Security fencing could once again ring the US Capitol as law enforcement authorities prepare for potential attempts to disrupt President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address with the same tactics used by truck drivers who paralysed Canada’s capital and shut down traffic over a vital US-Canada trade route earlier this month.
On Saturday, Canadian riot police deployed pepper spray, batons and stun grenades in Ottawa as they cleared the last remnants of a blockade of trucks that had disrupted life in Canada’s capital city for weeks — first to express opposition to regulations requiring truck drivers who deliver goods across the US-Canada border to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and later as a less focused protest directed at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party government and Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in general.
