BUFFALO, N.Y. — Protests on both sides of the border were happening Saturday in Buffalo and in Fort Erie, Ontario.
A convoy of cars traveled from Tonawanda down to the Peace Bridge, with people showing support for the truck blockade that's been preventing passage over the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit.
There was not an attempt to block the Peace Bridge on the American side, although Canadian news outlets including CHCH News in Hamilton, Ontario reported and shared video of a human chain being separated by police at one point.
Buffalo Police told 2 On Your Side there were no issues reported, and they estimated about 100 vehicles and 300 people took part in the demonstration along Busti Avenue and in the vicinity of the Peace Bridge.
"We want to end the mandates," said Kate, a Tonawanda resident who preferred not to give her last name. "We think people need personal choice. We want this country to open up. We want our children free. We want our country free. We want to get back to the way things were," she added.
Dual-citizen Frank Kolbmann who participated in a similar demonstration at the end of January said he believes, the government is to blame for the fiscal problems caused by the blockade in Detroit. Ford, Toyota, and GM have all said the Ambassador Bridge protest is preventing vital auto supplies from reaching their manufacturing facilities.
"It is not the truckers," Kolbmann said. "Our government created those problems with the mandates." He added that the purpose of their protest was peaceful and to call for COVID restrictions to be lifted.
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