being called a “secured area” only allowing certain people to access it.
OPS has established 100 checkpoints throughout the city to enforce the “secured area.”
TransportationNation.com will continue to follow new developments.