Crowd in Ontario cheers on anti-vaccine mandate truck convoy

TORONTO (AP) — Crowds cheered, waved flags and hoisted signs in Ontario as parts of a convoy of truckers headed for Ottawa to protest the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border drivers.

A large crowd gathered outside a mall north of Toronto to cheer a group of local truckers preparing to join.

The convoy of truckers set to descend on Canada’s capital has prompted police to prepare for the possibility of violence and politicians to warn against escalating rhetoric linked to the demonstration.

The truckers are protesting a new requirement that truckers entering Canada be fully immunized as of Jan. 15.

The U.S. imposed the same requirement on truckers entering that country beginning Jan. 22.

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