Video shows Canadian great-grandad, 78, arrested for honking horn in support of ‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers
A diminutive 78-year-old man was wrestled to the ground and cuffed after honking his car horn in support of the “Freedom Convoy” truckers protesting Canada‘s COVID-19 mandates, video shows.
Now-viral footage shows 4-foot-10-inch-tall great-grandfather Gerry Charlebois being confronted by an Ottawa cop who eventually forced him to his knees as he cuffed him Sunday.
“What did he do wrong?” a bystander asks the officer, who initially snaps, “None of your f—ing concern, man.”
“It’s an offense — it’s an offense to beep your horn. It is,” the officer later tells a group heckling him for “abusing old men.”
Charlebois, who was wearing pajama pants at the time, was eventually marched away in cuffs by two officers who towered over him.
The retired high school janitor later told the Toronto Sun he was “so sore” after suffering cuts and bruises on his arms and hands, shoulder and knee during his arrest.
“I meant no harm,” Charlebois, a great-grandfather of four and grandfather of 11, told the Canadian paper.
“I just gave the trucker a thumbs-up and a honk.”
Charlebois — who is double-vaccinated and not one of the protesters — said he was ultimately given a $118 bylaw ticket for “unnecessary noise,” claiming the cops told him he “was in trouble for honking the horn.”
“I was in shock,” he told the Toronto Sun, saying he was “confused” and only cursed at the arresting officer because he was so “pissed off” over why he was being arrested.
Police have cracked down on horn-blowing amid complaints from locals about the tactics used by the “Freedom Convoy” truckers who have blocked main areas in protest of strict vaccine mandates.
A judge on Monday — a day after Charlebois’ caught-on-camera arrest — granted a 10-day injunction against horns in Ontario.
Meanwhile, one of Charlebois’ four children, Gerald, called his father’s arrest “disgusting.”
“There was no need to be so rough with him … They didn’t seem to arrest any of those big truckers like that,” Gerald told the Toronto Sun.
Another son, Steve, said, “He’s just 4 foot 10 … He wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
Neither Ottawa police nor Mayor Jim Watson have commented so far on the outrage, according to the local paper.
