Whatcom’s truck crossing closed for 2nd straight weekend by Canadian protesters at border
The truck crossing from Whatcom County was closed for a second consecutive weekend due to a protest on the Canadian side of the U.S.-Canada border on Saturday.
The Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted about the closure of the State Route 543 border crossing in Blaine at 12:27 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, Like the closure the week before, other crossings from Whatcom County remained open.
“Please expect delays at Peace Arch due to additional traffic for the holiday weekend,” WSDOT advised in the tweet.
It wasn’t until 10:17 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, that WSDOT tweeted that the truck crossing had reopened.
A series of releases by the Surrey (B.C.) Royal Canadian Mounted Police through the weekend stated that the RCMP was “aware and continuously monitoring the protest activity that has been allegedly planned for today in the area of the Pacific Highway Border Crossing. While police respect the right to protest, enforcement will be taken in the event protest activity becomes unlawful.”
In a release at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Surrey RCMP reported that it had to close 176 Street to all traffic from Eighth Avenue. As a preventative measure, the Pacific Highway border crossing also was closed, the release stated.
A release made at 5:07 p.m. stated that Surrey RCMP were investigating several incidents that had occurred earlier in the day after a group of protesters became aggressive and surround a group of media reporting on the event.
“These kinds of acts of aggression and intimidation towards media, or any member of the public, are simply unacceptable,” RCMP Sgt. Elenore Sturko said in the release.
By 8:45 p.m., the RCMP reported that protesters had mostly cleared the area, though a small gathering remained, and the border crossing had reopened.
Police had previously reported they anticipated a second round of protests at the Pacific Highway crossing this weekend by members of the “Freedom Convoy” as a demonstration against Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a Vancouver Sun story Tuesday, Feb. 15.
A total of 16 protesters were arrested by RCMP Feb. 13-14 near the truck crossing and officials were forced to close the crossing and divert vehicle and pedestrian traffic to other border crossings in Whatcom County, which remained open.
The RCMP did not report any arrests after the most recent protest.
