peterborough protest

Ontario conspiracy theorists try to arrest cops only to be arrested themselves

In an ironic sequence of events, followers of the self-styled QAnon Queen of Canada, Romana Didulo, were arrested in Peterborough over the weekend after an attempt to place officers of the local police force under citizens' arrest.

The misinformed monarch and her entourage of crabby Cathy cul de sacs were in Peterborough over the weekend to participate in a citizens' arrest of officers, fuelled by outrage over whatever their latest QAnon conspiracy is this week.

The ill-fated mass arrest was reportedly organized by a man named Frank Curtin, who explained in social media posts that he has a grievance with the Peterborough Police Department over the handling of a complaint regarding his employer and accuses the local police chief of "crimes against humanity."

It appears that all of this stems from a conspiracy theory about the manufacturing of hand sanitizer and a steadfast (if not bonkers) belief that the still-ongoing pandemic is a hoax. The latter opinion is propped up by conspiracy theorists such as Didulo.

Attendees marched from Confederation Square in Peterborough, gathering in the parking lot of the local police station, where they planned to arrest police officers.

In one clip, organizer Frank Curtin is recorded approaching a black SUV to arrest the occupants, only to turn away when he realizes they are women. 

This seems to suggest that Curtin operates under the obviously false logic that women cannot be police officers.

At one point, Curtin bafflingly tries to explain to a police officer that "the military will detain you" for not cooperating with the attempted arrests.

The protest hit its first big roadblock when police refused to let the group enter the station, because of course they didn't.

When denied entry, the protestors/would-be arresting party turned to blocking the entrance to the station.

It seems that this was a step too far for cops, who proceeded to break up the crowd and turn the tables on the confused assembly.

Chaotic videos show members of the group wrestled to the ground and arrested, pretty much the opposite outcome predicted by protestors.

This is far from the first time that Didulo's followers have wound up in cuffs after listening to her legal advice.

In July, a Stratford man recorded his attempt to serve a police officer with a cease and desist order provided by Didulo to members of her "army" of anti-vaxxers.

As one would imagine, it didn't go as planned for the man, as the cop shrugged off the bogus order and proceeded to arrest the man for an outstanding warrant.

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