Café owner arrested during protest
Tickets handed out to demonstrators at illegal public gathering, police report
RCMP ticketed protesters and arrested an organizer at the end of an anti-lockdown rally outside a central Alberta café Saturday, after the establishment was closed by health officials earlier in the week.
Despite pouring rain and a pre-emptive court injunction, hundreds gathered outside the Whistle Stop Cafe in the hamlet of Mirror, 66 km northeast of Red Deer, for the Save Alberta Campout Protest.
Demonstrators were there to support café owner Chris Scott and challenge public health orders meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. In a video posted to The Whistle Cafe Facebook page Saturday afternoon, Scott could be seen handcuffed and taken away in a police cruiser. Supporters said he is being held in custody at the Red Deer Remand Centre.
In a statement late Saturday evening, RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff confirmed one person was arrested and tickets were handed out to attendees for the illegal public gathering, but the name of the individual wasn't made public. Police are continuing to gather additional information about the gathering and more details, including the number of tickets issued, are expected later this week.
Savinkoff said officers took the first three hours of the protest to educate demonstrators on COVID-19 regulations and notify them that they were contravening the injunction.
“There was a decision at one point to start mounting enforcement,” said Savinkoff. “That was around 4 p.m.”
On Wednesday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said it closed the café after the agency received more than 400 complaints about the business since January. Health authorities said the café is to remain closed until Scott can demonstrate the ability to comply with health restrictions.
Alberta Health Services said after hearing about plans for the protest that the provincial government would take legal action to allow RCMP to use reasonable force in arresting and removing any person at the rally who contravenes public health orders.
But that didn't stop people without masks from standing together to cheer and clap when Scott stood on a stage and encouraged them to fight for their freedom.
“I've been accused of a lot of things over this. They think it's about money. They think it's about popularity. I could care less about that,” Scott told the crowd.
“I'm not fine with anyone telling me what to do with my body or how to earn an income.”
Scott then asked the crowd to follow COVID-19 regulations at the rally due to the injunction.
Three hours later, RCMP officers with body cameras began handing out tickets under the Public Health Act to those leaving the area for participating in the illegal gathering.
Last weekend, hundreds of people gathered near Bowden, also in central Alberta for an advertised maskless No More Lockdowns protest rodeo.
Days later, the premier announced stronger restrictions and doubled fines for scofflaws.
I'm not fine with anyone telling me what to do with my body or how to earn an income.