Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson announced a state of emergency on Sunday to deal with an unprecedented 10-day protest by truckers that has shut down much of the Canadian capital.

“(This) reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” he said in a statement.

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Watson, who had earlier complained that the demonstrators outnumbered the police and were in control of the situation, did not specify what measures he might take.

The “Freedom Convoy” started as a protest against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but it has since evolved into a rallying point against public health policies and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s government.

Also read: Justin Trudeau rules out military action against anti-vaccine mandate protesters

Ottawa police relocated some protestors and erected new barricades on Sunday, citing the need to collecting financial, digital, vehicle registration…and other evidence that will be used in criminal prosecutions” amid locals’ outrage at the lack of official reaction.

They also stated that anyone attempting to bring in canisters to refuel the hundreds of huge trucks that are blocking major roads in the city centre will be prosecuted.

Also read: Anti-mandate protest in Canada: Government likely to call in armed forces to break the impasse

On the weekend, tens of thousands of demonstrators arrived on Ottawa, joining a hundred who had remained since the previous weekend. Residents of Ottawa are enraged by the constant blaring of horns, traffic disruption, and harassment, and fear there will be no end in sight after the police chief described the situation as a “siege” he couldn’t handle.

Many Republicans in the United States have backed the “freedom truck convoy,” including former President Donald Trump, who dubbed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “far left lunatic” who “destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates.”

Also read: Canada’s biggest anti-vax protest sparks outrage among vaccinated Canadians

Police in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, controlled and eventually halted a much smaller protest by erecting roadblocks and barring trucks and cars from approaching the provincial legislature. Police also rushed in to clear a major downtown crossing.

Many Canadians have been outraged by the demonstrators’ obscene behaviour. Late Friday, some demonstrators fired off fireworks on the grounds of the National War Memorial. Last weekend, a number of people carried banners and flags with swastikas comparing vaccine mandates to Nazism.

Protesters have stated that they will remain until all requirements and COVID-19 restrictions have been removed. They are also demanding for Trudeau’s government to be removed, despite the fact that it is responsible for only a minority of the measures, the most of which were enacted by provincial governments.