OTTAWA, Ontario — Police in Ottawa said they have made 70 protest-related arrests as of Friday afternoon.

Truckers have gathered at the Canadian capital for three weeks now, protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Protests have affected the economy on both sides of the border.

Several arrests were made Thursday, but more were made Friday morning when hundreds of officers moved into Ottawa’s downtown area.

Protest organizers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, were arrested Thursday night.

They’re charged with counseling to commit mischief.

Barber was also charged with counseling to commit the offense of mischief, according to Canadian outlet CityNews.

Big rigs that were blocking streets were also towed away Friday.

Police report many truckers left on their own.

Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell says the situation on the ground is under control.

One officer suffered a minor injury, according to Bell.

No protesters have been hurt.

DENVER, Colo. – Powerful images emerged from downtown Denver on Saturday.

Hundreds of people protesting police brutality lay face down at the Colorado state capitol to honor George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died in police custody last Monday.

The unique demonstration mirrored the position Floyd was in during his final moments, face down against pavement.

A viral video of the 46-year-old’s arrest shows a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he gasped for air and said “I can’t breathe” before he lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital shortly after.

The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with the man’s murder on Friday.

Chauvin and three other officers have also been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department for their role in Floyd’s death, but many say it’s not enough and they want to see the other officers face charges as well.

Saturday's protest in Denver was one of many across the country demanding justice for Floyd. It began peacefully but turned tense during the evening hours.

There were several small fires and instances of fireworks. Crowds of protesters built makeshift fences to try to hold their ground as officers began to enforce an 8 p.m. curfew put in place by the mayor.

Police say they ended up

arresting 83 people




for curfew violations throughout the night and some of those detained had additional charges for throwing missiles, damaging property and having prohibited weapons.

Three Denver police officers and a civilian were also

severely injured






after a car struck a police vehicle




Saturday night, according to police.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Protesters dressed in salon gear took to the street outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home Thursday.

In video of the protest, some demonstrators are seen with curlers in their hair, plastic is draped over them and hair dryers hang from trees.

The rally came two days after video of Pelosi getting her hair cut inside a California salon surfaced.

California Governor Gavin Newsom lifted restrictions on hair salons serving customers indoors at the end of last month. However, the city of San Francisco still requires such services to only be provided outside.

Pelosi says the salon told her it would be OK to come inside, because they are only accommodating one person at a time.

She also claims the whole thing was a set-up, since the video was released to the media by the salon's owner, KGO reports.

A photo of Pelosi on the same visit shows her wearing a mask around her neck instead of on her face. She says that's because she had just had her hair washed.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers have mobilized across Washington as thousands of supporters who refuse to accept President Donald Trump's election loss have flocked to the nation's capital to protest when Congress gathers Wednesday afternoon to put the final stamp on President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

By Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Capitol was placed on lockdown, a CNN reporter tweeted.

Thousands of protesters gathered around the Washington Monument Wednesday morning as the Elton John song "Tiny Dancer" played from loud speakers. The song was interrupted by an announcement telling people to leave behind backpacks, chairs and flagpoles so people could get through a security checkpoint. Hundreds of people carried flags. Some were American, some were Trump 2020 flags, among others.

As part of their preparations, police posted signs around the district warning of the illegality of gun possession during protests as Trump tweeted his support for the protesters, saying, "Our Country has had enough, they won't take it anymore!" and "We Hear you (and love you) from the Oval Office."

The Department of Homeland Security, which has staffed a "Virtual Situation Room" to help communication between different agencies, is "not currently tracking any active threats," spokesman Alexei Woltornist said.

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Trump traveled a short distance from the White House to the rally Wednesday morning. About 20 aides were outside awaiting Trump's departure, audibly shouting "Save our country" as he boarded his SUV. Trump gave a fist bump and appeared to blow a kiss.

Trump addressed a large, tightly packed and largely maskless crowd of supporters on the Ellipse. His remarks got off to an inauspicious start as Trump's microphone appeared to be turned off as he began speaking.

