Convoy To Defy 7pm Deadline To Clear Blockades

Freedom Convoy votes to stay on the Ambassador Bridge and DEFY Trudeau as his 7pm deadline to clear it of protesters passes: PM threatened 'everything is on the table' - including military force

KEITH GRIFFITH and HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

• Biden and Trudeau spoke directly on Friday regarding the Freedom Convoy blockades at the border 
• 'President Biden and I both agreed that...these blockades cannot continue,' said Trudeau 
• White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Trudeau had promised 'quick action'
• Police are now reportedly massing in huge numbers in Windsor, Ontario by Ambassador Bridge
• Trudeau said that the use of military force was a last resort but that 'everything is on the table' 
• On Friday protesters claimed to be opening a lane of the bridge but police said this was false
• Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Friday declared a state of emergency, threatening fines and jail 
• US group 'Convoy to Save America' is launching convoys from Nashville and New York City this weekend 

Protesters blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Friday night decided to defy a deadline of 7pm to clear the route, setting themselves up for a showdown with police after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that 'everything is on the table' to end the Freedom Convoy demonstrations after speaking directly with President Joe Biden.

A Canadian court on Friday issued the injunction to end the blockade at the key bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, setting up a potential showdown between police and protesters when the 7pm deadline arrives. 

Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted the injunction on Friday evening, which will last for 10 days and means that blocking the bridge is unlawful. 

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, earlier on Friday said his cabinet will enact orders to make it illegal to block borders and highways and will impose CA $100,000 ($78,000) fines and prison terms for those who defy them. 

Trudeau claimed that the protest is being fueled by political activists in the United States, and said that more than 50 percent of donations to campaigns to support the protesters came from the U.S., which he referred to as 'foreign financing' of the protests.

On Friday night, several convoys were gathering in U.S. cities, ahead of a planned journey to the Canadian border in support of their fellow truckers. Fears are high that some may try to disrupt Sunday's Super Bowl, or Biden's March 1 State of the Union address.  

An organization dubbed 'Convoy to Save America' said on its website that two separate vehicle convoys will converge this weekend at the Peace Bridge, a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Buffalo, New York. 

One of the convoys will leave New York City on Friday and the second from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, on Saturday.

Pennie Fay, one of the group's founders, told Reuters that the convoys will consist of sports utility vehicles and minivans filled with supplies such as water, food, gas cards and blankets for Canadian truck drivers who arrive on the U.S. side.

'This weekend is about the Canadians, about supporting them,' said Fay, who is leaving from Nashville, 'while at the same time bringing attention to the fact that we want the mandates gone. Remove them from state to state. We want a free country.' 

Another of the efforts, dubbed 'The People's Convoy,' which has 64,000 followers on Facebook, is planning a rally in Coachella Valley in Indio, California, on March 4. 

Truck drivers will then convoy from California and other parts of the country to Washington, D.C., to show their disapproval over mandates. 

Windsor police said in a statement that anyone blocking the streets at or near the Ambassador Bridge faced arrest, vehicle seizure and forfeiture, and 'denial in crossing the USA border.'