"We can't hear you!" members of the audience were heard shouting on the video feed, though he appeared unaware and kept speaking.

Moments later, audio was restored, and Trump was railing against the media.

Trump's speech included calls for his vice president to step outside his constitutional bounds and overturn the results of the election.

"Hope Mike is going to do the right thing," Trump said at a rally on the Ellipse. "If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election."

Pence released a letter he wrote to congress Wednesday just after noon, saying he wouldn't object to Biden's victory.

A large glass barrier shielded Trump from the crowd, similar to when he spoke in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the Fourth of July 2019.

Ahead of Trump's speech, Rudy Giuliani was addressing the rally on the Ellipse, baselessly repeating claims that voting machines were "crooked," and continuing to insist that Pence can do something today to change the election's outcome, which he does not have power to do. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

"Let's have trial by combat!" Giuliani told the enthusiastic crowd.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the District is "absolutely prepared" for protests and announced that that at least ten people were arrested overnight related to the protests. At least one person was arrested for carrying an unlicensed gun and six people were charged with assault, including one for assaulting a police officer.

"We had several arrests related to that activity, but not a single one of them was a D.C. resident," she said.

Authorities — a mix that includes local police, National Guard and federal uniformed officers — had already arrested several people ahead of demonstrations including the leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that Trump directly addressed during an autumn debate to "stand back and stand by."

The Proud Boys' leader, Henry Tarrio, who goes by Enrique Tarrio, was released from police custody Tuesday on charges related to a protest last month and ordered by a local judge to stay out of DC as he awaits trial, including during this week's protests.

A police officer has died from injuries sustained as President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol, a violent siege that is forcing hard questions about the defeated president's remaining days in office and the ability of the Capitol Police to secure the area.

The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Officer Brian D. Sicknick was injured “while physically engaging with protesters" during the Wednesday riot. He is the fifth person to die because of the melee.

The rampage that has shocked the world and left the country on edge forced the resignations of three top Capitol security officials over the failure to stop the breach. It led lawmakers to demand a review of operations and an FBI briefing over what they called a “terrorist attack.” And it is prompting a broader reckoning over Trump’s tenure in office and what comes next for a torn nation.

Protesters were urged by Trump during a rally near the White House earlier Wednesday to head to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were scheduled to confirm Biden’s presidential victory. The mob swiftly broke through police barriers, smashed windows and paraded through the halls, sending lawmakers into hiding.

Five have died because of the Capitol siege. One protester, a white woman, was shot to death by Capitol Police, and there were dozens of arrests. Three other people died after “medical emergencies” related to the breach.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said news of the police officer’s death was “gut-wrenching.”

“None of this should have happened,” Sasse said in a statement. “Lord, have mercy.”

Sicknick had returned to his division office after the incident and collapsed, the statement said. He was taken to a local hospital where he died on Thursday.

Two House Democrats on committees overseeing the Capitol police budgets said those responsible need to be held to answer for the “senseless” death.

"We must ensure that the mob who attacked the People’s House and those who instigated them are held fully accountable,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Ct., and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said any remaining day with the president in power could be “a horror show for America.” Likewise, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the attack on the Capitol was “an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president," and Trump must not stay in office “one day” longer.

Pelosi and Schumer called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force Trump from office before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Schumer said he and Pelosi tried to call Vice President Mike Pence early Thursday to discuss that option but were unable to connect with him.

At least one Republican lawmaker joined the effort. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president.

Pelosi said if the president’s Cabinet does not swiftly act, the House may proceed to impeach Trump.

Trump, who had repeatedly refused to concede the election, did so in a late Thursday video from the White House vowing a “seamless transition of power.”

Two Republicans who led efforts to challenge the election results, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, faced angry peers in the Senate. Cruz defended his objection to the election results as “the right thing to do” as he tried unsuccessfully to have Congress launch an investigation. In the House, Republican leaders Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana joined in the failed effort to overturn Biden’s win by objecting to the Electoral College results.

With tensions high, the Capitol shuttered and lawmakers not scheduled to return until the inauguration, an uneasy feeling of stalemate settled over a main seat of national power as Trump remained holed up at the White House.

The social media giant Facebook banned the president from its platform and Instagram for the duration of Trump's final days in office, if not indefinitely, citing his intent to stoke unrest. Twitter had silenced him the day before.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said “the shocking events" make it clear Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.”

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, under pressure from Schumer, Pelosi and other congressional leaders, was forced to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received the resignation of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Michael Stenger, effective immediately. Paul Irving, the longtime Sergeant at Arms of the House, also resigned.

Sund had defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying officers had “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.”

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the police response “a failure.”

Lawmakers from both parties pledged to investigate and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building. The Pentagon and Justice Department had been rebuffed when they offered assistance.

Black lawmakers, in particular, noted the way the mostly white Trump supporters were treated.

Newly elected Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said if “we, as Black people did the same things that happened ... the reaction would have been different, we would have been laid out on the ground.”

The protesters ransacked the place, taking over the House area and Senate chamber and waving Trump, American and Confederate flags. Outside, they scaled the walls and balconies.

Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., a former police chief, said it was “painfully obvious” that Capitol police “were not prepared.”

TOKYO —

Related video above: Tokyo 2020: Anti-Olympic protesters rally to demand cancellation

Was it the strangest Olympics ever, staged during a deadly global pandemic, with no fans? How about the angriest, awash in protests and fierce opposition from large swaths of the host nation?

The scariest, with fears of new coronavirus variants and surging cases plaguing Japan— though mostly dodging those in the Olympic "bubble" — throughout the two weeks of sports? Or maybe, as athletes banded together under moments of intense stress, the kindest?

As tens of thousands of athletes, journalists and officials get ready to pack up and leave Monday, Japan will be left to pick over the answers to these questions, maybe for years. Amid the lingering glow from the televised pomp and the indisputable athletic drama, whatever you call these Olympics, it's worth stopping to consider how Japan sees them.

They were sold, well before the pandemic, as the symbol of Japan's recovery from the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and nuclear meltdown. The rhetoric now tends to focus on their link to the world overcoming coronavirus.

But does that really work in a country where thousands are still getting sick each day, let alone in other, even worse-hit nations that have sent athletes to Tokyo? Many here, while proud that Japan is on the verge of pulling off what many thought impossible or, in some corners, highly inadvisable, still believe these Games were forced on the country and that their real cost, possibly in lives lost, is yet to be paid.

Others are simply relieved they are over. And a large number maybe even enjoyed the ride, reveling in the sports themselves, Japan's surprisingly strong medal haul and the generally hospitable way the world was welcomed during a period of illness, fear and uncertainty.

Using some of the dozens of interviews conducted during and before these delayed and disputed Pandemic Games, The Associated Press takes a look at what some Japanese think they mean.

Is it representative of a nation of 126 million? Of course not. But the glimpses into the views of some of the people who lived through this Olympics offer a chance to cut through, in sometimes surprising ways, the government and IOC rhetoric that emphasized harmony and revitalization, and get a bit closer to the heart of the nation's sentiment.

THE BEGINNING

It started with a muted opening ceremony and an empty stadium, with moments so quiet that the shouts of protesters could be heard from the streets outside. Many residents watched with mixed feelings, to say the least, isolated from the Games by organizers trying to keep the Olympic visitors from mingling with the public, forced to modify their lives during a record wave of virus cases and yet another state of emergency.

Many were opposed, and that feeling persisted. But there was nuance, too — a desire to put the country's best face forward, now that the inevitable was happening, and a notion that this spectacle could act as a salve.

"I am very emotional and teary-eyed while watching the TV because even during the pandemic, the Olympics will still go on," Riza Nagumo, 53, a housewife, said. "I was praying so much to have this Olympics be a very successful event, to heal the world."

At a normally bustling intersection in Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood, large screens that usually blast advertisements and show television were switched off. Many bars and restaurants were closed, and public viewing locations across Japan were shut down amid rising infections.

"Everyone is just enduring this," said Harumi Wada, a Tokyo resident. "But to hold the Olympics, despite everything, I feel there's a dissonance, and I think that distrust toward the government is getting stronger."

THE FAMILY

Despite the disruption, delays and disputes of these Games, the ban on spectators and big gatherings proved a surprising boon for some families.

While it's true that some bars and restaurants continued to see drinkers flouting pandemic restriction rules, even as late as Friday night, many Japanese stayed home with their relatives — and were delighted with the excuse to do so.

"We are often too busy in our daily life to have this kind of quality family time," said Ikuko Tozuka, 53, who gathered with her husband and two adult daughters in front of their TV screen in Oiso, west of Tokyo, to watch the Games. "So I am very happy that this Olympics has given us an opportunity to be together."

Hiroshi, the father, 58, even bought a new TV set to watch the Games with his family.

"It was actually good that this COVID-19 pandemic compelled us as a family to come together and watch the Games in this way," said Yu, his 26-year-old daughter.

THE PROTESTERS

Throughout the Games, small knots of protesters gathered to provide voice to what a much larger, mostly silent chunk of Japan was thinking. They chanted, "Cancel the Olympics." They carried banners reading, "No Olympics 2020 — Use that money for COVID-19" and "Is it more important than human life?"

Were these very public demonstrations representative of the whole country? It's complicated. Many said in polls they strongly opposed the Games; an unknown number may have been silently taking a wait-and-see attitude, hoping for the best.

In AP interviews conducted over the months between the postponement and the start of the Games, there could be found a feeling of resentment that the government had pushed ahead partly because of pressure from the IOC, which would have faced billions in lost television rights income without the Games. There was also fear over the Olympics spreading new strains of the coronavirus. The government's main medical adviser said it was "abnormal" to hold the Olympics during a pandemic.

"It's unethical to proceed with such a big event, with more than 10,000 athletes coming to Tokyo, all situated in one area," said Masa Yamagata, a Tokyo resident. "We can't enjoy it anyway. We can't celebrate it."

PAST AS PRESENT

Along with the anger and fear, these Games had a nostalgic element for some older Japanese who remembered the Summer Games of 1964, when Japan celebrated its rebuilding from the war and the turbulent years that followed.

Some felt remorse — a sense of what might have been — because these Games would be so much more circumscribed than the last time they were in Tokyo.

There was also gratitude. Thanks to these Games, Seiichi Kuroki, 55, saw his relationship with his 85-year-old father, Masatoshi Kuroki, deepen as they talked about Masatoshi's role as a marshal at the opening ceremony of the 1964 Olympics.

"I am very grateful for that," Kuroki said. "He looks happy when I ask him questions such as, 'What were you doing then at the Games?' Because that is his legacy. "

There was a tinge of sorrow, however, for Takemasa Taguchi, as the 83-year-old remembered Tokyo's celebratory mood in 1964.

"I am so sad about this situation," Taguchi said. "I was hoping that we could have celebrated and danced together with people from all over the world."

SOCIAL CHANGE

Some hoped the Games would bring change to Japanese society, where minorities still suffer from discrimination and prejudice. Few felt that the Games would solve all of Japan's social issues: Can an Olympics event ever live up to the expectations that are heaped on it? But with the world's attention focused on Japan, some saw movement forward on the issues they cared about.

Ahead of the Games, Makoto Kikuchi, a 34-year-old professional boxer, decided to come out as a lesbian.

"By speaking openly and becoming one of the out athletes, I hoped to be as helpful as possible for those who feel lonely," Kikuchi said.

The Tokyo Games included 179 openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes, according to Outsport.com. That's more than three times the number from the 2016 Games in Rio.

While same-sex marriages are not legally recognized here, Fumino Sugiyama, a transgender activist and former fencer on Japan's women's national team, said support of sexual diversity has slowly grown.

"It is truly great that a path has finally been created for athletes to be able to compete while being their authentic selves in sports," said the 39-year-old, who was nominated to the Japanese Olympic Committee's board of directors before the Games.